Abstract
We investigated dietary effects of cabbage fermentation extract (CFE) and young barley leaf powder (YBLP) on rat immune functions. Male Sprague-Dawley rats of 4 wk age were fed for 3 wk diets containing these samples at 0.1 or 1% level. After the feed-ing period, serum IgG level was significantly higher in the rats fed 1% CFE. IgG productivity of spleen lymphocytes was enhanced dose-dependently in both groups of CFE and YBLP. Furthermore, IgG productivity of mesenteric lymph node (MLN) lymphocytes was approxi-mately 2 times higher in the rats fed 1% CFE diet than in the control ones. IgA productivity of MLN lymphocytes tended to increase in both of CFE and YBLP groups. From these results, it was suggested that dietary CFE and YBLP reinforced Ig productivity in both systemic and intestinal immune systems. Moreover, CFE feeding tended to enhance the production of TNF-α by spleen lymphocytes. In spleen phospholipids, the level of arachidonic acid, a sub-strate for inflammatory lipid mediators, was not affected by CFE or YBLP feeding.
