Three different dogs who had immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA) were treated for more than two weeks with blood transfusion in an animal clinic. Despite this treatment and hospitalization, there was no clinical improvement in clinical signs as well as complete blood cell count (CBC) including hematocrit (HCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP). All cases were then injected two or three times with allogeneic stem cells through an intravenous route for treatment. Upon administrating stem cells to the IMHA dogs, clinical conditions and the indexes of HCT and CRP were clinically improved within or close to normal ranges.

Selectins are cell membrane glycoproteins that recognize specific glycoconjugates expressed on the surface of cells. Then, selectins adjust cell-cell interactions that are important in inflammation, hemostasis and cancer metastasis. Selectins mediate leukocyte calls to move into the site of inflammation through interactions with activated endothelial cells or endogenous selectin ligands expressed in high endothelial venules. Types of selectins are divided into L-selectin, E-selectin and P-selectin, which are called to CD62L, CD62E, and CD62P, respectively. Each selectin is composed of four regions; the C-type lectin region of N-terminal, the epidermal growth factor (EGF) region, the intracellular C-terminal region, and the hydrophobic transmembrane region. They have similar structures but differ in their binding specificities and tissue distributions. The selectin family commonly recognizes the sialyl Lewis X (sLeX) on carbohydrate structures. Although biological ligands bound to each selectin are different from each other, they commonly bind to P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) ligand. The PSGL-1 ligand is a glycoprotein promoting cell adhesion in inflammatory responses. If the absence of selectins and their ligands in humans and animals are, should lead to persistent infections and diseases. Selectin family must be considered as a key subject for drug discovery since they have various functions depending on the ligand which they bind to.

Platycodon grandiflorum have been used as a traditional remedy and food source. This study was performed to investigate the immunomodulating effects of Platycodon grandiflorum in mouse, using ex vivo experiments. Six to seven-week old mice were fed ad libitum on a chow diet, and water extract of Platycodon grandiflorum was orally administrated at two different concentractions (50 and 500 ㎎/㎏ B.W./day) every other day for four weeks. In ex vivo experiments, the highest proliferation of splenocytes and levels of cytokine (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α) production were observed in 500 ㎎/㎏ BW/day supplementation group for all three cytokines stimulated by LPS. In conclusion, this study suggests that Platycodon grandiflorum extracts may enhance the immune function by regulating the splenocytes proliferation and cytokine production capacity by activating macrophages in mice.

In this study 300 weaned pigs (Landrace × Yorkshire × Duroc, 23±3 d of age, 5.56± 1.21 kg initial body weight) were used to study the effect of fungal (Aspergillus oryzae, FSP-A) and fungal + bacteria (Aspergillus oryzae + Bacillus subtilis, FSP-B) fermented soya proteins on their blood hematology, enzymes and immune cell populations. Pigs were allotted to 5 treatments, each comprising of 4 pens with 15 pigs. Basal diets consisted of 15% soyabean meal (Control diet) while for treatment diets SBM was replaced with 3 and 6% of each FSP-A and FSP-B, respectively. The experimental diets were fed from 0 to 14 day after weaning and then a common commercial diet was fed from 15 to 35 day. Blood was collected on 14 and 35 day of experiment and analyzed for hematology, aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT) and immune cell populations. At d 14, lower RBC count, Hb and HCT values and higher AST values were noted in pigs fed FSP-A diets when compared with Control and FSP-B fed pigs.Also at d 14 pigs fed 6% FSP-A had lower NE (P<0.05) when compared with those fed 6% FSP-B. The level of FSP influenced the RDW on d 14 and MCHC, MO and MPV on d 35. In addition on d 35, pigs fed 3% FSP-A had lesser NE than those fed 6% FSP -A and Control diet, while pigs fed 6% FSP-B had the highest number of MO compared to other treatments. But there were no differences in the plasma AST and ALT values on d 35. Thus it may be concluded that the FSP either by fungal or fungal + bacterial sources had an influence on the blood hematological status and the populations of immune cells.

A total of 240 weaned pigs (Landrace ×Yorkshire × Duroc, 22±3 d of age, 5.16±0.90 kg initial body weight) were used to study the effect of feeding level of microbial fermented soya protein on their blood hematology, enzymes and immune cell populations. The microbial (Aspergillus oryzae + Bacillus subtilis) fermented soya protein (FSP) was used. Pigs were allotted to four dietary treatments, each comprising of 4 pens with 15 pigs. Basal diets consisted of 15% soya bean meal (Control diet); while for treatment diets SBM was replaced with 3, 6 and 9% FSP. The experimental diets were fed from 0 to 14 day after weaning and then a common commercial diet was fed from 15 to 35 day. Blood was collected on 14 and 35 day of experiment and analyzed for hematology, plasma aspartate transaminase (AST), plasma alanine transaminase (ALT) and immune cell populations. Increasing the level of FSP in the diet of pigs linearly decreased distribution of red blood cells (P<0.01), MPV (P<0.05), MO (P<0.05), EO (P<0.05) and BA (P<0.05) on d 14. Linear and quadratic decrease in the RBC (P<0.05), Hb (P<0.05), HCT (P<0.01), PLT (P<0.001) and EO (P<0.05) and linear increase in the MCHC (P<0.001), MPV (P<0.05), WBC (P<0.05) and NE (P<0.05) on d 35 was noted. Pigs fed with 6% FSP had lower (P<0.05) levels of AST and ALT on d 14, while the levels of ALT and AST on d 35 did not differ among the dietary treatments. Thus the results suggest that microbial fermented soya protein affected the hematological indices, immune cell populations and plasma enzymes in weaned pigs.

Background : The roots of Codonopsis lanceolata have been used as a tonic crude drug and an edible plant in Korea. The plant mainly contains triterpenoid saponins, including codonolaside, codonolasideⅠ-Ⅴ, lancemaside A-G. Their saponins have shown anti-inflammatory effects such as bronchitis and cough, insomnia and hypomnesia. C. lanceolata is well known to affect various pharmacological effects for human health, and its consumption is increasing. Recently, plant and plant-derived products were treated a part of the healthcare system by applying the bioactive phytochemicals. Antioxidant and immune activity substances in food play an important role as a health-protecting factor. This study was designed to investigate the in vitro immune cell growth and xanthine oxidase Inhibitory activity of different storage period and storage temperature of C. lanceolata. Methods and Results : The plant materials were used the roots of C. lanceolata cultivated in Jeju area, Korea. Immune enhancing effect was conducted using T cell and B cell of human immune cells. Each cell incubated for 8 days with the sample extracts compared to the control group, and the immune activation was measured according to the growth of immune cells. The xanthine oxidase Inhibitory activity was measured by modifying the method of Noro(1983). In different storage period and storage temperature conditions, the immune cell growth of C. lanceolata extract promoted a concentration-dependent manner in both human T cell and B cell, and did not show a significant difference. The xanthine oxidase Inhibitory activity of C. lanceolata extract tended to decrease more, depending on the longer the storage period or the higher the storage temperature. Conclusion : These results of this study suggested that the root of C. lanceolata may assist in the potential biological activities, and can be used as a source of human health products.

Implantation of the blastocyst into the maternal endometrium, mediated by well-differentiated primary cells of the placenta known as trophoblasts, grow in an invasive via complicated interaction with immune cells in the maternal myometrium. Placenta-derived stem cells (PDSCs), which is a fetal origin, display multi-lineages differentiation potential, and they are free of ethical concerns, easily accessible, abundant, and strongly immunosuppressive. However, the efficiency of PDSCs according to trophoblast invasion or immune modulation in implantation has not yet been evaluated. Here, we investigated the effects of PDSCs for trophoblast invasion as well as their potential for immune modulation of activated T cells when they co-cultured with PDSCs. Activated T cells and HTR-8SV/neo trophoblast cells were co-cultured with PDSCs according to cell dose-dependent manner. Activities for proliferation of T cells were analyzed by BrdU incorporation assay and cell invasions were estimated. Activation of T cells was significantly decreased in the group co-cultured with PDSCs comparing to normal fibroblast cells (p<0.05). In addition, trophoblast invasion by PDSCs have recorded a twofold increase than the normal fibroblast cells. These results contribute to our understanding of the potential roles of PDSCs, including immune modulation effects for trophoblast invasion in pregnancy, and provide a foundation for the development of new cell therapy-based strategies for the treatment of women with implantation.

사철쑥 추출물은 정상폐세포인 HEL299 세포주에 0.5 g/l 이하의 농도로 투여시는 정상세포 생존율을 80% 이상으로 유지시켜 정상세포에 대한 안정성이 유지되었으며, 암세포 생육억제활성은 증류수 및 에탄올 추출물 모두 0.5 mg/ml 이상의 농도에서 유방암세포주인 MCF7에 대하여 88%이상, 폐암세포주인 A549에 대하여서는 모든 추출물에서 0.5 mg/ml의 농도 이상에서 65%이상의 저해를 나타내었다. 또한 간암세포주인 Hep3B에 대하여는, 에탄올 추출물이 87% 이상, 위암세포주인 AGS에 대하여 증류수 추출물이 약 85% 이상의 높은 암세포 생육억제활성을 나타내었다. 또한 정상세포독성에 대한 암세포의 억제율을 나타내는 selectivity에 있어서 각 추출물이 0.1 mg/ml에서 1.0 mg/ml의 농도에서 1.5 이상의 수치를 나타내었다. B와 T 세포주의 생육촉진 실험 결과 배양 기간이 증가함에 따라 세포의 생육이 촉진되었으며, 배양 5일째 0.5 mg/ml의 농도에서 B세포의 생장을 최고 1.2배 이상 증가, T-cell을 1.2~1.5배 이상 생장을 증가시켰으며, 배양 6일째 에탄올 추출물이 IL-6를 67 pg/ml, TNF-α를 물 추출물이 68 pg/ml의 분비 하였다.