M.K. Kantah1 , H. Wakasugi 1 , A. Kumari 2 , P . Carrera-Bastos 3 , B. Palmieri 4 , Y. Naito5 , R. Catanzaro6 , R Kobayashi 1 , F.Marotta7
1 Suheiro Chem-Tech Center, Kumamoto, Japan;
2 Université du Québec, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre Eau, Terre and Environnement, Québec, Canada,
3 Center for Primary Health Care Research, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden;
4 Dept. of Surgery, University of Modena, Italy;
5Immunology Research Center and Clinics, Nagoya, Japan;
6 Gastroenterology Unit, Dept. of Internal Medicine, University of Catania, Italy;
7 ReGenera Research Group for Aging Intervention,Milano, Italy
Abstract. Alkylglycerols have shown immune stimulant and adjuvant activity in several studies and the aim of the present research was to assess in particular the effect of shark liver-derived alkylglycerols on gut immune system. C57BL/6 mice, fed under specific pathogen free conditions, were randomly divided into two groups: a) fed normal laboratory food or b) added with alkylglycerols (2 mg/day/mouse) for 3 weeks. Intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) were retrieved from the small intestine and tested for NK and tumor cytotoxicity. Lymphocytes from liver, spleen and IEL were also assessed as for their counting and phenotypic characterization. Under supplementation with alkylglycerols, the number of lymphocytes yielded by the small intestine increased by to almost 40%.Moreover, the ratio of CD8αβ+ TCRαβ+ cells/CD8αα+ TCRαβ+ cells remarkably increased. In parallel with this reshaping in the distribution of lymphocyte subsets, tumor cytotoxicity of IEL against P815 cells and cytokine production from circulating lymphocytes were also en hanced. These data show that phylogenetically developed lymphocytes (CD8αβ+ , TCRαβ+ ) were signifi-
cantly activated by the oral administration of alkylglycerols. The present results indicate that purified alkylglycerols might have such significant potential via the enhancement of intestinal immunity, especially in the small intestine.(www.actabiomedica.it)