3.1. Effect of oral MQL administration on OVA-induced allergy
In this study, we examined whether oral administration of MQL affects
Th2-related allergic immune responses using an OVA-induced mouse model
of allergy. The mice were sensitized and immunized by OVA and orally
administered MQL for 2 weeks. We investigated typical allergic responses
such as production of IgE and Th2-mediated cytokines including IL-4,
IL-5, and IL-13. We found that levels of serum IgE and splenic Th2
cytokines were significantly suppressed by oral administration of MQL(Fig. 1B-E) .
In our previous study, we showed that Rosae multiflorae fructus
extract containing MQL suppressed Th2-related immune responses by
inhibiting the proliferation of immune cells via up-regulation of HO-1
expression. Similarly, it has been reported that increased HO-1
expression in CD4+ T cells suppressed proliferation by
inhibiting IL-2 production7. Based on these studies,
we measured IL-2 production and proliferation of splenocytes, and
confirmed that these were significantly reduced in MQL-administered
groups (Fig. 1F and 1G) . Furthermore, we found that splenocytes
in MQL-administered groups had increased HO-1 expression compared to the
sham group (Fig. 1H) .