Effects of yeast-derived β-glucans on blood cholesterol and macrophage functionality

Figures & data

Table 1.  Effect of glucans on phagocytic activity.

	Control	Betamune 100	Betamune 400	WGP100	WGP 400
Monocytes^a	23.7 ± 2.1	43.1 ± 4.5^*	47.2 ± 3.1^*	35.2 ± 4.4^*	44.4 ± 4.2^*
Macrophages^b	21.9 ± 4.3	61.1 ± 6.1^*	61.6 ± 5.7^*	42.4 ± 4.8^*	55.7 ± 5.1^*,**

^aPeripheral blood monocytes 72 hr after application of glucan.

^bPeritoneal macrophages 72 hr after application of glucan.

*Represents significant differences between control (PBS) and glucan samples.

**Represents differences between individual doses of glucan.

Table 2.  Effect of glucans on host body and organ weights (all values in grams).

	Control	Betamune 100	Betamune 400	WGP100	WGP 400
Body weight	24.22 ± 1.16	25.43 ± 1.47	25.94 ± 2.48	25.55 ± 3.11	26.11 ± 2.92
Liver	1.34 ± 0.40	1.32 ± 0.11	1.42 ± 0.23	1.44 ± 0.18	1.41 ± 0.26
Spleen	0.12 ± 0.11	0.15 ± 0.05	0.13 ± 0.07	0.14 ± 0.07	0.15 ± 0.02
Thymus	0.04 ± 0.01	0.05 ± 0.01	0.04 ± 0.01	0.04 ± 0.01	0.05 ± 0.11
Heart	0.14 ± 0.05	0.15 ± 0.09	0.16 ± 0.09	0.14 ± 0.02	0.15 ± 0.04
Kidneys	0.36 ± 0.11	0.38 ± 0.09	0.37 ± 0.11	0.41 ± 0.09	0.37 ± 0.12
Lung	0.15 ± 0.01	0.16 ± 0.02	0.15 ± 0.03	0.17 ± 0.02	0.16 ± 0.02

Figure 1.  Effect of long-term feeding with glucan (see Materials and Methods) on blood cholesterol levels. Each value represents the mean of three independent experiments ± SD. *Represents significant differences between control (PBS) and glucan samples. **Represents differences between individual doses of glucan. Mice obtained either 100 or 400 μg of glucan.

Figure 2.  Effect of long-term feeding with glucan (see Materials and Methods) on blood triglyceride levels. Each value represents the mean of three independent experiments ± SD. *Represents significant differences between control (PBS) and glucan samples. **Represents differences between individual doses of glucan. Mice obtained either 100 or 400 μg of glucan.

Figure 3.  Effect of long-term feeding with glucan on blood cholesterol levels in experimentally-induced hypercholesterolemia. The feeding with glucan started after two weeks of cholesterol-high diet (see Materials and Methods). Each value represents the mean of three independent experiments ± SD. *Represents significant differences between control (PBS) and glucan samples. **Represents differences between individual doses of glucan. Mice obtained either 100 or 400 μg of glucan.

Figure 4.  Effect of long-term feeding with glucan on blood triglyceride levels in experimentally-induced hypercholesterolemia. The feeding with glucan started after 2 weeks of cholesterol-high diet (see Materials and Methods). Each value represents the mean of three independent experiments ± SD. *Represents significant differences between control (PBS) and glucan samples. **Represents differences between individual doses of glucan. Mice obtained either 100 or 400 μg of glucan.