4.2 Effects of Pei’s Soft Liver and Anti-Bloating Pill on Immune Organs

4.2 Effects of Pei’s Soft Liver and Anti-Bloating Pill on Immune Organs

The thymus and spleen are important immune organs of the body. The thymus is one of the body’s central immune organs, serving as the site for the development, differentiation, and maturation of T cells, playing a crucial role in the body’s immune regulation; while the spleen is one of the body’s peripheral immune organs, acting as the third line of defense, the largest immune response organ, the place where various immune cells reside and mount immune responses, and also an important site for synthesizing immune-active substances (such as interferons, complement, cytokines, etc.). Therefore, the thymus index and spleen index to some extent reflect the strength of the body’s immune function, allowing evaluation of the body’s immune status, and increasing the weight of immune organs can serve as one of the objective indicators of improved immune function [18].

The results of this experiment show that in the Model Control Group, the thymus and spleen of the mice shrank in size and weight, with some thymuses having unclear lobes and appearing grayish-white, while the spleens turned pale red. In contrast, the appearance of the thymus and spleen in the PRGXP dosage groups (especially the medium-dose group) was not significantly different from that of the normal group. The thymus index of the mice in all PRGXP dosage groups was higher than that of the Model Control Group, with the medium-dose group showing a thymus index of (53.2±15.6) mg/10g, an increase of 31.4% compared with the Model Control Group, which was statistically significant (P<0.05). Compared with the blank control group, the thymus index of the Model Control Group mice decreased (P<0.05). The spleen index of the mice in all PRGXP dosage groups was also higher than that of the Model Control Group, with the medium-dose group showing a spleen index of (65.0±10.1) mg/10g, an increase of 45.1% compared with the Model Control Group, which was statistically significant (P<0.05). Compared with the blank control group, the spleen index of the Model Control Group mice decreased (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between the PRGXP dosage groups and the BM group (P>0.05). These findings suggest that Pei’s Soft Liver and Anti-Bloating Pill has a clear improving effect on the immune organs—thymus and spleen—of tumor-bearing mice, indicating that the pill can enhance the non-specific immune function of tumor-bearing mice.