Synergistic effects of L-theanine and epigallocatechin gallate in alleviating ovalbumin allergy by regulating intestinal immunity through inhibition of mast cell degranulation.

Ovalbumin (OVA), a commonly consumed food protein, can cause severe allergies and intestinal immune disorders. L-Theanine (LTA) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) regulate intestinal immunity. However, it is unclear whether an LTA and EGCG combined intervention can alleviate OVA allergy (OVA-A) by modulating intestinal-specific immunity, and it is unknown whether there is a synergistic effect between LTA and EGCG. Therefore, we treated BALB/c OVA-sensitized mice with LTA, EGCG, or a combination of both (LTA + EGCG) to investigate the effects of LTA and EGCG on intestinal-specific immunity regulation and underlying mechanisms. Female mice were intraperitoneally injected with OVA to establish OVA-sensitive mouse models. MLEO LTA + EGCG (20 mg kg-1 d-1 LTA + 80 mg kg-1 d-1 EGCG) and HLEO (30 mg kg-1 d-1 LTA + 120 mg kg-1 d-1 EGCG) exerted more beneficial effects on alleviating OVA-A (weight gain, allergy score, jejunum structure, mast cell [MC] degranulation, thymus and spleen indices) than LTA or EGCG alone (p < 0.01). Based on the alleviation of OVA-A by LTA + EGCG, we selected MLEO mice for 16S rDNA, flow cytometry, and western blot analyses. The 16S rDNA results showed that MLEO increased the abundance of Lactobacillaceae, Lachnospiraceae, and Ruminococcaceae, and decreased that of Helicobacteraceae (p < 0.01). The flow cytometry and western blotting results indicated that MLEO reduced the number of dendritic cells available to capture OVA, thereby lowering the Th2 immune response and decreasing the IL-4 and IL-13 levels. Meanwhile, the attenuation of the Th2 immune response inhibits the cross-linking of OVA and FcεRI, thus reducing MC degranulation and decreasing the serum HIS and mMCPT-1 levels through the FcεRI/Btk/PLCγ signaling pathway. LTA + EGCG also inhibits the Th2 immune response through the FcεRI/Lyn/Syk/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and decreases the serum IL-4 and IL-13 levels. Notably, LTA + EGCG promotes the Treg and Th1 immune responses and inhibits the Th17 immune response, altering the levels of the corresponding cytokines. Therefore, LTA + EGCG can synergistically alleviate OVA-A by regulating intestinal immunity through MC degranulation inhibition.

L-Theanine Modulates Intestine-Specific Immunity by Regulating the Differentiation of CD4+ T Cells in Ovalbumin-Sensitized Mice.

Ovalbumin (OVA), a common food protein, can cause deadly allergies with intestine-specific immune reactions. L-Theanine (LTA) shows great potential for regulating intestinal immunity. To investigate the regulatory effect of LTA intervention on intestine-specific immunity, a 41 day experiment was performed on BALB/c OVA-sensitized mice. The results show that injecting female mice intraperitoneally with 50 µg of OVA and administering 30 mg of OVA 4 times can successfully establish an OVA-sensitized mouse model. LTA intervention significantly increased weight gain and thymus index (p < 0.05), decreased allergy and diarrhea scores (p < 0.05), and improved jejunum structure. Meanwhile, the histological score and degranulation of mast cells decreased. LTA intervention increased Clostridiales, Lachnospiraceae, Lactobacillus, Prevotella, and Ruminococcus abundance while decreasing Helicobacter abundance. Flow cytometry and Western blotting results indicated that 200 and 400 mg/kg of LTA upregulated the expression of T-bet and Foxp3 proteins (p < 0.05), thus promoting the differentiation of jejunum CD4+ T cells to Th1 and Tregs and increasing the cytokines IFN-γ, IL-10, and TGF-ß (p < 0.05). We found that 200 and 400 mg/kg of LTA downregulated the expression of RORγt and GATA3, thus inhibiting the differentiation of Th2 and Th17 cells and decreasing cytokines IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-17A (p < 0.05). LTA inhibited the degranulation of mast cells and significantly decreased the serum levels of OVA-IgE, HIS, and mouse MCPT-1 (p < 0.05). Therefore, LTA intervention alleviated OVA allergy by improving intestine-specific immunity.

Influences of fusion neutrons on Compton suppressed γ-spectrum analyses at the HL-2A tokamak.

The newly-built Compton suppression system at the HL-2A tokamak works in a harsh fusion neutron field especially when the second neutral beam injection system is put into application. The present paper performed Geant4 simulations to study the influences of fusion neutrons on Compton suppressed γ-spectrum analyses. The simulation data show that the influence of fusion neutrons on suppressed γ-spectrum shape is limited, while the influence on detection efficiencies is considerable. Consequently, the changes of detection efficiencies caused by the coexisting neutrons must be taken into account in the subsequent γ-spectrum analyses. Hence, the empirical formulas of γ-ray detection efficiencies of the Compton suppression system, which had considered the influences of fusion neutrons, were put forward and then applied to unfold the experimental γ-spectra. This work lays a superior foundation for the further analyses of the Compton suppressed γ-spectra at the HL-2A tokamak.

Geant4 simulation study on detection efficiencies of the Compton suppression system at the HL-2A tokamak.

A Compton suppression system (CSS), which plays an important role in γ-ray diagnostics, has been developed to acquire the γ-ray emission spectra generated in the HL-2A tokamak plasma. It takes advantages of the anti-coincidence method of two branches of γ-ray signals, one is from a high purity germanium (HPGe) detector, and the other from several bismuth germinate (BGO) detectors, to output the suppressed spectra. In the present paper, a Geant4 simulation, together with its subsequent data processing which took accidental coincidences into account, was performed to study the detection efficiencies of the CSS for γ-rays with energies between 0.2 and 13 MeV. Calculation results showed that there were small detection efficiency differences between the unsuppressed and suppressed spectra when HPGe count rates were smaller than 105 cps, and the area ratios of additional peaks to their corresponding full energy peaks were not associated with HPGe count rates. Based on the calculation results, the empirical formulas of detection efficiencies of the CSS were put forward. Finally, after the experimental verification of the empirical formulas, a suppressed γ-ray spectrum acquired by the CSS during 2018 HL-2A experiment campaign was unfolded using the detection efficiencies. This work makes it possible for the analyses of the γ-ray emission spectra generated from the HL-2A tokamak.