Abstract
Immunomodulation involves two mechanisms, immunostimulation and immunosuppression. It is a complex mechanism that regulates the pathophysiology and pathogenesis of various diseases affecting the immune system. Immunomodulators can be used as immunostimulators to reduce the side effects of drugs that induce immunosuppression. In this study, we characterized the chemical composition of high molecular weight fucoidan (HMWF) and low molecular weight fucoidan and compared their functions as natural killer (NK) cell-derived immunostimulators in vitro. We also tested the effectiveness of HMWF, which has a relatively high function in vitro, as an immunostimulator in immunosuppressed animal models. In these models, HWMF significantly restored NK cell cytotoxicity and granzyme B release to the control group level. In addition, the expression of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-12, interferon (IFN)-γ, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α also increased in the spleen. This study suggests that HMWF acts as an effective immunostimulant under immunosuppressive conditions.
Highlights
There are two mechanisms for immunomodulation—immune stimulation and immunosuppression
Previous studies have shown that the ratio of fucose to galactose in fucoidan extracted from homozygous sporophyll is close to 1:1 [10,12,20]
If treated at the same concentration, a marked rise in the number of natural killer (NK) cells in the high molecular weight fucoidan (HMWF)-treated group means that it may be more effective in immunomodulation
Summary
There are two mechanisms for immunomodulation—immune stimulation and immunosuppression. Cyclophosphamide (CY), one of the most commonly prescribed anticancer agents since 1958, has been used to treat autoimmune and immune-mediated diseases with prodrugs and immunosuppressive agents for cancer therapy [2]. This compound is an alkylating agent, and the main mechanism of action is DNA alkylation, which inhibits DNA synthesis and induces apoptosis [3]. Immunomodulators can be used in these situations as immune stimulators to reduce the side effects of drugs that induce immunosuppression [1]. We attempt to characterize fucoidan by comparing the chemical components of LMWF and HMWF, and showing that HMWF has significant immunoregulatory and immune-promoting functions in an immunosuppressed animal model
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