ヨクイニンエキスによる免疫賦活作用

抄録

Yokuinin （Coix lacryma-jobi var. ma-yuen seed extracts) is a traditional chinese medicine, which has been used for treatment of warts, chapped skin, rheumatism, and inflammatory diseases. Yokuinin has anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative stress, anti-tumor, analgesic, blood sugar-lowering, and immunomodulatory effects. However, the molecular mechanism by which Yokuinin have immunomodulatory effects remains largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that Yokuinin regulated the production of cytokines in bone marrow derived -macrophages （BMDMs) and -dendritic cells （BMDCs).

We have analyzed the levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in the culture-media samples collected from non-treated and Yokuinin crude extracts （YCEs)-treated BMDMs and BMDCs. We found that YCEs induced TNF-α and IL-6 production were significantly increased in dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, Coix polysaccharides （CPS) could increase the production of TNF-α and IL-6 via NF-κB and MAP kinase pathway in macrophages. These results suggest that CPS is a potentially immunomodulatory for activating macrophages.