Andrographis paniculata can modulate the ratio of Treg to Th17 cells in atherosclerotic rats Adi Pramono Hendrata a, * , Kusworini Handono b , Handono Kalim c , Loeki Enggar Fitri d a Doctoral Program in Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, East Java, Indonesia b Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya/Dr. Saiful Anwar General Hospital, Malang, East Java, Indonesia c Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya/Dr. Saiful Anwar General Hospital, Malang, East Java, Indonesia d Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, East Java, Indonesia article info Article history: Received 20 October 2017 Accepted 17 May 2018 Available online 23 May 2018 Keywords: Atherogenesis T cells T regulator Th17 Andrographolide summary The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of Andrographis paniculata (Burm F) in the modulation of naive T cell differentia- tion and its related cytokines in the rat model of atherosclerosis. Twenty-five male rats were assigned to five study groups, con- sisting of the control group (normal diet), the atherosclerosis rat group (atherogenic diet), and the atherosclerotic rat group receiving A. paniculata (Burm F) extracts in three doses, there were 0.6 mg/kgBBW (Ather þ AP1 group), 1.2 mg/kgBBW (Ather þ AP2 group) and 2.4 mg/kgBBW (Ather þ AP3 group). The numbers of Th17 and Treg cells were measured using flow cytometry. The IL-17 and IL-6 levels were analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosor- bent assay technique. Th17 cell level increased significantly in the atherosclerosis group compared to the control group (p > 0.05). The A. paniculata extract in the 0.6 mg/kgBBW and 2.4 mg/kgBBW doses could decrease the Th17 cell count significantly compared to the atherosclerosis group (p < 0.05), despite did not achieve a normal value similar to the control group (p < 0.05). The A. pan- iculata extract in the 1.2 mg/kgBBW dose significantly increased Treg cell count compared to the other groups (p < 0.05). The ratio of Treg cells to Th17 cells dropped significantly in the atheroscle- rosis group to the control group (p > 0.05). A. paniculata extract of * Corresponding author. Doctoral Program in Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Jalan Veteran, Malang, East Java, Indonesia. E-mail address: vadiph@gmail.com (A.P. Hendrata). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Clinical Nutrition Experimental journal homepage: http:// www.clinicalnutritionexperimental.com https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yclnex.2018.05.002 2352-9393/© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Clinical Nutrition Experimental 20 (2018) 20e29