Immunomodulatory Effect of Flammulina rossica Fermentation Extract on Healthy and Immunosuppressed Mice

Flammulina rossica fermentation extract (FREP) was obtained by ethanol precipitation of the fermentation broth. The molecular weight of FREP is 28.52 kDa, and it mainly contains active ingredients such as polysaccharides, proteins, reducing sugars, and 16 amino acids. Among them, the polysaccharides were mannose, glucose, galactose, arabinose, and fucose and possessed & beta;-glycosidic bonds. Furthermore, the immunoregulatory activities of FREP were investigated in vivo. The results demonstrated that FREP could increase the counts of CD4+ T lymphocytes and the ratio of CD4+/CD8+ in a dose-dependent manner in healthy mice. In addition, FREP significantly increased serum cytokines, including IL-2, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-6, IL-1 & beta;, INF-& gamma;, C-rection protein, and TNF-& alpha;, and promoted splenocyte proliferation in healthy mice. Finally, FREP could restore the counts of white blood cells, red blood cells, secretory immunoglobulin A, and antibody-forming cells and significantly promote the serum haemolysin level in mice treated with cyclophosphamide. The findings indicated that FREP possessed immunoregulatory activity in healthy mice and could improve the immune functions in immunosuppressive mice. Therefore, FREP could be exploited as an immunomodulatory agent and potential immunotherapeutic medicine for patients with inadequate immune function.

Automated summary

Flammulina rossica fermentation extract (FREP) was obtained by ethanol precipitation and had a molecular weight of 28.52 kDa. It mainly contained active ingredients such as polysaccharides, proteins, reducing sugars, and amino acids. The immunoregulatory activities of FREP were investigated in healthy and immunosuppressive mice, and the results showed that FREP could increase lymphocyte counts, cytokine levels, and promote cell proliferation. Finally, FREP could restore blood cell counts and improve immune function in immunosuppressive mice, indicating its potential as an immunomodulatory agent.