Introduction: The increasing consumption of high-fat and high-fructose foods contributes to the prevalence global obesity. Low-grade chronic inflammation in obesity is a significant risk factor for insulin resistance type 2 diabetes. Therefore, this study aimed determine effect β-(1,3)-D-glucan from oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) extract on rats fed with diet. Design Methods: This experi...

Beta-glucan is an immuno-stimulating agent that has been used to treat cancer and infectious disease for many years with varying and unpredictable efficacy. Recent studies have unraveled the action mode of yeast-derived beta-glucan in combination with anti-tumor monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in cancer therapy. It has demonstrated that particulate or large molecular weight soluble beta-glucans ar...

A branched beta-glucan from Sparassis crispa (SCG) is a major 6-branched 1,3-beta-D-glucan showing antitumor activity. In the present study, we examined the anti-SCG antibody in naive mice by ELISA. Using SCG coated plate, sera of naive DBA/1 and DBA/2 mice contained significantly higher titers of antibody than other strains of mice. Anti-SCG Ab titers of each DBA/1 and DBA/2 mice were signific...

To assess if (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan, a microbial cell wall agent normally present in pollen, has the ability to produce pollenlike response, sensitive persons received a nasal deposition of two doses of (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan. The percentage of eosinophils and amount of eotaxin were measured in nasal lavage 30 minutes and 24 hours after challenge. No effect could be demonstrated. The absence of a...

The effect of extracellular beta-(1-->3), (1-->6)-glucan, produced by Paenibacillus polymyxa JB115, on nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW264.7 macrophages was investigated. beta-glucan induced the production of NO by RAW264.7 macrophages in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Moreover, beta-glucan stimulation increased the mRNA expression of iNOS, COX-2 and IL-6 in RAW264.7 macrophages...

A major concern in plant morphogenesis is whether cortical microtubules are responsible for the arrangement and action of beta-glucan synthases in the plasma membrane. We prepared isolated plasma membrane sheets with cortical microtubules attached and tested whether beta-glucan synthases penetrated through the membrane to form microfibrils and whether these synthases moved in the fluid membrane...

Carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs) are often part of the complex hydrolytic extracellular enzymes from bacteria and may modulate their catalytic activity. The thermostable catalytic domain of laminarinase Lam16A from Thermotoga neapolitana (glycosyl hydrolase family 16) is flanked by two CBMs, 148 and 161 aa long. They share a sequence identity of 30%, are homologous to family CBM4 and are thu...

Microglia are the resident mononuclear phagocytic cells that are critical for innate and adaptive responses within the CNS. Like other immune cells, microglia recognize and are activated by various pathogen-associated molecular patterns. beta-glucans are pathogen-associated molecular patterns present within fungal cell walls that are known to trigger protective responses in a number of immune c...

Leukocytes activated by endotoxin or enterotoxins release proinflammatory cytokines, thereby contributing to the cascade of events leading to septic shock. In the present studies, we analyzed the effects of in vivo administration of a soluble immunomodulator, beta-(1,6)-branched beta-(1,3)-glucan (soluble beta-glucan), on toxin-stimulated cytokine production in monocytes and lymphocytes isolate...

Zymosan is a beta-glucan- and mannan-rich particle that is widely used as a cellular activator for examining the numerous responses effected by phagocytes. The macrophage mannose receptor (MR) and complement receptor 3 (CR3) have historically been considered the major macrophage lectins involved in the nonopsonic recognition of these yeast-derived particles. Using specific carbohydrate inhibito...