Abstract:

The aim of this study was to investigate effects of extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) produced by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on immunologic function of mice. 220 mice (half female and half male) were divided into 5 groups randomly and administered with saline solution, low and high doses of pure or crude EPS by gavage for 15 d, respectively. Then the cellular immunity, humoral immunity and phagocytosis of mononuclear macrophage of the mice were determined. Compared with the NS group, EPS significantly improves weights of spleen and thymus gland and phagocytic index to apoptosis, and diminishes serum hemolysis value. Moreover, the high dose of crude EPS significantly enhances degree of foodpad swelling of mice, and the high doses of both of pure and crude EPS improve proliferation of T-lymphocytes (p ＜ 0.05 and p ＜ 0.01, respectively). In conclusion, EPS produced by LAB can effectively improve the immunologic function of mice.

Key words: lactic acid bacteria (LAB), extracellular polysaccharides (EPS), immunologic function