Improvement of Immune and Hematopoietic Functions by Litsea japonica Fruit Extract in Cyclophosphamide-Treated BALB/c Mice

• Published in: Applied sciences Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 145
• Main Authors: Ji, Seon Yeong, Bang, EunJin, Hwangbo, Hyun, Kim, Min Yeong, Kim, Da Hye, Koo, Young Tae, Kim, Jin Soo, Lee, Ki Won, Park, Sun Young, Kwon, Chan-Young, Lee, Hyesook, Kim, Gi-Young, Choi, Yung Hyun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-01-2023
• Subjects: Blood; Body weight; CD8 antigen; Cyclophosphamide; Cytokines; Dosage; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Erythrocytes; Fruits; Functional foods & nutraceuticals; Hematology; hematopoietic function; Hemoglobin; Immune system; immunity; Immunoglobulin G; Immunoglobulin M; Infectious diseases; Interferon; Interleukin 2; Interleukin 6; Leukocytes; Litsea; Litsea japonica; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes B; Lymphocytes T; mice; Physiology; Serum levels; Spleen; Splenocytes; Statistical analysis; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Variance analysis; United States > US; South Korea
• DOI: 10.3390/app13010145
• EISSN: 2076-3417

Loss of immunity is an important cause in the pathology of infectious disease. This study investigates the effect of Litsea japonica fruit extract (LJFE) as a potential functional food on immunity and hematopoietic function in immunosuppressed BALB/c mice. Immunity-stimulating activity was observed in mice supplemented with LJFE at low (25 mg/kg), medium (50 mg/kg), and high (100 mg/kg) dosage for seven days after administration of cyclophosphamide. LJFE treatment significantly improved spleen injury score (p < 0.001) and body weight (p < 0.02) by approximately two-fold with a high dosage of LJFE (100 mg/kg). Spleen-derived lymphocyte analysis demonstrated that the numbers of clusters of differentiation (CD)4+ and CD8+ T-cells were notably increased by approximately two-fold (p < 0.001) with a high dosage of LJFE (100 mg/kg). In mouse splenocytes differentiated into T- and B-lymphocytes, LJFE significantly induced proliferation up to approximately 90% of control for T- (p < 0.001) and B-lymphocytes (p < 0.01) with a high dosage of LJFE (100 mg/kg). Furthermore, LJFE significantly recovered the numbers of white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay revealed that serum levels of immune-related cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-2, and interferon (IFN)-γ, were notably Increased. In addition, serum levels of immunoglobulin (Ig) A, IgM, and IgG were restored by LJFE treatment. This study provides a reference to use L. japonica as a functional food ingredient to improve immunity and hematological function in humans.