Beta-glucan: Immune boosting potential and antioxidant candidate

Abstract

In literature, β-glucan is abundantly found in oats and currently used as well as tested against various varieties of food products. The objective of our study is to evaluate its immune-boosting potential of β-glucan extracted from oats and tested against specific protein antigen i.e., bovine serum albumin (BSA) and also measure its antioxidant activity. For these studies, β-glucan using variable concentration and tested in human whole blood samples (exposed with an optimized concentration of bovine serum albumin, BSA) and examined its immune-boosting potential. In contrast, estimation of Th1 (IFN-gamma) and Th2 (IL-4) cytokines were also measured from cell culture supernatant and also measured its antioxidant potential through DPPH assay. The results showed that β-glucan enhanced immune-boosting activity in a concentration-dependent manner against BSA. In contrast, there is enhancement in Th2 (IL-4) cytokines in a dose-dependent manner, but there is no significant effect in Th1 (IFN-gamma) as compared to control. In addition, β-glucan showed drastic enhanced antioxidant potential, which is confirmed through DPPH assay. The data demonstrate that β-glucan showing immune-boosting properties and antioxidant potential.