TITLE:
Protection of Allergic Asthma in Mice by Black Rice Bran Bioprocessed with Shiitake Mushroom Mycelia
AUTHORS:
Ki Sun Kwon, Woon Sang Hwang, Kyung Hee Lee, Kyung Jin Kim, Wha Young Lee, Jeanman Kim, Sang Jong Lee, Sung Phil Kim, Mendel Friedman
KEYWORDS:
Black Rice Bran, Shiitake Mushrooms, Bioprocessed Functional Food, Mast Cells, Mice Feeding Studies, Bioassays, Cytokines, Immunoglobulins, Bronchial Lavage Fluid, Histology, Anti-Inflammatory Effect, Asthma Prevention, Research Needs
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.14 No.4,
April
26,
2023
ABSTRACT: We evaluated the potential of
orally fed new food formulations to inhibit biomarkers reported to be involved in the causes of
allergic asthma in mice. Asthma, a serious non-communicable disease, affects
both adults and children and can be undertreated. New functional foods could provide
therapeutic approaches. Here, the anti-asthma mechanism of a new functional food and three isolated fractions produced by bioprocessing black rice bran with shiitake mushroom
mycelia was evaluated in mast cells, B cells, and orally fed mice and
compared with non-bioprocessed black rice bran. In vitro, the treatments
inhibited RBL-2H3 cell degranulation and immunoglobulin E (IgE) production. The in vitro anti-asthma effects were
confirmed in orally fed mice following asthma induction by alumina and chicken
egg ovalbumin (OVA). The suppression of asthma resulted from the inhibition of
inflammation- and immune-related
substances, including OVA-specific IgE, thymic stromal lymphopoietin,
eotaxin, leukotriene C4, prostaglandin D2, and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 in
bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and serum. The treatment also reversed the
thickening of the lung airway wall. The inflammation and asthma inhibition seems to be regulated by the
balance of the T-helper cells’ Th1/Th2 immune
response and the inhibition of multiple biomarkers associated with the cause of asthma. Future human
clinical studies with adults and children should determine the potential
therapeutic value of the anti-asthma effects of the new functional foods.