Lin Bi-Fong, Chiang Bor-Luen, Lin Jin-Yuarn
Department of Biochemical Science and Technology, Institute of Microbiology and Biochemistry, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Int Immunopharmacol. 2005 Apr;5(4):711-22. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2004.12.001.
Amaranthus spinosus Linn. (thorny amaranth), a plant that grows in the wild fields of Taiwan, is extensively used in Chinese traditional medicine to treat diabetes. There have been no published studies on the immunological effects of A. spinosus. To determine whether A. spinosus has immuno-modulatory effects and clarify which types of immune effector cells are stimulated in vitro, we investigated the stimulatory effect of wild A. spinosus water extract (WASWE) on spleen cells from female BALB/c mice. We found that WASWE significantly stimulated splenocyte proliferation. However, isolated B lymphocytes, but not T lymphocytes, could be stimulated by WASWE in a dose response manner. After sequentially purifying WASWE, a novel immuno-stimulating protein (GF1) with a molecular weight of 313 kDa was obtained. The immuno-stimulating activity of the purified protein (GF1) was 309 times higher than that of WASWE. These results indicate that WASWE does indeed exhibit immuno-stimulating activity via directly stimulating B lymphocyte activation in vitro. Further, these results suggest that the immuno-stimulating effects of WASWE might lead to B lymphocyte activation and subsequent T cell proliferation in vitro. These results are potentially valuable for future nutraceutical and immuno-pharmacological use of WASWE or its purified fractions.
刺苋（Amaranthus spinosus Linn.）是一种生长在台湾野外的植物，在中国传统医学中被广泛用于治疗糖尿病。目前尚无关于刺苋免疫作用的已发表研究。为了确定刺苋是否具有免疫调节作用，并阐明在体外刺激的是哪种类型的免疫效应细胞，我们研究了野生刺苋水提取物（WASWE）对雌性BALB/c小鼠脾细胞的刺激作用。我们发现WASWE能显著刺激脾细胞增殖。然而，WASWE能以剂量反应方式刺激分离的B淋巴细胞，但不能刺激T淋巴细胞。对WASWE进行逐步纯化后，获得了一种分子量为313 kDa的新型免疫刺激蛋白（GF1）。纯化蛋白（GF1）的免疫刺激活性比WASWE高309倍。这些结果表明，WASWE确实通过在体外直接刺激B淋巴细胞活化而表现出免疫刺激活性。此外，这些结果表明，WASWE的免疫刺激作用可能导致体外B淋巴细胞活化及随后的T细胞增殖。这些结果对于WASWE或其纯化组分未来在营养保健品和免疫药理学方面的应用可能具有重要价值。
