RESUMO
OBJECTIVE Bergapten (BG), is a furanocoumarin derived from herbal and citrus extracts can act as antioxidant and selective anticancer agents.The current study aimed to investigate whether bergapten would attenuate immunosenescence and to exploreits immunomodulatory effects on immune responses in D-galactose-induced aging BALB/c mice.METHODS Firstly,mice were given D-galactose(180 mg·kg-1)subcutaneous injections for 30 d.To evaluate the establishment of the aging-related effect in mice, serum samples of BALB/c mice were collected from tail vein. Aging BALB/c mice were freely divided into three groups: negative control group received 1% Tween 80 solution only, named D-gal group. Positive groups were received BG administration at the dose of 20 and 100 mg·kg-1, named D-gal+BG(20)group and D-gal+BG(100)group,respectively.Effects of bergapten on T lympho-cyte proliferation and flow cytometry were assessed by using the splenic cell suspension. Enzyme linked immunospot kits were used to quantitatively determine interferon-γ(IFN-γ)and interleukin-4(IL-4) levels of the isolated serum. Immunophenotype was determined by using mixture of antibodies includ-ing anti-CD3,anti-CD4,and anti-CD8.RESULTS Bergapten(20 mg·kg-1)therapy can modulate immu-nity against viral epidemics and attenuate aging-induced immune deficiency(P<0.01),which was correlat-ed with the decline in the activation of the Th and Tc responses in D-galactose induced aging BALB/c mice.According to the in vivo results,bergapten exposure up-regulated the secretion of IFN-γ and IL-4 in T-helper 1(Th1)and T helper 2(Th2)cells(P<0.05,P<0.01).Additionally,BG(20 mg·kg-1)restored antigen-specific CD4+and CD8+T cells in aging models (P<0.05, P<0.01), which may help to curing chronic infections. CONCLUSION The beneficial effect of bergapten in D-galactose induced aging BALB/c mice may be due to the Th and Tc responses activation.