Theobroma cacao L., a fruit of cacao trees, is a perennial plant, which belongs to Sterculiaceae, and is native to the Amazon in South Africa. It also has been known for its various biologically active effects, such as anti-oxidation, anti-cancer, and anti-bacterial. The spleen cell proliferations of mice were measured at 48 hours after treatment of Theobroma cacao L. water extracts in seven concentrations(0, 5, 10, 50, 100, 250, 500 and 1,000 μg/mL) an ELISA assay. The production of cytokine (IL-1β, TNF-α, IFN-γ), is secreted by macrophages stimulated with LPS, was detected by ELISA assay using the cytokine kit. From the results of in vitro study, both splenocytes and cytokine production activated by peritoneal macrophages have increased when water extracts were supplemented in the range between 250 and 500 μg/mL concentration. Notably, splenocytes production has a signigicant proliferation at 500 μg/mL concentration. The result from this research suggests that supplementation with Theobroma cacao L. water extracts may enhance the immune function by stimulating the splenocyte proliferation and improving the cytokine production activating macrophage in vitro.

Abstract
서 론
재료 및 방법
    1. 시료 준비 및 실험 마우스
    2. 마우스의 비장세포 분리 및 배양
    3. 사이토카인(IL-1β, IFN-γ, TNF-α) 분비량 측정
    4. 통계분석
결과 및 고찰
    1. 카카오 열수 추출물이 마우스 비장세포 분비에 미치는효과-In vitro
    2. 카카오 열수 추출물이 사이토카인 분비량에 미치는 영향
요약 및 결론
References

• 류혜숙(상지대학교 보건의료과학대학 식품영양학과) | Hye-Sook Ryu (Dept. of Food and Nutrition, College of Health Sciences, Sangji University) Corresponding author