Lee Mee-Young, Ahn Kyung-Seop, Kwon Ok-Kyung, Kim Mee-Jin, Kim Mi-Kyoung, Lee In-Young, Oh Sei-Ryang, Lee Hyeong-Kyu
Natural Medicine Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, P.O. Box 115, Yusung, Daejeon 305-600, Korea.
Immunobiology. 2007;212(8):647-54. doi: 10.1016/j.imbio.2007.05.004. Epub 2007 Jul 10.
Kefir is a microbial symbiont mixture that produces jelly-like grains. As a widely used neutraceutical, however, the therapeutic applicability of kefir is not certain. In order to investigate the pharmacological effects of kefir, we used a mouse asthma model, in which airway inflammation and airway remodeling was produced by ovalbumin sensitization and challenge. BALB/c mice sensitized and challenged to ovalbumin, were treated with kefir (50mg/kg administered by intra-gastric mode) 1h before the ovalbumin challenge. Kefir significantly suppressed ovalbumin-induced airway hyper-responsiveness (AHR) to inhaled methacholine. Intra-gastric administration of kefir significantly inhibited the increase in the total inflammatory cell count induced by ovalbumin, and the eosinophil count in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Type 2 helper T cell (Th2) cytokines, such as interleukin-4 and interleukin-13, and total immunoglobulin E (Ig E) levels, were also reduced to normal levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Histological studies demonstrate that kefir substantially inhibited ovalbumin-induced eosinophilia in lung tissue and mucus hyper-secretion by goblet cells in the airway. Kefir displayed anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effects in a mouse asthma model and may possess new therapeutic potential for the treatment of allergic bronchial asthma.
开菲尔是一种能产生果冻状颗粒的微生物共生体混合物。然而，作为一种广泛使用的营养保健品，开菲尔的治疗适用性尚不确定。为了研究开菲尔的药理作用，我们使用了小鼠哮喘模型，其中通过卵清蛋白致敏和激发产生气道炎症和气道重塑。对卵清蛋白致敏并激发的BALB/c小鼠，在卵清蛋白激发前1小时用开菲尔（通过胃内给药方式给予50mg/kg）进行治疗。开菲尔显著抑制了卵清蛋白诱导的对吸入乙酰甲胆碱的气道高反应性（AHR）。胃内给予开菲尔显著抑制了卵清蛋白诱导的总炎症细胞计数增加以及支气管肺泡灌洗液（BALF）中的嗜酸性粒细胞计数。2型辅助性T细胞（Th2）细胞因子，如白细胞介素-4和白细胞介素-13，以及支气管肺泡灌洗液中的总免疫球蛋白E（Ig E）水平也降至正常水平。组织学研究表明，开菲尔显著抑制了肺组织中卵清蛋白诱导的嗜酸性粒细胞增多以及气道杯状细胞的黏液过度分泌。开菲尔在小鼠哮喘模型中显示出抗炎和抗过敏作用，可能对过敏性支气管哮喘的治疗具有新的治疗潜力。
