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The efficacy of zymosan in pro-inflammatory cytokine production by peritoneal macrophages of melanoma-bearing mice

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Abstract

Zymosan, a polysaccharide derived from yeast cell wall, has been widely applied as a macrophage-activating factor. Application of immunomodulatory compounds as cancer therapeutics has emerged in recent years. The goal of this study was to assess the effect of zymosan in the modulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines in melanoma-bearing mice. C57BL/6 mice were divided into four groups of seven mice including zymosan (Z group), melanoma (M group), zymosan treated melanoma-bearing mice (ZM group), and control (C group). Mice were treated with zymosan (10 μg) for four continuous days. At the end of the last day (25 days after tumor induction), blood samples and peritoneal macrophages were collected and mice were euthanized. The levels of IL-1β and IL-6 were measured in sera by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expression of messenger RNA (mRNA) levels was analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The results showed that zymosan significantly increases both serum release and mRNA levels of IL-1β and IL-6 in mice-bearing melanoma. Phagocytic activity of macrophages increased significantly by zymosan. Thus, our data may suggest that zymosan has a potential activity in cancer regulation and might be used as an adjuvant role in conventional cancer treatment.

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Abbreviations

ELISA:

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

RT-PCR:

Real-time polymerase chain reaction

Treg:

Regulatory T cells

TLR:

Toll-like receptor

IP:

Intraperitoneally

SC:

Subcutaneously

FBS:

Fetal bovine serum

IL:

Interleukin

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mycology Research Center, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, PO Box 14155-6453, Tehran, Iran

    Mehdi Taghavi, Alireza Khosravi & Ghasem Vahedi

  2. Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Esmaeil Mortaz

  3. Airways Disease Section, National Heart and Lung Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK

    Esmaeil Mortaz

  4. Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research, University of Tehran branch, Tehran, Iran

    Donya Nikaein

  5. Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Abbas Barin

  6. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Amol University of Special Modern Technologies, Amol, Iran

    Hojjatollah Shokri

Authors
  1. Mehdi Taghavi
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  2. Esmaeil Mortaz
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  3. Alireza Khosravi
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  4. Donya Nikaein
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  5. Abbas Barin
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  6. Ghasem Vahedi
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  7. Hojjatollah Shokri
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Correspondence to Alireza Khosravi.

Ethics declarations

All research and animal care procedures were approved by the Tehran University Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee. All mice were euthanized by cervical dislocation under diethyl ether anesthesia, and all efforts were made to minimize suffering.

This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

Funding

This study was funded by Khosravi (grant number: IR.220) as Professor in University of Tehran.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Taghavi, M., Mortaz, E., Khosravi, A. et al. The efficacy of zymosan in pro-inflammatory cytokine production by peritoneal macrophages of melanoma-bearing mice. Comp Clin Pathol 25, 825–831 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-016-2269-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00580-016-2269-2

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