Fig. 1

DHA promoted splenic cell proliferation and immune cell rearrangement in healthy and cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppressed mice. a Representative flow cytometry histograms and percentages of positive cells from different DHA and CMC groups at different days after staining for cell surface CD45⁺CD3⁺CD8⁺. b Bar graphs represent significant increase in percentages of Brdu⁺ proliferative CD8 T cells in DHA-treated group compared to CMC-treated group on day 8 post treatment (n = 7). c Representative flow cytometry histograms and percentages of positive cells from different DHA and CMC groups at different days after staining for cell surface CD45⁺CD3⁺CD4⁺. d, e Bar graphs represent significant increases in percentages of Gr-1⁺ neutrophils (CD11b⁺ Gr-1⁺) or IFN-γ⁺ CD8 T cells of total CD45⁺ immune cells in DHA- and CMC-treated mice. f Bar graphs represent significant increases in percentages of Brdu⁺ CD25⁺ proliferative CD4 T cells in DHA-treated mice (n = 7). g, h Representative spleen images and quantitative analysis of spleen index of mice in cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppressive mice and the healthy control mice. DHA=dihydroartemisinin group, CMC=CMC (carboxymethyl cellulose) solvent solution control. The results are representative of three independent experiments with a minimum of seven mice per group per experiment. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001