ArticleInternational journal of molecular sciences2015
Astaxanthin, a Carotenoid, Stimulates Immune Responses by Enhancing IFN-γ and IL-2 Secretion in Primary Cultured Lymphocytes in Vitro and ex Vivo.
Article in International journal of molecular sciences, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers.
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Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 85 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lessons From Astaxanthin Therapy to Combat Oral Premalignant and Malignant Lesions: A Narrative Review.Health science reports · 2026Article
- From nutrition to therapeutics: the diverse inflammopharmacological and biomedical roles of astaxanthin.Inflammopharmacology · 2026Review
- Food-grade nanostructured delivery systems for oral administration of astaxanthin: Bioprocessing strategies and therapeutic applications.NPJ science of food · 2025Review
- Probiotics Attenuate Food Allergy via Short-Chain Fatty Acids-Mediated Immune Modulation and Gut Barrier Restoration.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Carotenoids and Their Interaction with the Immune System.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- A New Tailored Nanodroplet Carrier of Astaxanthin Can Improve Its Pharmacokinetic Profile and Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Efficacies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Effects of dietary nanoliposome-coated astaxanthin on haematological parameters, immune responses and the antioxidant status of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).Veterinary medicine and science · 2024Article
- Anticancer Activity of Astaxanthin-Incorporated Chitosan Nanoparticles.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The modulation of immune cell death in connection to microRNAs and natural products.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Nanocarrier System: State-of-the-Art in Oral Delivery of Astaxanthin.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Immunostimulatory effects of Nannochloropsis oculata supplementation on Barki rams growth performance, antioxidant assay, and immunological status.BMC veterinary research · 2022Article
- Nanotechnology-Abetted Astaxanthin Formulations in Multimodel Therapeutic and Biomedical Applications.Journal of medicinal chemistry · 2022Review
- Recent Advances and the Mechanism of Astaxanthin in Ophthalmological Diseases.Journal of ophthalmology · 2022Review
- Astaxanthin as a Potential Antioxidant to Improve Health and Production Performance of Broiler Chicken.Veterinary medicine international · 2022Review
- Carotenoids: Therapeutic Strategy in the Battle against Viral Emerging Diseases, COVID-19: An Overview.Preventive nutrition and food science · 2021Review
- Microalgae Derived Astaxanthin: Research and Consumer Trends and Industrial Use as Food.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Age-related differences in hypoxia-associated genes and cytokine profile in male Wistar rats.Heliyon · 2021Article
- Astaxanthin protective barrier and its ability to improve the health in patients with COVID-19.Iranian journal of microbiology · 2021Review
- Carotenoids in Milk and the Potential for Dairy Based Functional Foods.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- The Promising Effects of Astaxanthin on Lung Diseases.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Astaxanthin, a potent antioxidant carotenoid, plays a major role in modulating the immune response. In this study, we examined the immunomodulatory effects of astaxanthin on cytokine production in primary cultured lymphocytes both in vitro and ex vivo. Direct administration of astaxanthin (70-300 nM) did not produce cytotoxicity in lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 100 µg/ mL)- or concanavalin A (Con A, 10 µg/ mL)-activated lymphocytes, whereas astaxanthin alone at 300 nM induced proliferation of splenic lymphocytes (p < 0.05) in vitro. Although astaxanthin, alone or with Con A, had no apparent effect on interferon (INF-γ) and interleukin (IL-2) production in primary cultured lymphocytes, it enhanced LPS-induced INF-γ production. In an ex vivo experiment, oral administration of astaxanthin (0.28, 1.4 and 7 mg/kg/day) for 14 days did not cause alterations in the body or spleen weights of mice and also was not toxic to lymphocyte cells derived from the mice. Moreover, treatment with astaxanthin significantly increased LPS-induced lymphocyte proliferation ex vivo but not Con A-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation ex vivo. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analysis revealed that administration of astaxanthin significantly enhanced INF-γ production in response to both LPS and Con A stimulation, whereas IL-2 production increased only in response to Con A stimulation. Also, astaxanthin treatment alone significantly increased IL-2 production in lymphocytes derived from mice, but did not significantly change production of INF-γ. These findings suggest that astaxanthin modulates lymphocytic immune responses in vitro, and that it partly exerts its ex vivo immunomodulatory effects by increasing INF-γ and IL-2 production without inducing cytotoxicity.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.