Gum Arabic Increases Phagocytosis of <i>Escherichia coli</i> by Blood Leukocytes of Young and Old Healthy Volunteers
Background: Gum arabic, a polysaccharide exudate from <i>Acacia senegal</i> (L.) Willdenow trees, has already been used by African native people in natural medicine. Methods: Using whole-blood samples from young (20-35 years) and older (>80 years) healthy volunteers (each group n = 10...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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MDPI AG,
2024-05-01T00:00:00Z.
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| Summary: | Background: Gum arabic, a polysaccharide exudate from <i>Acacia senegal</i> (L.) Willdenow trees, has already been used by African native people in natural medicine. Methods: Using whole-blood samples from young (20-35 years) and older (>80 years) healthy volunteers (each group n = 10), the effect of an aqueous solution of GA on phagocytosis of <i>Escherichia coli</i> was examined with a gentamicin protection assay. Whole-blood samples of each volunteer were stimulated with GA and as a control with CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (Toll-like receptor -9 agonists) for 2 h, then co-incubated with <i>E. coli</i> for 30 min and thereafter treated with gentamicin for up to 240 min to kill extracellular bacteria. Then, whole-blood cells were lysed with distilled water, and colony-forming units were counted by quantitative plating. Cytokine enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of TNF-α and IL-6 was performed using the blood supernatant. Results: The GA concentration tested (20 mg/mL) did not affect the viability of eukaryotic cells. Phagocytosis of <i>E. coli</i> by whole-blood leukocytes derived from young (<i>p</i> = 0.008) and older (<i>p</i> = 0.004) healthy volunteers was increased by 120.8% (young) and 39.2% (old) after stimulation with GA. In contrast, CpG only stimulated the bacterial phagocytosis by cells derived from young volunteers (<i>p</i> = 0.004). Stimulation of whole blood with GA increased the intracellular killing of <i>E. coli</i> in young (<i>p</i> = 0.045) and older volunteers (<i>p</i> = 0.008) and induced a TNF-α release in whole blood collected from older volunteers but not from younger ones (<i>p</i> = 0.008). Conclusions: These data encourage the isolation of active compounds of GA and the initiation of clinical trials addressing the preventive effect of GA on bacterial infections. |
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| Item Description: | 10.3390/antibiotics13060482 2079-6382 |