Particulate 1,3-beta-D-glucan, carboxymethylglucan and sulfoethylglucan--influence of their oral or intraperitoneal administration on immunological respondence of mice.

The effect of orally or intraperitoneally administered particulate 1,3-beta-D-glucan (PBG), carboxymethylglucan (CMG) or sulfoethylglucan (SEG), obtained from the culture filtrate of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, on the functions of murine peritoneal adherent cells (PC) (peroxidase activity, nitric oxide synthesis), on relative organ mass and on proliferation of splenocytes was determined. The modulating activities after parenteral and non-parenteral administration of these polysaccharides were compared. Significant enhancement of NO production was observed only after in vitro cultivation of PC in the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in groups of mice treated repeatedly orally with CMG, PBG and SEG at a dose of 50 mg/kg body mass. Peroxidase activity increased significantly after repeated oral administration of CMG and PBG at doses 150 and 50 mg/kg, SEG 150 mg/kg body mass. The peroxidase activity and NO synthesis in mice given a single intraperitoneal injection of glucans (15 mg/kg body mass) were slightly higher than those after oral administration. Neither a significant enhancement of relative organ mass nor enhancement of the proliferative response of splenocytes to in vitro added stimuli (LPS, phytohemagglutinin) after repeated oral or single intraperitoneal administration of beta-glucans was observed.