• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.21 no.7
• /
• pp.1027-1032
• /
• 2008

A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary yeast derived ${\beta}$-glucan and single-strain probiotics on the growth performance and antibody response in broiler chicks. Six hundred and thirty 1-d-old male broiler chicks were divided into seven groups, placed into three pens per group (30 birds per pen) and fed one of seven non-medicated corn-SBM based experimental diets containing 0.025, 0.05 or 0.1% Saccharomyces cerevisiae ${\beta}$-glucan and 0.05, 0.1 or 0.2% Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (BA-pro, $1.3{\times}10^9/g$) or devoid of them for 5 wk. The body weight gains in groups fed diets containing 0.025 or 0.1% ${\beta}$-glucan, 0.1% or 0.2% BA-pro were significantly higher (p<0.05) than the control over 1-35 d. Feed conversion rates of groups fed ${\beta}$-glucan and BA-pro tended to be improved compared to the control group. There were no significant differences in the relative weights of liver, abdominal fat and breast muscle. No significant differences were observed in the activities of serum enzymes and concentrations of various cholesterol fractions. The antibody titers against Newcastle disease or infectious bronchitis virus in the chicks fed diets containing ${\beta}$-glucan and BA-pro were significantly higher (p<0.05) than in the control. The concentrations of cecal lactic acid bacteria in all groups fed BA-pro were significantly increased (p<0.05) compared to the control. These results indicated that dietary yeast derived ${\beta}$-glucan and BA-pro exerted growth-promoting and immune-enhancing effects in broiler chickens. In addition, BA-pro added to the diets modulated the profiles of cecal microflora, reflecting a potential to be beneficial microorganisms in chickens.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.47 no.4
• /
• pp.345-351
• /
• 2009

The $\beta$-glucans derived from yeast cell walls have been reported for having many immunomodulatory activities in vivo and in vitro. In this study, Aureobasidium-derived soluble branched (1,3-1,6) $\beta$-glucan (Sophy $\beta$-glucan) was checked for natural killer (NK) activity and for the production of IFN-$\gamma$ and IL-4 in Leishmania amazonensis infection. The main experiment was performed with a group of female C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice, orally supplemented with 5% of Sophy $\beta$-glucan and infected with promastogotes of L. amazonensis ($1\;{\times}\;10^7$) into the footpad. Increase in the footpad thickness with time was observed in BALB/c mice in spite of the oral Sophy $\beta$-glucan supplement, but it was less in C57BL/6 mice. The difference in overall mean footpad thickness between 'infection only' versus 'infection + glucan' groups was statistically significant (P < 0.001). High NK activity in C57BL/6 than BALB/c mice was observed in 'glucan only' group compared to the control group and also in 'infection + glucan' group compared to 'infection only' group. The difference in the NK activity among these groups was significant (P < 0.05). The IFN-$\gamma$ level increased at weeks 7 and 8 post-infection in C57BL/6 mice and was significantly high in 'infection + glucan' group compared to the 'infection only' group (P < 0.05). IL-4 levels did not increase up to detectable levels throughout the study. The results led a conclusion that Sophy $\beta$-glucan enhances NK activity and cellular immunity in L. amazonensis-infected mice.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.83-91
• /
• 2009

$\beta$-glucan is a fiber-type complex sugar (polysaccharide) derived from the cell wall of baker's yeast, oat and barley fiber, and many medicinal mushrooms, such as maitake. The primary uses of $\beta$-glucan are to enhance the immune system, to lower blood cholesterol levels and to treat tumor. $\beta$-glucan has no systemic toxicity in mice, therefore it needed clinical trail to prove efficacy and safety for human. The subjects total 56 healty volunteers were divided into two groups including taken $\beta$-glucan tablet group and placebo group. Subjects were taken two tablets per oral for 4 weeks. They had agreed to take part in this experiment, and didn't take any other clinical trail products. After 4 weeks blood of subjects were checked. The check list are TNF-$\alpha$, INF-$\gamma$, IL-2, IL-4, total WBC, differential WBC, RBC, hemoglobin, platelet, MCV, MCH, MCHC, HCT, Na, K, Ca, Cl, AST, ALT, ALP, $\gamma$-GTP, total protein, triglyceride, total cholesterol, total bilirubin, albumin, uric acid, creatinine, BUN, pH, protein, glucose, ketone body, blood, bilirubin. We evaluated efficacy by cytokines that compare before and after taking. Collected data were analyzed as two sample t-test, chi-square test and ANOVA using SAS V.9.1.This study results are that in TNF-$\alpha$ of $1^{st}$ efficacy measurement item, all of two groups figure were increased significantly compare to before figure. In IL4 of $2^{nd}$ efficacy measurement item, experimental group figure were decreased significantly but placebo group figure were increased. The conclusions show that based on the above results, $\beta$-glucan has favorable effect to enhance immune system, especially IL4 results showed that it has effect to improve the allergic immune system.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.141-146
• /
• 2010

Cisplatin(cis-diamminedichloroplatium) is one of the most effective anti-cancer drugs being clinically used in the treatment of solid tumors. Despite its therapeutic benefits, its use in clinical practice is often limited because of dose related toxicity. It is known that yeast cell wall beta-glucans possess immuno-modulating properties, which allows for their application in antitumor therapy. IS2 is a kind of beta-glucan derived from the cell wall of mutated Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which exhibits anti-cancer activity in vitro and in vivo. The present study explored the possibility of combination therapy of IS2 with cisplatin. In experimental metastasis of colon26-M3.1 cells, prophylactic intravenous administration of IS-2 in combination with cisplatin effectively inhibited tumor metastasis compared with cisplatin alone or IS-2 treatment in vivo. IS-2 effectively enhanced Th1 type cytokines including IFN-$\gamma$, IL-2, IL-12 and GM-CSF. Simultaneously, this combined treatment inhibited production of Th2 type cytokines compared with control. These results suggested that IS-2 can be applied in combination therapy with anti-cancer drugs to minimize their side effects.

• Herbal Formula Science
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.45-55
• /
• 2021

Objectives : This study was conducted to evaluate the anti-atrophic effect of polycan in dexamethasone-induced skeletal muscle atrophy in vitro model. Methods : C2C12 myoblast were differentiated into myotube by 2% horese serum medium for 6 days, and then treated polycan extract at different concentrations for 24h. The effect of dexamethasone on the induction of muscle atrophy and expression of atrophy-related genes in differentiated C2C12 myotubes using a GSH, ROS, real-time PCR, western blots analysis. Results : The results showed that Treatment with polycan (100 and 200 ㎍/㎖) noncytotoxic levels on both myoblast and myotube. Polycan decreased the ROS level overproduced with dexamethasone and improved the depletion of GSH level. Dexamethasone showed a decrease in myotube diameter, which was associated with up-regulation muscle-specific ubiquitin ligases markers, such as atrogin-1, FoxO3, myostatin and muscle RING finger-1 (MuRF1), and down-regulation of myogenin, MEF2, Myogenic regulatory factor 5, 6 and MyoD. The results showed that polycan treatment significantly dose-dependently inhibited it. Furthermore, decreased expressions of PI3K/Akt signal pathway by dexamethasone were reversed by treatment with polycan. Conclusions : Thus, polycan suppresses dexamethasone induced muscle atrophy in C2C12 myotube in vitro model through activation of PI3K/Akt pathway and protective effect of improve skeletal muscle function.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.13 no.8
• /
• pp.1178-1187
• /
• 2000

Many immunostimulating substances have been developed to improve immunity of domestic animals, although their exact mode of action and effects are not clearly defined, and they are now widely used in feed industry. Bacterial lipopolysaccharides, called endotoxin, in particular may have a profound effect not only on the immune system but also on macrophages of the reticuloendothelial system. Glucans from a variety of yeast cell wall have been shown to stimulate both specific and non-specific immune responses and to increase growth performance in pigs. Recently, there has been great interest in the role of complex carbohydrates in disease prevention and treatment. Mannanoligosaccharide is a glucomannoprotein complex derived from the cell wall of yeast. Generally, it was also known that the deficiencies of some major vitamins (vitamin A, E and C) and minerals (chromium and selenium) lead to impaired immune system and, as a result, immune function is depressed and recovery delayed. On the other hand, many researchers suggested that one possible reason for the superior performance observed in pigs fed plasma protein may be because of the presence of biologically active plasma proteins (e.g., immunoglobulins) which are known to contribute to the health of the starter pig. And, immunoglobulins present in plasma protein have been implicated as contributing to the overall immunocompetence of the newborn pig. Other immunostimulants, lactoferrin and lysozyme, mainly found in milk and egg white, have been known as having bacteriocidal and bacteriolytic effect. When considering practical use of immunostimulants, the concept of using immunostimulants is new to many people and, in most cases, it is poorly understood how and why such compounds act, and how they should be used in practice. Therefore, in order to clarify the reason for discrepancies in results, special attention should be paid to the dose/response relationship of immunostimulants and the duration of the effect.