Effect of dietary cabbage fermentation extract and young barley leaf powder on immune function of Sprague-Dawley rats.

We investigated dietary effects of cabbage fermentation extract (CFE) and young barley leaf powder (YBLP) on rat immune functions. Male Sprague-Dawley rats of 4 wk age were fed for 3 wk diets containing these samples at 0.1 or 1% level. After the feeding period, serum IgG level was significantly higher in the rats fed 1% CFE. IgG productivity of spleen lymphocytes was enhanced dose-dependently in both groups of CFE and YBLP. Furthermore, IgG productivity of mesenteric lymph node (MLN) lymphocytes was approximately 2 times higher in the rats fed 1% CFE diet than in the control ones. IgA productivity of MLN lymphocytes tended to increase in both of CFE and YBLP groups. From these results, it was suggested that dietary CFE and YBLP reinforced Ig productivity in both systemic and intestinal immune systems. Moreover, CFE feeding tended to enhance the production of TNF-alpha by spleen lymphocytes. In spleen phospholipids, the level of arachidonic acid, a substrate for inflammatory lipid mediators, was not affected by CFE or YBLP feeding.