108
Sener et al. (2005) reported that yeast β-glucan treatment replenished the glutathione level in tissue and suppressed myeloperoxidase activity, indicating a protective effect against this oxidative injury in vivo. Additionally, Sener et al. (2007)
evaluated that the yeast β-glucan treatment ameliorated the nicotine-induced oxidative damage in the kidney. It not only increased glutathione levels, decreased both
malondialdehyde level and myeloperoxidase activity, but also restored the morphological changes in the damaged tissues, and improved the impairments in renal
function.
Immuno-Modulatory Property
β-glucans are known to have various immunomodulatory properties. In vitro and
in vivo reports determined that the immune-stimulating property of β-glucan
depends on structure, molecular weight and number of branches (Miura et al. 2003;
Brown and Gordon 2003). Bohn and Miller (1995) reported that the immunestimulating effect of β-glucan is probably related to the activation of cytotoxic macrophages and T-helper and natural killer (NK) cells and with the promotion of T
lymphocyte differentiation and activation, for the alternative complement pathway.
β-glucans have also been observed as modulators of both humoral and cellular
immunity (Falch et al. 2000; Tokunaka et al. 2000; Kubala et al. 2003). β-(1→3)-Dglucans from fungi were reported to be capable of having beneficial effects in preinflammatory responses, suggesting that β-glucan can be a modulator of the
anti-inflammatory response as interleukin mediators (Luhm et al. 2006). β-1,3glucan from Saccharomyces cerevisiae showed in vitro enhanced Th2 immune
response and inhibited Th1 by stimulating the release of anti-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-10 and TGF-b (Chen et al. 2013a, b), whereas mushroom β-1,3glucan showed in vivo decreased Th2 immune response induced by OVA and
improved Th1 type immune response (Wu et al. 2014).
Nowadays, β-glucans are broadly studied in aquaculture and food industry partly
because of their immunostimulatory activities (Meena et al. 2013; Ringo and Song
2016). The immune function of β-glucans has been evaluated by administered
zebrafish larvae with oat derived β-glucan, and then challenged the fish with pathogenic bacteria Edwardsiella tarda. The authors concluded that the β-glucan-treated
group had significantly higher survival rates than the control group (Udayangani
et al. 2017). In vitro experiment studied the immunostimulant activity of β-glucan
isolated from the fruiting bodies of Russula albonigra mushroom showed macrophage activation by nitric oxide (NO) production as well as spleenocytes and thymocytes proliferation (Nandi et al. 2014). Similarly, Sun et al. (2013) extracted
β-glucan from the fruiting bodies of Trametes robiniophila exhibited immunomodulatory activity.
N. Jan et al.
Sener et al. (2005) reported that yeast β-glucan treatment replenished the glutathione level in tissue and suppressed myeloperoxidase activity, indicating a protective effect against this oxidative injury in vivo. Additionally, Sener et al. (2007)
evaluated that the yeast β-glucan treatment ameliorated the nicotine-induced oxidative damage in the kidney. It not only increased glutathione levels, decreased both
malondialdehyde level and myeloperoxidase activity, but also restored the morphological changes in the damaged tissues, and improved the impairments in renal
function.
Immuno-Modulatory Property
β-glucans are known to have various immunomodulatory properties. In vitro and
in vivo reports determined that the immune-stimulating property of β-glucan
depends on structure, molecular weight and number of branches (Miura et al. 2003;
Brown and Gordon 2003). Bohn and Miller (1995) reported that the immunestimulating effect of β-glucan is probably related to the activation of cytotoxic macrophages and T-helper and natural killer (NK) cells and with the promotion of T
lymphocyte differentiation and activation, for the alternative complement pathway.
β-glucans have also been observed as modulators of both humoral and cellular
immunity (Falch et al. 2000; Tokunaka et al. 2000; Kubala et al. 2003). β-(1→3)-Dglucans from fungi were reported to be capable of having beneficial effects in preinflammatory responses, suggesting that β-glucan can be a modulator of the
anti-inflammatory response as interleukin mediators (Luhm et al. 2006). β-1,3glucan from Saccharomyces cerevisiae showed in vitro enhanced Th2 immune
response and inhibited Th1 by stimulating the release of anti-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-10 and TGF-b (Chen et al. 2013a, b), whereas mushroom β-1,3glucan showed in vivo decreased Th2 immune response induced by OVA and
improved Th1 type immune response (Wu et al. 2014).
Nowadays, β-glucans are broadly studied in aquaculture and food industry partly
because of their immunostimulatory activities (Meena et al. 2013; Ringo and Song
2016). The immune function of β-glucans has been evaluated by administered
zebrafish larvae with oat derived β-glucan, and then challenged the fish with pathogenic bacteria Edwardsiella tarda. The authors concluded that the β-glucan-treated
group had significantly higher survival rates than the control group (Udayangani
et al. 2017). In vitro experiment studied the immunostimulant activity of β-glucan
isolated from the fruiting bodies of Russula albonigra mushroom showed macrophage activation by nitric oxide (NO) production as well as spleenocytes and thymocytes proliferation (Nandi et al. 2014). Similarly, Sun et al. (2013) extracted
β-glucan from the fruiting bodies of Trametes robiniophila exhibited immunomodulatory activity.
N. Jan et al.