TITLE : IMPACT OF THE ROOTS AND FRESH LEAVES OF PLANT X ON IMMUNE

CELLS IN FLU INFECTION

PROBLEM STATEMENT : In village x it has been reported to say there is a local plant
that individuals have been using for a long time. This plant x has been used each time
someone had flu. The individuals have been using the fresh leaves of this plant. They squeeze
the fresh leaves up until liquid is squeezed out of the leaves and then smell the leaves in that
state. It has been noted that just a few hours after such people get better and after a few days
the flu is completely cleared off without any other medication. However the villagers only
uses the fresh leaves. We would like to use use other aspects of plant like the roots to see if
they produce the same changes. As such we plan of comparing immune cells changes in
samples of flu negative and flu positive population before and after being exposed to the
plant

RESEARCH QUESTION : What impact does the roots and fresh leaves of plant x have on
the immune cell responses in flu infection

MAIN OBJECTIVE : To asses the impact of plant x on immune cells during influenza
infection

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES :
1. To identify the cell population in individuals before and after exposure to the plant
leaves
2. To identify the cell population in individuals before and after exposure to the plant
roots
3. To identify phenotypic changes in individuals after exposure to the plant leaves
4. To identify phenotypic changes in individuals after exposure to the plant roots
METHODOLOGY
This will be a longitudinal study were data will be collected at different time intervals. The
study will involve two groups of participants. The control group comprising of healthy flu
negative individuals who will be exposed to the plant leaves and roots. The study group will
comprise of individuals with flu who are not on any medication to be exposed to the plant.
Nasal swabs, peripheral blood and BAL samples will be collected from both groups and
comparisons will be done. The cells of interests are the CD8 cells and epithelial cells in the
respiratory tract.