J Vet Sci.  2017 Mar;18(1):25-32. 10.4142/jvs.2017.18.1.25.

Effect of fermented soybean products intake on the overall immune safety and function in mice

• Lee JH
• Paek SH
• Shin HW
• Lee SY
• Moon BS
• Park JE
• Lim GD
• Kim CY
• Heo Y

• KMID: 2412584
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4142/jvs.2017.18.1.25

Abstract

Various functional activities have been reported for the fermented soybean products doenjang (DJ) and cheonggukjang (CGJ), although no systemic investigations of their immune functions have been conducted to date. We examined the effects of an experimental diet of DJ, CGJ, or a mixture of unfermented raw material for 4 weeks on overall immunity and immune safety in mice. No significant alterations were observed in peripheral or splenic immune cells among groups. Enhanced splenic natural killer cell activity was observed in the DJ and CGJ groups compared with the plain diet group. T helper type-1 (Th1)-mediated immune responses were enhanced in the DJ and CGJ groups with an upregulated production ratio of IFN-γ vs. IL-4 and IgG2a vs. IgG1 in stimulated splenic T and B cells, respectively. Resistance to Listeria monocytogenes infection was observed in the DJ and CGJ groups. Overall, the results of this study suggest that DJ and CGJ intake consolidates humoral and cellular immunity to Th1 responses.

Keyword

cheonggukjang; doenjang; immunity; mice; soybean products

MeSH Terms

Animal Feed/analysis
Animals
Diet
Fermentation
*Immunity, Innate
Listeriosis/immunology/microbiology/*veterinary
Male
Mice/*immunology/metabolism
Mice, Inbred BALB C
Rodent Diseases/*immunology/microbiology
Soybeans/*metabolism

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Effect of a 4 week experimental diet of doenjang (DJ), cheonggukjang (CGJ), or unfermented raw material mixture (UF) on interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin (IL)-4 production from splenic T cells stimulated ex vivo compared with standard rodent chow intake (Plain). The IFN-γ IL-4 ratio was calculated by dividing the IFN-γ level with the IL-4 level and then multiplying the result by 100 for each individual culture supernatant. Values are expressed as the mean ± SEM for seven mice per group. *p < 0.05 vs. the plain group. †p < 0.05 vs. the UF group. ‡p < 0.05 vs. the CGJ group.

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