Effects of lentinan on the function of phagocyte in long-term heavy-duty exercising mice

Abstract

Excessive exercise can lead to decreased immune function of phagocytes. This study used 50 male Kunming mice aged 40 days to evaluate the effects of lentinan (LNT) on the number of functional blood cells, the phagocytosis, peripheral blood neutrophils, and peritoneal macrophages of long-term heavy-duty exercising mice. The mice were subjected to 45 min of 5% load weight swimming training for 4 weeks, 6 times per week. Different doses of LNT were administered in the HL + T group (400 mg/kg/day), ML + T group (200 mg/kg/day), LL + T group (100 mg/kg/day), and S + T group (saline only) during the 4 weeks of excessive exercise. The phagocytic function of mice in each group was measured after long-term heavy-load exercise. The results showed that the number of white blood cells decreased significantly; the number of neutrophils and the phagocytic index of blood neutrophils in mice were significantly decreased at the end of the exercise. The macrophage phagocytosis index also decreased significantly on the fourth day after the end of the exercise. The difference was significant, and the difference in the phagocytosis rate was not obvious. The numbers of white blood cells in ML + T and HL + T groups were significantly higher than that in S + T and LL + T groups. The number of neutrophils in the ML + T and HL + T groups was significantly higher than that in the S + T and LL + T groups. The phagocytic rate and phagocytic index of neutrophils in the HL + T group were also significantly higher than those in the S + T group. The macrophage phagocytosis rate of ML + T and LL + T mice was significantly higher than that of S + T, and the phagocytic index difference was not significant. Four weeks of heavy-load exercise resulted in a decrease in phagocytic immune function in mice. Excessive exercise while feeding on LNT can improve the immune function of mice phagocytic cells. There was a positive correlation between the effect of LNT on the function of phagocytes and the LNT dose.