Institute of Medical Mycology, Teikyo University, Tokyo, Japan.
Genome Pharmaceuticals Institute Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
Drug Discov Ther. 2021 May 11;15(2):51-54. doi: 10.5582/ddt.2021.01020. Epub 2021 Mar 19.
Bombyx mori, the silkworm, has biological functions in common with mammals, including humans. Since the molecular design of silkworm's innate immune system is analogous to that of mammals, understanding the silkworm's innate immunity is expected to contribute to the control of infection in humans. It is also possible to use silkworms to explore foodstuffs that activate innate immunity. Lactic acid bacteria have long been used in the production of fermented foods, and in recent years, their use as supplements has been attracting attention. Using silkworms, which are laboratory animals, functional lactic acid bacteria can be explored and isolated at low cost. Fermented foods produced by this method are expected to contribute to the maintenance of human health. In addition to the immune system, humans and silkworms share a common mechanism for maintaining blood glucose homeostasis, and it is possible to construct a pathological model of diabetes and search for therapeutic substances using silkworms. Taken together, we propose that the silkworm is useful for assessing the functions of lactic acid bacterial for health purposes.
家蚕与哺乳动物（包括人类）具有生物功能上的共性。由于家蚕先天免疫系统的分子设计类似于哺乳动物，因此了解家蚕的先天免疫有望有助于控制人类的感染。也可以利用家蚕来探索激活先天免疫的食品。乳酸菌长期以来一直用于发酵食品的生产，近年来，它们作为补充剂的用途引起了人们的关注。使用家蚕这种实验动物，可以低成本地探索和分离具有功能的乳酸菌。通过这种方法生产的发酵食品有望有助于维持人类健康。除了免疫系统之外，人类和家蚕还具有维持血糖稳态的共同机制，因此可以使用家蚕构建糖尿病的病理模型并寻找治疗物质。总之，我们提出家蚕可用于评估乳酸菌的健康功能。
