Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol. 2012 Feb;34(1):174-80. doi: 10.3109/08923973.2011.584066. Epub 2011 Jun 2.
Garlic (Allium sativum) is known for its innumerable biological activities including immunomodulation. Aged garlic extract (AGE), an odorless garlic preparation, has been shown to have superior immunomodulatory properties over raw garlic extract. Although garlic is a very rich source of fructans (17%, fresh weight basis), AGE contains only 0.22% of raw garlic fructans. Aged garlic fructans (AGF) have recently been shown to possess immunomodulatory activities in vitro. Natural adjuvants capable of eliciting better immune response of a model antigen are important in developing newer vaccines. In the present study, the adjuvant activity of AGF has been investigated in BALB/c mice using ovalbumin (OVA, 30 µg) as an experimental antigen. The body weights of animals did not change significantly indicating that the administration of garlic fructans is well-tolerated. AGF produce a significant humoral (serum IgG) response to OVA in BALB/c mice administered mucosally by either intranasal or oral route--a delayed response appearing on 50th day at a dose of 30 µg AGF by intranasal route. However, the serum IgG response was seen earlier on 35th day at a dose of 100 µg AGF by oral route. Higher concentrations of AGF (>50 µg) were inhibitory for adjuvant activity by intranasal administration. These observations indicate that AGF display immunoadjuvant activity for a test antigen though the humoral immune response is delayed.
大蒜（Allium sativum）以其无数的生物活性而闻名，包括免疫调节。经过陈化的大蒜提取物（AGE）是一种无味的大蒜制剂，其免疫调节特性优于生大蒜提取物。尽管大蒜是一种非常丰富的果聚糖来源（17%，鲜重基础），但 AGE 仅含有生大蒜果聚糖的 0.22%。最近研究表明，陈化大蒜果聚糖（AGF）具有体外免疫调节活性。在开发新型疫苗时，能够引发模型抗原更好免疫反应的天然佐剂非常重要。在本研究中，使用卵清蛋白（OVA，30 µg）作为实验抗原，在 BALB/c 小鼠中研究了 AGF 的佐剂活性。动物体重没有明显变化，表明大蒜果聚糖的给药是可以耐受的。AGF 通过鼻内或口服途径经黏膜给予 BALB/c 小鼠时，可引起针对 OVA 的显著体液（血清 IgG）反应-通过鼻内途径给予 30 µg AGF 的剂量在第 50 天出现延迟反应。然而，通过口服途径给予 100 µg AGF 的剂量，血清 IgG 反应更早出现，在第 35 天出现。鼻内给予更高浓度的 AGF（>50 µg）会抑制佐剂活性。这些观察结果表明，尽管体液免疫反应延迟，但 AGF 对测试抗原显示出免疫佐剂活性。
