Research Center, Morinaga & Co. Ltd., Yokohama 230-8504, Japan,
Cytotechnology. 2003 Nov;43(1-3):33-40. doi: 10.1023/b:cyto.0000039908.34387.d3.
Amaranthus hypochondriacus L. (amaranth) is a nutritionally protein rich plant with a good yield, but there has been no research concerning its immunological effects in vivo or in vitro. In the present study, we examined the effects of amaranth grain on cytokine and IgE production using in vitro helper T cell development and IgE production assays and an animal model of an orally-induced, allergen-specific IgE response. First, we examined the effect of orally administered amaranth on serum IgE concentration which reflects the immune response during allergic disease. We observed significantly decreased (p < 0.05) allergen-specific IgE in the blood of mice in our animal model. We found that orally fed amaranth significantly augmented (p < 0.05) IFN-gamma production of spleen cells. In vitro studies demonstrated that the water-soluble fraction of amaranth grain promoted helper T cell type-1 (Th1) phenotype development. Moreover, we found that the amaranth grain extract suppressed antigen-specific IgE production in vitro. These data indicate that there is a component in amaranth grain which has a suppressive effect on IgE production and augments Th1 cytokine production. In conclusion, we found that amaranth grain and its extract inhibited antigen-specific IgE production through augmenting Th1 cytokine responses in vivo and in vitro.
反枝苋（苋菜）是一种营养丰富、蛋白质含量高的植物，具有良好的产量，但目前还没有关于其体内或体外免疫学效应的研究。在本研究中，我们使用体外辅助性 T 细胞发育和 IgE 产生测定以及口服诱导的过敏原特异性 IgE 反应的动物模型，研究了苋菜籽对细胞因子和 IgE 产生的影响。首先，我们研究了口服苋菜籽对反映过敏疾病期间免疫反应的血清 IgE 浓度的影响。我们在动物模型中观察到，过敏原特异性 IgE 在血液中的浓度显著降低（p<0.05）。我们发现，口服给予苋菜籽可显著增加（p<0.05）脾细胞 IFN-γ的产生。体外研究表明，苋菜籽的水溶性部分可促进辅助性 T 细胞 1（Th1）表型的发育。此外，我们发现苋菜籽提取物可抑制体外抗原特异性 IgE 的产生。这些数据表明，苋菜籽中存在一种成分，可通过体内和体外增强 Th1 细胞因子反应抑制 IgE 的产生。总之，我们发现苋菜籽及其提取物通过增强体内和体外 Th1 细胞因子反应抑制抗原特异性 IgE 的产生。
