Abstract
Background Aging is associated with immunity decline and low vaccinal efficacy. The purpose of our research was to evaluate the possible in vitro stimulating effects of quercetin combined with concanavalin a on PBMCs immune cells.
Methods PBMCs from healthy aged and young individuals were obtained by the gradient density centrifugation. PBMCs were cultured at a 96-well cell culture microplate in RPMI-1640 medium supplemented with quercetin in the presence of concanavalin a and incubated in a 5% CO2 humidified incubator at 37°C for 48 h. Cell proliferation was assessed with MTT colorimetric assay. Intracellular levels of MDA, carbonyl proteins, glutathione were assessed by spectrophotometric assays. IL-2 release was determined by ELISA method. iNOS activity was studied by measuring nitrite products levels using Griess reagent.
Results As compared to their respective young controls; aged PBMCs showed a low proliferation potency and low IL-2 and NO release, while intracellular Malondialdehydes (MDA), carbonyl proteins were higher in these cells. Importantly, PBMCs from aged subjects treated by quercetin and con A display significantly a high proliferative response similar to young cells, a restored iNOS activity and a reduced cellular oxidative damages with mitigated MDA formation but with high CP levels compared to untreated PBMCS cells (data not shown).
Conclusion According to our results, it can be concluded that quercetin combined with Con a lectin may be a safe promising vaccinal adjuvant and it has significant effects in reducing the complications of aging in immune cells, as well as mitigating the oxidative stress in PBMCs cells.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.