MECHANISTIC EVALUATION OF IMMUNOSTIMULANT PROPERTIES OF TEA ON MURINE MACROPHAGE (RAW264.7) CELL LINE
Vishal Sharma, Piyali Das, Shila Elizabeth Besra*
ABSTRACT
NO plays many more roles in the immune system as well as in other organ systems. Macrophages are key modulator and effectors cells in the immune response, their activation influences and respond to other arms of the immune system. Generation of NO is a feature of genuine immune-system cells (dendritic cells, NK cells, mast cells and phagocytic cells including monocytes, macrophages, microglia, Kupffer cells, eosinophils, and neutrophils). The present study elaborated the immunomodulatory effects of Tea on RAW264.7 cell line. Tea treated cells showed enhancement in NO production whereas it showed marked enhancement when cells were stimulated with rIFN-ϒ. Pretreatment with PDTC and NGMMA to the rIFNϒ plus Tea treated RAW264.7 cells ameliorated NO production as compared to the primed cells. It was found that Tea acted as an accelerator of activation of RAW264.7 cells by rIFNϒ via a process involving L-arginine-dependent NO production and that Tea elevated NO production via activation of NF-Kb signaling pathway. These findings suggest that Tea can be a potential immunostimulant beverage.
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