PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - HIROSHI SAKAGAMI AU - MICHIYO KAWANO AU - MAY MAW THET AU - KEN HASHIMOTO AU - KAZUE SATOH AU - TAISEI KANAMOTO AU - SHIGEMI TERAKUBO AU - HIDEKI NAKASHIMA AU - YUJI HAISHIMA AU - YUUICHI MAEDA AU - KOJI SAKURAI TI - Anti-HIV and Immunomodulation Activities of Cacao Mass Lignin–CarbohydrateComplex DP - 2011 Mar 01 TA - In Vivo PG - 229--236 VI - 25 IP - 2 4099 - http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/25/2/229.short 4100 - http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/25/2/229.full SO - In Vivo2011 Mar 01; 25 AB - Background: Recently, a prominent antiviral and macrophage stimulatory activity of cacao lignin-carbohydrate complex (LCC) has been reported. However, the solubility and sterility of LCC have not been considered yet. In the present study, complete solubilisation and sterilisation was achieved by autoclaving under mild alkaline conditions and the previously reported biological activities were re-examined. Materials and Methods: LCCs were obtained by 1% NaOH extraction and acid precipitation, and a repeated extraction-precipitation cycle. Nitric oxide (NO) and cytokine productions were assayed by the Griess method and ELISA, respectively. Inducible NO synthase (iNOS) expression was determined by Western blot analysis. Superoxide anion, hydroxyl radical and nitric oxide radical-scavenging activity was determined by ESR spectroscopy. Results: Cacao mass LCC showed reproducibly higher anti-HIV activity than cacao husk LCC. Cacao mass LCC, up to 62.5 μg/ml, did not stimulate mouse macrophage-like cells (RAW264.7 and J774.1) to produce NO, nor did it induce iNOS protein, in contrast to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Cacao mass LCC and LPS synergistically stimulated iNOS protein expression, suggesting a different point of action. Cacao mass LCC induced tumour necrosis factor-α production markedly less than LPS, and did not induce interleukin-1β, interferon-α or interferon–γ. ESR spectroscopy showed that cacao mass LCC, but not LPS, scavenged NO produced from NOC-7. Conclusion: This study demonstrated several new biological activities of LCCs distinct from LPS and further confirmed the promising antiviral and immunomodulating activities of LCCs.