In Vivo Evaluation of Immune-Enhancing Activity of Red Gamju Fermented by Probiotic KU15154 in Mice.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the immune-enhancing effect of red gamju fermented with KU15154, isolated from kimchi, as a biofunctional beverage using mice. Thirty-two mice were used, and after a 2-week feeding, the growth, cytokine and immunoglobulin production, and immune-related cell activation (phagocytes and natural killer [NK] cells) of the mice were evaluated. The red gamju- (SR) and fermented red gamju- (FSR) treated groups had 3.5-4.0-fold greater T-cell proliferation ability than the negative control group. IFN-γ production in the FSR group (15.5 ± 1.2 mg/mL) was significantly higher ( < 0.05) than that in the SR group (12.5 ± 1.8 mg/mL). The FSR group (502.6 ± 25.8 μg/mL) also showed higher IgG production levels than the SR group (412.2 ± 44.8 μg/mL). The activity of NK cells treated with FSR was also greater than that of cells treated with SR but it was not significant ( ≤ 0.05). Further, the phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophages was higher in both SR and FSR groups than in the control group but was not significantly different ( < 0.05) between the SR and FSR groups. In conclusion, KU15154 may be applied in the fermentation of bioactive food products, such as beverages or pharmaceutical industries, to potentially improve immunity.