Event Abstract Back to Event The effects of astaxanthin in improving age associated declines of Th2 immune responses Motoko Morimoto1*, Shohei Abe1, Noritsugu Azuma1, Sayaka Kamei1 and Kanami Dewa1 1 Miyagi University, School of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Japan [Objective] Astaxanthin is one of the natural antioxidant carotenoid mainly derived from crab,salmon and trout. This study aims to determine whether dietary astaxanthincould modulate mucosal immunity in the gut in aged mice. [Method] Aged (18 months old) Balb/c female mice were orally administered with 6mg/kg body weight of astaxanthin or saline for 4 weeks. After 3 weeks, micewere infected with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis(Nb), which is gastroinfectional nematode in rodents. Tissues were taken from the small intestine, and total RNA was extracted and analyzed by real time PCR for IL-4, IL-13, IL-10, IFNγ and NOS2. For lipid peroxidation measurements in the liver, the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) assay was also performed. [Results] The lipoperoxide level in the 18M mice were significantly higher compared with that in the 3 months old mice. However, it significantly decreased after astaxanthin administration. Aged mice failed worm expulsion with declining Th2 immune responses, while Th2 cytokine gene expression was recovered and worm expulsion progressed in astaxanthin-fed aged mice. INFγ didn’t show any change. NOS2 was down-regulated and IL-10 increased after infection in astaxanthin fed-mice. FACS analysis revealed that CD4+CD25+Foxp3- T cells increased in aged mice, but these cells disappeared after astaxanthin administration. [Conclusions] These data showed that astaxanthin exhibited the effect of inhibition of oxidative stress and improved Th2 immune responses which declined during aging. Keywords: Aging, th2, Parasites, astaxanthin, Oxidative Stress Conference: 15th International Congress of Immunology (ICI), Milan, Italy, 22 Aug - 27 Aug, 2013. Presentation Type: Abstract Topic: Host-pathogen interactions Citation: Morimoto M, Abe S, Azuma N, Kamei S and Dewa K (2013). The effects of astaxanthin in improving age associated declines of Th2 immune responses. Front. Immunol. Conference Abstract: 15th International Congress of Immunology (ICI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fimmu.2013.02.00106 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 10 Mar 2013; Published Online: 22 Aug 2013. * Correspondence: Dr. Motoko Morimoto, Miyagi University, School of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Sendai, Miyagi, 982-0215, Japan, morimoto@myu.ac.jp Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Motoko Morimoto Shohei Abe Noritsugu Azuma Sayaka Kamei Kanami Dewa Google Motoko Morimoto Shohei Abe Noritsugu Azuma Sayaka Kamei Kanami Dewa Google Scholar Motoko Morimoto Shohei Abe Noritsugu Azuma Sayaka Kamei Kanami Dewa PubMed Motoko Morimoto Shohei Abe Noritsugu Azuma Sayaka Kamei Kanami Dewa Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.