87 Winter & Spring 2019. Volume 1. Number 2 Zohre Farrahnejad 1* , Ali Mohammad Mohseni Majd 2 1. Department of Medical Mycology, School of Medical Sciences, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 2. Immunoregulation Research Center, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran. * Corresponding Author: Zohre Farahnejad, PhD Address: Department of Medical Mycology, School of Medical Sciences, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Phone: +98 (912) 2773149 E-mail: z.farahnejad@yahoo.com Research Article: Efect of Aloe Vera Herbal Extract on Innate Immunity in Balb/c Mice Agains Candida Albicans Background: Based on the reports, Aloe vera extract, a herbal medicine, has antimicrobial and anti- infammatory efects. Also, this medicinal plant has considerable efects on innate immunity through cytokine secretion which resis fungal infections such as Candida albicans. Moreover, Aloe vera is considered as immunomodulatory agent and regulate infammatory responses. Materials and Methods: In this sudy, twenty Balb/c mice were divided into fve groups: four groups of infected mice with Candida albicans treated with diferent doses of Aloe vera extract and one healthy control group. Then, macrophage vital activity was measured by NBT assay. Nitric Oxide (NO) production as representative of macrophage activity was assayed by MTT tes. Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-α) and Interleukin-12 (IL-12) cytokines were measured by ELISA assay. Results: Based on our sudy results, macrophage vital activity and NO production decreased signifcantly. However, TNF-α and IL-12 cytokines increased signifcantly in mice model infected by Candida albicans. Conclusion: Aloe vera extract could enhance macrophage activity through increase in TNF-α and IL-12 cytokines in Candida albicans infections. Therefore, Aloe vera could simulate innate immune responses to eliminate Candida albicans. A B S T R A C T Keywords: Aloe vera, Macrophage activity, Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-α), Interleukin 12 (IL-12) Citation Farrahnejad Z, Mohseni Majd AM. Efect of Aloe Vera Herbal Extract on Innate Immunity in Balb/c Mice Agains Candida Albicans. Immunoregulation. 2019; 1(2):87-92. http://dx.doi.org/10.32598/Immunoregulation.1.2.81 : http://dx.doi.org/10.32598/Immunoregulation.1.2.81 Use your device to scan and read the artcle online Article info: Received: 20 November 2017 Accepted: 05 March 2018 Available Online: 01 Jan 2019 Funding: See Page 91 Copyright: The Author(s) Introduction loe vera processes some unique and ben- efcial properties in the feld of medicinal plants. In traditional Iranian medicine, Aloe vera was considered as a medicinal plant for the treatment of diferent diseas- es [1]. In today’s modern medicine, there are no con- sensus over any disease that can be cured by medicinal plants or their efective therapeutic ingredients. Several sudies demonsrated that Aloe vera has antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, and anti-infammatory activities agains pathogens [2, 3]. Some sudies have conducted on the use of mixture of chemical ingredients that makes their satisical interpre- tation difcult. Limiting spectrum of efects have been sudied on immune sysem that known efects of Aloe A