Rhodiola kirilowii roots and rhizomes extracts are used in Asiatic medicine independently of their adaptogenic properties also as antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory drugs. The aim of this work was to study the in vitro modulatory potential of aqueous and hydro-alcoholic extracts of under-ground parts of Rhodiola kirilowii (RK) on respiratory burst activity (RBA) and on the proliferative response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in blood leukocyte cultures of pigs. Both extracts in concentration up to 10 µg/ml stimulated this parameter. Higher concentrations of RK extracts were ineffective (20 µg/ml) or inhibitory (50 µg/ml).
Further, the effect of feeding mice with Rhodiola kirilowi aqueous (RKW) and 50% hydro-alcoholic (RKA) extracts on Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection was studied. It was found that the infection intensity was significantly lower, in comparison to the control, when mice obtained daily, for 7 days before P. aeruginosa i.p. inoculation, 0.4 mg of RKA or RKW extract. Accordingly, feeding mice with both extracts for 7 days, in 0.1 and 0.2 mg (RKW) and 0.1 mg (RKA) daily doses, increased blood leukocytes (both lymphocytes and granulocytes) number.