Immunoregulatory function and its mechanism of food components

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

In order to clarify the effect of food components on immune functions, their effect on neutral proteases such as medullasin and cathepsin G in granulocytes was studied, because both medullasin and cathepsin in granulocytes were shown to be engaged in the regulation of biophylaxis. We found that cathepsin G also enhances natural killer (NK) cell activity by acting directly on NK cells. Addition of docosahexaenoic acid to the diet of mice caused the increase of medullasin activity in granulocytes dose-dependently, to the contrary, saturated fatty acids such as palmitic acid and stearic acid decreased medullasin activity in granulocytes. These results indicate that fatty acid in the diet may influence biophylactic activity. Addition of green tea leaf to the diet of mice decreased both medullasin and cathepsin G activity in granulocytes. To the contrary, green tea extract in the diet of mice increased both protease activities in granulocytes. These results indicate that certain components in green tea increase or decrease these neutral protease levels in granulocytes resulting in the regulation of biophylaxis in vivo.