Immunostimulating activity and molecular weight dependence of an arabinoxylan derived from wheat bran

Abstract

Arabinoxylan, the main component of hemicellulose in plant cell walls, is known to be not only a dietary fiber but also an immunomodulator. Here, we investigated the immunostimulating activity and the molecular weight dependence of an arabinoxylan derived from wheat bran. Wheat bran mixed with water was treated by autoclaving under 1.8 atm at 120°C for 15 min followed by treatment with hemicellulase at 50°C for 20 min. Distilled water was added, followed by centrifuging and lyophilizing. We used phagocytic activity of macrophage-like cells as an indicator of immune function activation. The immunostimulating activity of arabinoxylan from wheat bran was higher than that arabinoxylan from corn husk and rice bran and its activity was attributable to the fraction with a molecular weight of over 5kDa.