Abstract:To explore the effects of lotus seed pod procyanidins (LSPCs) on extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-EMF) exposure-induced immune function injury in male mice, a semi-in vitro method was used to study the effect of LSPCs on splenic lymphocyte proliferation, natural killer (NK) cell activity, interleukin 4 (IL-4), and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) in the plasma and liver. In addition, the immunomodulatory activity of LSPCs was preliminarily determined. The proliferation of T and B lymphocytes was measured by a [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] tetrazolium (MTT) reduction assay. NK cell activity was determined by a lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay, and the concentrations of IL-4 and IFN-γ in plasma and liver were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Our experiments indicated that after ELF-EMF radiation, the spleen and thymus indices were significantly decreased (p< 0.05, p < 0.01, respectively) compared to those of the control. MTT and LDH release assays showed that the proliferation of T and B lymphocytes and NK-cell activity decreased significantly in the ELF-EMF group (p < 0.01). The concentration of IL-4 and IFN-γ decreased significantly in the plasma and liver. However, pretreatment with LSPCs improved the above indicators compared to those of the ELF-EMF group. Especially for the ELF-EMF+LSPCs90 group, the spleen and thymus indices increased significantly (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, respectively), the proliferation of T and B lymphocytes was significantly stimulated, and NK cell activity and secretion of IL-4 and IFN-γ in the plasma and liver were promoted. In conclusion, LSPCs can effectively prevent the ELF-EMF-induced immune injury and regulate immune activity.
