Abstract
The decreases in the glutathione (GSH) level in the mouse spleen and liver after immune stimulation are suppressed by the oral administration of cystine and theanine (CT). GSH is considered to be important for the control of immune responses. Antibody production in mice after infection is enhanced by the oral administration of CT. In humans, also, the oral administration of CT has been confirmed to enhance antibody production after vaccination against Flu and also reduce the incidence of cold. However, the GSH level is reduced by intense exercise and surgery. In clinical studies of body-builders and long-distance runners, the intake of CT suppressed excessive inflammatory reactions and a decline in immune functions after intense training. Surgery as well as intense exercise induces excessive inflammatory reactions. In mice, the preoperative administration of CT suppressed excessive inflammatory reactions associated with surgery and promoted the postoperative recovery. Moreover, in clinical studies of gastrectomized patients, CT intake suppressed excessive postoperative inflammatory reactions and induced early recovery. If infection is regarded as invasive stress, CT intake is considered to exhibit an immunomodulatory effect by suppressing the decrease in GSH due to invasive stress. The clarification of their detailed action mechanisms and their application as medical or function foods is anticipated.
Highlights
Cystine is a sulfur-containing amino acid consisting of 2 cysteine molecules connected by an S-S bond
In an experiment using mice orally administered cystine and theanine alone or in combination before immune stimulation, no significant increase in the GSH level was observed in the liver after immune stimulation in the groups administered either agent alone compared with the control group, but it was significantly increased, and the antigen-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) G production in blood was significantly augmented, in the group administered both agents (Kurihara et al 2007)
As mentioned in this review, cystine and theanine (CT) were shown by clinical studies to enhance the antibody-producing ability on infection and suppress excessive inflammatory reactions induced by intense exercise and surgery
Summary
Cystine is a sulfur-containing amino acid consisting of 2 cysteine molecules connected by an S-S bond. We carried out clinical studies to evaluate the effects of CT intake on changes in immune functions before and after intense training using college body-builders as a model of resistance training and college long-distance runners as a model of endurance exercise (Kawada et al 2010; Murakami et al 2009).
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