Graduate School of Health and Sports Science, Juntendo University, Inzai 270-1695, Chiba, Japan.
Nutrients. 2021 Nov 15;13(11):4079. doi: 10.3390/nu13114079.
A systematic examination of the effects of traditional herbal medicines including their mechanisms could allow for their effective use and provide opportunities to develop new medicines. Coix seed has been suggested to promote spontaneous regression of viral skin infection. Purified oil from coix seed has also been suggested to increase the peripheral CD4 lymphocytes. We, herein, attempt to shed more light on the way through which coix seed affects the human systemic immune function by hypothesizing that a central role to these changes could be played through changes in the gut microbiota. To that end, healthy adult males ( = 19) were divided into two groups; 11 of them consumed cooked coix seed (160 g per day) for 7 days (intervention), while the other eight were given no intervention. One week of coix seed consumption lead to an increase of the intestinal abundance and of the abundance (as % presence of overall peripheral lymphocytes) of CD3CD8 cells, CD4 cells, CD4CD25 cells, and naïve/memory T cell ratio. As the relationship of microbiota and skin infection has not been clarified, our findings could provide a clue to a mechanism through which coix seed could promote the spontaneous regression of viral skin infections.
系统地研究传统草药的作用及其机制，可以使其得到有效利用，并为开发新药提供机会。薏苡仁被认为可以促进病毒皮肤感染的自然消退。薏苡仁的纯化油也被认为可以增加外周血 CD4 淋巴细胞。我们在此假设，薏苡仁影响人体全身免疫功能的途径可能是通过改变肠道微生物群来实现的，从而试图更深入地了解薏苡仁的作用方式。为此，将 19 名健康成年男性分为两组；其中 11 名连续 7 天（干预组）每天食用煮熟的薏苡仁（160 克），而另外 8 名则不进行干预。薏苡仁的食用增加了肠道内 CD3CD8 细胞、CD4 细胞、CD4CD25 细胞和幼稚/记忆 T 细胞比例的丰度和（作为外周血淋巴细胞总比例的存在）。由于肠道微生物群与皮肤感染的关系尚未明确，我们的发现可能为薏苡仁促进病毒皮肤感染自然消退的机制提供了线索。
