Open AccessEnhancement of natural killer cell activity of aged mice by modified arabinoxylan rice bran (MGN‐3/Biobran)
Author(s) -
Ghoneum Mamdooh,
Abedi Sarah
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of pharmacy and pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.745
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 2042-7158
pISSN - 0022-3573
DOI - 10.1211/0022357044922
Subject(s) - bran , lytic cycle , arabinoxylan , natural killer cell , immunology , intraperitoneal injection , esterase , chemistry , lysis , biology , andrology , pharmacology , cytotoxicity , biochemistry , enzyme , medicine , in vitro , virus , raw material , organic chemistry
The present study is aimed to examine the possibility of enhancement of natural killer (NK) cell activity in aged C57BL/6 and C3H mice using MGN‐3, a modified arabinoxylan from rice bran. Intraperitoneal injection of MGN‐3 (10 mg kg −1 per day) caused a remarkable increase in the peritoneal NK activity as early as 2 days (35.2 lytic units), and the level remained elevated through day 14. The control aged mice had a level of 5.8 lytic units. Enhancement in NK activity was associated with an increase in both the binding capacity of NK cells to tumour targets and in the granular content as measured by BLT‐esterase activity. Treatment did not alter the percentage of peritoneal NK cells. Data showed that peritoneal macrophages inhibit NK activity. In conclusion, MGN‐3 enhances murine NK activity of aged mice and may be useful for enhancing NK function in aged humans.