Liu M, Zhang J T
Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.
Yao Xue Xue Bao. 1995 Nov;30(11):818-23.
It has been well documented that the immune function declines with age in the human and animals. The possible causes for the decline are the inability of lymphocytes to proliferate in response to mitogenic stimulation and the decrease of IL-2 production. In the present studies, Rg1 was shown to selectively enhance the proliferation of lymphocytes and the production of IL-2 in aged rats. Using Northern blot and Western blot analyses, Rg1 was found to promote IL-2 gene expression which showed increase of IL-2 mRNA and IL-2 protein contents. Interestingly, under the same conditions, studies were carried out on the effect of Rg1 on the immune function of young adult rats, but no marked influence was observed. According to these results, it is reasonable to consider Rg1 an immunoregulator rather than a purely "immunopotentiating agent".
已有充分文献证明，在人类和动物中，免疫功能会随着年龄增长而下降。免疫功能下降的可能原因是淋巴细胞无法响应有丝分裂原刺激而增殖以及白细胞介素 - 2（IL - 2）产生减少。在本研究中，人参皂苷Rg1被证明可选择性增强老年大鼠淋巴细胞的增殖和IL - 2的产生。通过Northern印迹和Western印迹分析发现，Rg1可促进IL - 2基因表达，表现为IL - 2 mRNA和IL - 2蛋白含量增加。有趣的是，在相同条件下，对Rg1对年轻成年大鼠免疫功能的影响进行了研究，但未观察到明显影响。根据这些结果，有理由认为Rg1是一种免疫调节剂，而不是单纯的“免疫增强剂”。
