Abstract

In the treatment of auto-immune and inflammatory diseases, and for patients with organ transplants, immunosuppresive medicines such as corticosteroids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used, however these have numerous adverse effects (hyperglycaemia, hypertension, muscle weakness, greater susceptibility to infections, osteoporosis, glaucoma, psychiatric disorders, stunted growth etc.) and outline the need to find new and improved immunosuppressive drugs which can be used, alone or in combination, in order to reduce the undesired effects. The inventors have discovered that the extract of the Chilean indigenous plant, Blechnum chilense, has anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects and it is proposed that the bioactive molecules thereof with immunosuppressive activity will be useful for all those patients who need treatment with immunosuppressive drugs. Based on the analysis of the total extract of Blechnum chilense by means of LC-MS/MS and the presence of phenylpropane derivatives C6-C3 and C6-C3-C6 and undetermined core terpenes, it has been determined that it has a potential immunomodulator effect like polidin, butanediol, limonene, 5 Cl-phenyl trimethyl and an antioxidant effect like gamma-glutamyl methionine. In addition, the results indicate that Blechnum chilense does not have a cytotoxic effect on CD3+ T lymphocytes, of both human and murine origins, which was determined by means of the analysis of the total extract in a dosage range of 0.1ug/ml to 500 ug/ml, and that the methanolic and aqueous extracts in a dosage range of 10 ug/ml to 100 ug/ml demonstrate a clear inhibiting of lymphocyte proliferation, with CD3+ T lymphocytes of both human and murine origins not affecting the lymphocyte viability (see attached figures). In this way, the invention proposes a natural plant extract of Blechnum chilense containing bioactive secondary metabolites with immunosuppressive activity which inhibits the activation of T lymphocytes.