BACKGROUND β-Glucans are well-established immunomodulators. Recently, glucans have been found to influence stress-related immunosuppression. AIM The aim of this study was to compare the effects of four different types of β-glucans on immune reactions suppressed by cold- or restrain-induced stress. METHODS Mice were subjected to restraint and cold stress for various time intervals. The abili...

Biological and most of all immunological effects of natural immunomodulator glucan are already well established. However, since hundreds of individual glucans, isolated from various sources, used at different concentrations and having different physicochemical characteristics are being used, the current scientific knowledge is not complete. In addition, direct comparisons of individual glucans ...

The relationship between the solubility, crystallinity, and length of the unit chains of plant storage α-glucan was investigated by manipulating the chain length of α-glucans accumulated in a rice mutant. Transgenic lines were produced by introducing a cDNA for starch synthase IIa (SSIIa) from an indica cultivar (SSIIa (I), coding for active SSIIa) into an isoamylase1 (ISA1)-deficient mutant (i...

Glucans are (1-->3)-beta-D-glucose polymers that are found in the cell wall of fungi, bacteria and plants. Glucans are known to stim ulate humoral and cell-mediated immunity in humans and animals. In addition to the potent immune stimulatory effects of (1-->3)-beta-D-glucans, there are a number of toxicological effects associated with exposure to the water-insoluble, microparticulate form of th...

Beta-glucans are a heterogeneous group of natural polysaccharides mostly investigated for their immunological effects. Due to the low systemic availability of oral preparations, it has been thought that only parenterally applied beta-glucans can modulate the immune system. However, several in vivo and in vitro investigations have revealed that orally applied beta-glucans also exert such effects...

In this study, we evaluated the effect of different doses of polysaccharides extracted from Caripia montagnei mushroom at different intervals of treatment on colonic injury in the model of colitis induced by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). The FT-IR analysis and NMR showed that the polysaccharides from this species of mushroom are composed of α- and β-glucans. The colonic damage was...

Bacterial cyclic glucans are glucose polymers that concentrate within the periplasm of alpha-proteobacteria. These molecules are necessary to maintain the homeostasis of the cell envelope by contributing to the osmolarity of Gram negative bacteria. Here, we demonstrate that Brucella β 1,2 cyclic glucans are potent activators of human and mouse dendritic cells. Dendritic cells activation by Bruc...

Natural products, useful in treating or preventing various diseases, have been sought throughout the history of mankind. Most of these natural products are plagued with a common problem, i.e., the fact that they often represent a complex mixture of individual ingredients each of which can contribute to their biological activity. Natural (1,3)-beta-D-glucans from yeast, grain and mushrooms are w...

The periplasmic cyclic beta-(1,2)-glucans of Rhizobium spp. are believed to provide functions during hypoosmotic adaptation and legume nodulation. In Rhizobium meliloti, cyclic beta-(1,2)-glucans are synthesized at highest levels when cells are grown at low osmolarity, and a considerable fraction (> or = 35%) of these glucans may become substituted with phosphoglycerol moieties. Thus far, two c...

β-glucans are cell wall constituents of bacteria, yeast, fungi, and plants. They are not expressed in mammalian cells, but they are recognized by mammalian cells as pathogen-associated molecular patterns by pattern recognition receptors and thus act as biological response modifiers. This review summarizes data on the hematopoiesis-stimulating effects of β-glucans, as well as on their ability to...