BPB Reports

Paper Details

BPB Reports
Vol. 4 No. 4 p.98-102 2021
Report
Immunomodulatory Activity of an Aqueous Extract of Mycelium of an Endophytic-Like Fungus, Ustilago esculenta
  • Makoto Tsuiji (Department of Microbiology, Hoshi University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences / m-tsuiji@hoshi.ac.jp)
  • Tsutomu Tsuji (Department of Microbiology, Hoshi University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences / Present affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Josai University / tsuji@hoshi.ac.jp)
Makoto Tsuiji 1) , Junko Nagasaka 1) , Yoshimasa Yajima 1) , Keita Nishiumi 1) , Yasutaka Kojima 1) , Miho Amemiya 1) , Wakana Ogura 1) , Takaaki Moriyama 1) , Tomoko Sakai 1) , Teruaki Oku 1) , Tsutomu Tsuji 1) 2)
1) Department of Microbiology, Hoshi University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences , 2) Present affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Josai University
Received: March 08, 2021;   Accepted: June 30, 2021;   Released: July 30, 2021
Keywords: immunomodulation, Ustilago esculenta, smut fungus, IgG subtype, Th1/Th2 balance
Abstracts

An aqueous extract of mycelium of Ustilago esculenta, an endophytic-like fungus, was intraperitoneally administered to mice with a model antigen (NP-BSA) and aluminum adjuvant (Alum). Blood was periodically collected from the tail veins of the mice, and the antibody titer against NP-BSA and/or BSA in the serum was measured by ELISA. The aqueous U. esculenta extract had no significant effect on the IgM and IgG antibody titers in the primary response but greatly lowered those in the secondary response. When the antibody titers of the IgG subtypes were separately measured, the ratios of IgG2b/IgG1 and IgG2c/IgG1 titers in the mice treated with the U. esculenta extract were markedly lower than those in the control mice treated with NP-BSA/Alum. The Bio-PlexTM cytokine assay revealed that the concentrations of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and interleukin-12 (IL-12 (p70)) in peripheral blood from U. esculenta extract-treated mice were decreased as compared with those from the control mice three weeks after the initial immunization. These results suggest that the aqueous extract of mycelium of U. esculenta suppressed antibody production in the secondary response and that changes of the Th1/Th2 balance were involved in this process.