Keywords
Type II collagen extract, Methotrexate, CD4+ T-cells, CD8+
T-cells
Introduction
Immunity is a term derived from Greek immurus, which
means exemption from heavy burdens or taxes. It can be regarded
as an action that induces an appropriate bioreactor to effectively
prevent external invasion. In Korean medicine, this immune effect
is explained by nutritional and tonic effect. They are biological re-
sponse modifiers that can directly or indirectly increase the de-
creased immune function. It is known to play an important role
in maintaining homeostasis. This can be closely related to the im-
munological concept of modern medicine (Hong et al., 1999).
There are many immune cells in the body to perform immune
function, and these cells are located in various tissues and organs
of the body including blood, lymph nodes, spleen and gastroin-
testinal tract. Immune cell members include lymphocytes, mono-
nuclear cells, polynuclear leukocytes and platelets. Among them,
the main cells responsible for the immune response are lympho-
cytes and mononuclear cells.
In particular, the lymphocyte proliferative capacity is consid-
ered to be an immunological index as a result of cell division as
well as new DNA synthesis generated by various kinds of stimuli
including various mitogens, antigens, cytokines, and growth fac-
tors (Baek et al., 1996). Cytokines act as regulatory mediators of
innate immunity that stimulate or inhibit inflammatory respons-
es, produced during the activation and specific stages of natural
and specific immunity. And, they recognize specific antigens and
are secreted by T cells (Lee et al., 2000; Lee et al., 2002). It is
known that the immune response plays an important role in the
immune response and the inflammatory response.
Type II collagen has been classically recognized as the indis-
pensable collagenous component in cartilage, and plays a critical
role in the development and maturation process of chondrocytes.
Thus, type II collagen has drawn more attention and interest in
the treatment and research of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis
and auto immune diseases. Recently, some studies have reported
that type II collagen embedded with adipose-derived stem cells or
chondrocytes can promote cartilage repair in a inflammatory car-
tilage defect model in vivo (Lazarini et al., 2017).
https://doi.org/10.12965/jer.1836480.240
Original Article
Journal of Exercise Rehabilitation 2018;14(5):731-738
https://doi.org/10.12965/jer.1836480.240
Kim EH, et al. • Effect of type II collagen extract on immunosuppression
732 http://www.e-jer.org
Therefore, we investigated the effect of type II collagen extract
on the immune function. Methotrexate (MTX) was used to in-
duce immunosuppression in rats, and type II collagen extract was
administered to measure the body weight, total leukocyte, B cell
ratio in the spleen, and the change of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell ra-
tio in the spleen and blood were observed.
Materials and methods
Animals and reagents
The animals were Sprague-Dawley male rats weighing 120±20
g and were fed a solid diet (21.1% crude protein, crude fat 3.5%,
crude fiber 5.0%, crude protein 8.0%, calcium 0.6%, phosphorus
0.6%). All experiments were conducted according to guidelines
of the Animal Use and Care Committee of Semyung University
(No. Smecae-08-01). The reagent used in this experiment was
type II collagen extract obtained by Gupup Inc. (Seoul, Korea).
Classification of experimental groups
Experimental groups were divided to normal group, control
group, low dose treated group, and high dose treated group. The
normal group fed only solid feed and water. The control group
was administered MTX in the same environment as the normal
group. In the low and high dose treated groups, MTX was ad-
ministered in the same manner as the control group, and the type
II collagen extract was orally administered.
Immune degradation using MTX
MTX (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO, USA) extract was
dissolved in physiological saline and injected intraperitoneally
into experimental animals. The main dose was 2 mg/kg, and 1
mL was injected for once a day for 4 consecutive days.
Reagent administration
From the day after the last day of inducing immune degrada-
tion by MTX administration, type II collagen extract was orally
administered at 250 mg/kg per day in the low dose treated group
and 500 mg/kg per day in the high dose treated group for 28 con-
secutive days. The control group was orally administered the same
amount of saline.
Measurement of body weight
The body weights of the experimental animals were measured
four times, 1st week, 2nd week, 3rd week, and 4rd week after the
last day of MTX administration.
Blood sampling
The animals were anesthetized with chloroform, cardiac punc-
ture and blood was added to the bottle containing ethylen di -
amine tetraacetic acid dipotassium salt (EDTA) to prevent coagu-
lation.
Preparation of splenocytes
After cardiac blood culture, the abdomen was completely cov-
ered with 70% alcohol, and we took spleen out of the rat’s body,
and the tissues around the spleen were carefully removed. After
washing twice with Rosewell Park Memorial Institute (RPMI)-
1640 (GibcoBRL, Grand Island, NE, USA) medium at 4˚C, the
spleen was minced on a petridish containing RPMI-1640 and the
spleen was carefully rubbed into the sterilized glass membrane to
float the splenocytes. This suspension was filtered through a stain-
less steel wire mesh (mesh No. 100: Cheonggye Sangong Co.,
Seoul, Korea) to remove tissue pieces and unlabeled cell masses,
and washed once with RPMI-1640 in Hanks balanced salt solu-
tion (HBSS, GibcoBRL). After hypotonic shock with the steril-
ized distilled water, the red blood cells were completely hemo-
lyzed, washed twice with 10× HBSS and once again with RPMI-
1640 medium, and the spleen cells were resuspended in the
mixed medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum
(FBS).
Measurement of B cell ratio in the spleen
The heart-collected blood was placed in an EDTA tube and 100
µL was placed in a 12×75 test tube. After adding 0.1 µL of fluo-
rescein isothiocyanate (FITC) anti-rat CD4 monoclonal antibody
(Pharmingen, San Diego, CA, USA), 0.5 µL of PE anti-rat
CD45R/B220 monoclonal antibody (Pharmingen) was added and
mixed with vortex mixer. The test samples were centrifuged at
1,000 rpm for 5 min. The supernatant was discarded, 2 mL of
washing solution (phosphate buffered saline, PBS) was added, and
the mixture was centrifuged at 1,000 rpm for 5 min. The super-
natant was discarded, and the test samples were added 500 µL of
PBS and mixed well with a vortex mixer, and analyzed using a
flow cytometer (Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA).
Measurement of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell ratio in spleen and
blood
The test samples were placed in an EDTA tube and 100 µL was
placed in a 12×75 test tube. After adding 0.5 µg of FITC anti-rat
CD3 monoclonal antibody (Pharmingen), the test samples were
added 0.1 μL of PE Anti-Rat CD4 or CD8 monoclonal antibody
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Kim EH, et al. • Effect of type II collagen extract on immunosuppression
(Pharmingen) and mixed with vortex mixer. The test samples
were added 2 mL of lysing solution (FACS lysing solution, Becton
Dickionson) and left for 15 min. The test samples were centri-
fuged at 1,000 rpm for 5 min. The supernatant was discarded, 2
mL of washing solution (PBS) was added, and the mixture was
centrifuged at 1,000 rpm for 5 min. The supernatant was discard-
ed, and the test samples were added 500 µL of PBS and mixed
well with a vortex mixer, and analyzed using a flow cytometer
(Becton Dickinson).
Cell culture
Cells of the murine machophage RAW 264.7 were purchased
from the American Type Culture Collection. Cells were cultured
in Dulbecco’s modified eagle’s medium (Gibco BRL, Grand Is-
land, NY , USA) supplemented with 10% FBS (Gibco BRL) at
37˚C in 5% CO2 incubator (MCO-17AIC, Sanyo, Tokyo, Japan).
Cell viability measurement
Cell viability was determined using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthi-
azol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay kit
(Boehringer Mannheim GmbH, Mannheim, Germany) as per the
manufacturer’s protocols. In order to determine the cytotoxicity of
type II collagen extract, cells were treated with 25, 50, 100, and
200 µg/mL for 24 hr. Cultures of the control group were left un-
treated. Ten µL of the MTT labeling reagent was added to each
well, and the plates were incubated for 4 hr. Solubilization solu-
tion of 100 µL was then added to each well, and the cells were in-
cubated for another 12 hr. The absorbance was then measured
with a microtiter plate reader absorbance was then measured with
a microtiter plate reader (Bio-Tek, Winooski, VT, USA) at a test
wavelength of 195 nm and a reference wavelength of 690 nm.
Optical density (O.D.) was calculated as the difference between
the absorbance at the reference wavelength and that at the test
wavelength. Percent viability was calculated as (O.D. of drug-
treated sample/control O.D.) ×100.
Nitric oxide production measurement
In order to determine the effect of type II collagen extract on
nitric oxide (NO) synthesis, the amount of nitrite in the superna-
tant was measured using a commercially available NO detection
kit (Intron Biotech., Seoul, Korea). After collection of 100 µL of
supernatant, 50 µL of N1 buffer was added, and the plate was in-
cubated at room temperature for 10 min. N2 buffer was then
added, and the plate was incubated at room temperature for 10
min. The absorbance of the content of each well was measured at
450 nm. The nitrite concentration was calculated from a nitrite
standard curve.
Statistical analysis
Results
are expressed as mean±standard deviation. Data were
analyzed by one-way analysis of variance followed by Duncan post
hoc test using SPSS ver. 11.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Dif-
ferences were considered statistically significant at P<0.05.
RESUL TS
Body weight change measurement
We observed the changes of body weight (Table 1). As a result
of the measurement, there was a significant increase in the low
and high doses of type II collagen extract treated groups com-
pared to the control group treated with MTX in the 1st and 2nd
week. And, there was a significant increase in the low dose of type
II collagen extract treated groups compared to the control group.
Changes in total leukocyte counts
The changes of total leukocyte counts were observed (Fig. 1).
The results were 11.51±3.78 in the normal group, 4.11±1.28 in
the control group, 8.03±1.09 in the low dose group and 10.48±
1.40 in the high dose group. Therefore, a statistically significant
increase was observed in the experimental group treated with low
and high doses type II collagen extract compared to the control
Table 1. Body weight changes
Group 0 Week 1 Week 2 Weeks 3 Weeks 4 Weeks
Normal 146.75 ± 5.23 165.75 ± 7.45 189.50 ± 12.97 214.25 ± 15.23 239.14 ± 21.96
Control 145.17 ± 6.04 158.01 ± 6.09 177.41 ± 8.24 197.66 ± 11.05 224.72 ± 17.12
Low dose 147.75 ± 6.94 162.25 ± 5.72* 183.83 ± 9.11* 203.09 ± 8.60* 225.20 ± 12.35
High dose 144.67 ± 4.57 160.33 ± 2.67* 180.25 ± 5.92* 197.02 ± 8.59 219.36 ± 9.51
Values are presented as mean ± standard deviation (g).
Normal, untreated group; Control, treated with methotrexate (MTX) group; Low dose, treated with MTX and type II collagen extract (250 mg/kg) group; High dose, treated with
MTX and type II collagen extract (500 mg/kg) group.
*P< 0.05 compared to the control group.
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Kim EH, et al. • Effect of type II collagen extract on immunosuppression
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group treated with MTX.
Measurement of CD4+ cell ratio in blood
The changes of CD4+ cell ratio in blood were observed (Fig. 2).
The results were 45.10%±6.16% in the normal group, 37.8%±
4.21% in the control group, 33.66% ±3.05% in the low dose
group and 45.65%±4.07% in the high dose group. In contrast to
the control group, no statistically significant increase was ob -
served in the low and the high doses type II collagen extract treat-
ed groups.
Measurement of CD8 + cell ratio in blood
The changes of CD8+ cell ratio in the blood were observed (Fig.
3). The results were 20.80% ±1.77% in the normal group,
12.38%±1.25% in the control group, 14.78%±0.72% in the
low dose group and 24.54% ±1.93% in the high dose group.
There was a statistically significant increase in the high dose type
II collagen extract treated group compared to the control group.
Measurement of B cell ratio in the spleen
The changes of splenocyte B cell ratio in the spleen were ob-
Fig. 1. The changes of total leukocyte counts on type II collagen extract in
methotrexate (MTX)-induced immunosuppressed rats. Normal, untreated
group; Control, treated with MTX group; Low dose, treated with MTX and type
II collagen extract (250 mg/kg) group; High dose, treated with MTX and type II
collagen extract (500 mg/kg) group. *P< 0.05 compared to the control group.
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Normal Control Low dose High dose
*
*
Total WBC numbers ( × 103 cells/mm2)
Fig. 2. The changes of CD4+ T lymphocytes on low and high dose of undena-
tured type II collagen extract in methotrexate (MTX)-induced immunosup-
pressed rats. Normal, untreated group; Control, treated with MTX group; Low
dose, treated with MTX and type II collagen extract (250 mg/kg) group; High
dose, treated with MTX and type II collagen extract (500 mg/kg) group.
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Normal Control Low dose High dose
Ratio of CD4+ T lymphocytes (%)
Fig. 3. The changes of CD8+ T lymphocytes on type II collagen extract in meth-
otrexate (MTX)-induced immunosuppressed rats. Normal, untreated group;
Control, treated with MTX group; Low dose, treated with MTX and type II col-
lagen extract (250 mg/kg) group; High dose, treated with MTX and type II col-
lagen extract (500 mg/kg) group. *P< 0.05 compared to the control group.
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Normal Control Low dose High dose
Ratio of CD8+ T lymphocytes (%)
*
Fig. 4. The changes of B lymphocytes in the spleen on type II collagen extract
in methotrexate (MTX)-induced immunosuppressed SD rats. Normal, untreated
group; Control, treated with MTX group; Low dose, treated with MTX and type
II collagen extract (250 mg/kg) group; High dose, treated with MTX and type II
collagen extract (500 mg/kg) group. *P< 0.05 compared to the control group.
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Normal Control Low dose High dose
Ratio of B lymphocytes (%)
*
*
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Kim EH, et al. • Effect of type II collagen extract on immunosuppression
served (Fig. 4). The results were 40.84%±1.41% in the normal
group, 24.62%±1.54% in the control group, 35.50%±4.12%
in the low dose group and 41.40% ±1.74% in the high dose
group. There was a statistically significant increase in the low and
the high dose type II collagen extract treated group compared to
the control group.
Measurement of CD4+ cell ratio in the spleen
The changes of spleen CD4+ cell ratio in the spleen were ob-
served (Fig. 5). The results were 39.06%±4.71% in normal group,
20.83%±2.17% in control group, 25.84%±0.94% in low dose
group and 35.01%±2.91% in high dose group. There was a sta-
tistically significant increase in the low and the high doses type II
collagen extract treated groups compared to the control group.
Measurement of CD8+ cell ratio in the spleen
The changes of spleen CD8+ cell ratio in the spleen were ob-
served (Fig. 6). The results were 14.20%±1.25% in the normal
group, 4.80%±1.09% in the control group, 10.41%±1.13% in
the low dose group and 15.65%±0.67% in the high dose group.
There was a statistically significant increase in the low and the
high doses type II collagen extract treated groups compared to the
control group.
Measurement of cell viability
The cell viability rates were observed (Fig. 7). The cell viability
rates at 62.5, 125, 250, 500, and 1,000 μg/mL of type II collagen
extract were 101.15%±4.18%, 101.73%±4.40%, 104.83%±
2.24%, and 99.54%±6.14% and 98.27%±10.27%, respective-
ly. The results showed that the type II collagen extract showed no
statistically significant toxicity in RAW264.7 macrophages at the
concentrations of 62.5, 125, 250, 500, and 1,000 μg/mL.
Measurement of NO production
The inhibitory effect of type II collagen extract on NO produc-
tion in RAW264.7 macrophages was measured (Fig. 8). The NO
production rate of the group treated with lipopolysaccharides
(LPS) alone increased to 151.15%±3.30%. In the group treated
with LPS and type II collagen extract at the concentrations of
Fig. 5. The changes of CD4+ ratio in the spleen on type II collagen extract in
methotrexate (MTX)-induced immunosuppressed SD rats. Normal, untreated
group; Control, treated with MTX group; Low dose, treated with MTX and type
II collagen extract (250 mg/kg) group; High dose, treated with MTX and type II
collagen extract (500 mg/kg) group. *P< 0.05 compared to the control group.
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Normal Control Low dose High dose
Ratio of CD4+ T lymphocytes (%)
*
*
Fig. 6. The changes of CD8+ cell ratio in the spleen on type II collagen extract
in methotrexate (MTX)-induced immunosuppressed SD rats. Normal, untreated
group; Control, treated with MTX group; Low dose, treated with MTX and type
II collagen extract (250 mg/kg) group; High dose, treated with MTX and type II
collagen extract (500 mg/kg) group. *P< 0.05 compared to the control group.
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Normal Control Low dose High dose
Ratio of CD8+ T lymphocytes (%)
*
*
Fig. 7. The effect of collagen type II extract on the cell viability of RAW264.7
cells. Con, untreated group; 62.5, 125, 250, 500, and 1,000, treated with each
concentration (µg/mL) of collagen type II extract.
100
80
60
40
20
0 Con 62.5 125 250 500 1,000
Cell viability (%)
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Kim EH, et al. • Effect of type II collagen extract on immunosuppression
736 http://www.e-jer.org
62.5, 125, 250, 500, and 1,000 μg/mL, they were 137.81%±
5.38%, 131.64%±6.08%, 124.47%±3.66%, 111.86%±7.93%,
and 102.45%±7.22%, respectively. They were significantly de-
creased compared with the LPS-treated group.
Discussion
There are two types of immunity: innate and acquired (or adap-
tive). Acquired immunity requires a prior exposure to an antigen
and involves antibodies and lymphocytes. It is dependent on
memory and recognition of prior pathogens with antigen-specific
memory cells generating a more forceful responses on re-exposure.
This system is therefore typically slower in its initial response to
attack with 72–96 hr required to generate specific T cells and an-
tibodies (Ahn et al., 2015; Matarese et al., 2003).
These acquired immune responses can be divided into humoral
immune responses by B lymphocytes and cell mediated immune
responses by T lymphocytes (Ahn et al., 2015). B lymphocytes are
precursor cells of antibody-producing plasma cells. Mature B lym-
phocytes roughly account for 10%–15% of peripheral blood lym-
phocytes, 50% of splenic lymphocytes, and 10% of bone marrow
lymphocytes. T lymphocytes act as mediators in cellular immune
responses and mature T lymphocytes account for 70%–80% of
peripheral blood lymphocytes, 90% of thymocyte lymphocytes,
30%–40% of lymph node cells, and 20%–30% of splenic lym-
phocytes. T-lymphocytes are composed of helper T-lymphocytes,
cytotoxic T-lymphocytes, suppressor T-lymphocytes and de -
layed-type hypersensitivity T-lymphocytes (Ahn et al., 2015).
Helper T lymphocytes are the cells that regulate the immune
response. They are also called CD4 cells because they have CD4
on the cell surface. All blood cells and immune cells are differenti-
ated from a single primitive cell called hematopoietic stem cells.
As the hematopoietic stem cells differentiate, each surface of im-
mune cells expresses a unique type of cell surface protein. We refer
to this as the CD, which refers to a group of monoclonal antibod-
ies specific for various markers of lymphocyte differentiation
(Kralickova and Vetvicka, 2015; Paul Dmowski and Braun, 2004).
CD4 is a cell surface protein that is a marker of helper T lympho-
cyte. It plays an important role in recognizing antigenic peptides
bound to the type 2 major histocompatibility complex (MHC) of
T cell receptors. It binds to the side of the type II MHC and acts
as a coreceptor. CD8 is a cell surface protein that is part of cyto-
toxic T lymphocytes and inhibitory T lymphocytes, and plays an
important role in recognizing antigenic peptides bound by T cell
receptors to type I MHC. It binds to the side of the type 1 MHC
and acts as a co-receptor (Berkkanoglu and Arici, 2003).
The antigen receptor on the surface of T lymphocytes is called
T-cell receptor. It reacts only with MHC/peptide complexes that
have been treated by antigen-presenting cells and bound to the
surface of antigen-presenting cells with the types 1 and 2 MHC.
CD4 is an adjunct to the formation of type 2 MHC and CD8 is
also associated with type 1 MHC (Senturk and Arici, 1999).
CD4 increases adhesion to antigen presenting cells (APCs) or
target cells by specific affinity of MHC T lymphocytes for mole-
cules in T lymphocyte activation. It is involved in the initial sig-
nal transduction pathway that occurs when T lymphocytes recog-
nize MHC/peptides in APC (Berkkanoglu and Arici, 2003).
Thus, the association of the attachment and signal transduction
functions of CD4 coreceptors greatly enhances the efficiency of
mature T lymphocytes and antigen stimulation. Immunity can be
quantified using antibodies against the labeling protein on the
surface of lymphocytes that play such roles (Anderson et al., 1990;
Hofmann et al., 1996). It is also widely used as a marker of gener-
al immunity (Chiappelli et al., 1991; Everaus, 1992).
MTX is currently being used as an anticancer drug, rheumatoid
drug, and immunosuppressive agent, and has an excellent effect
on choriocarcinoma. The mechanism of MTX inhibits DNA syn-
thesis by inhibiting folic acid reductase. In the immunosuppres-
sion model by MTX, it is generally known to evaluate the efficacy
of immunologically active substances by observing changes in
body weight, changes in B lymphocytes in spleen cells and blood,
changes in CD4+, CD8+ cells (Artym et al., 2004).
Inflammation is a defense mechanism of the host and this re-
Fig. 8. Effects of type II collagen extract on the nitric oxide (NO) production in
RAW264.7 cells. Control, untreated group; Lipopolysaccharides (LPS), treated
with LPS (1 µg/mL); 62.5, 125, 250, 500, 1,000, treat with LPS and each con-
centration (µg/mL) of type II collagen extract. Values are relative to the control.
*P< 0.05 indicate a significant different from the LPS.
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0 Control LPS 62.5 125 250 500 1,000
NO production (%)
* * * * *
http://www.e-jer.org 737https://doi.org/10.12965/jer.1836480.240
Kim EH, et al. • Effect of type II collagen extract on immunosuppression
sponse is known to be the most important response in the macro-
phage-mediated immune response (Kim and Kim, 2015). Nucle-
ar transcription factor-kappa B (NF-κB), an important factor in
inflammatory responses, is a transcription factor that regulates the
synthesis of various cytokines. NF-κB enters the nucleus and acts
as a transcription factor to induce inflammatory cytokines such as
inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-
1α, and IL-1β. And various inflammatory mediators such as NO
are produced (Lee et al., 2012). NO has various physiological
functions such as body defense function, signal transduction func-
tion, neurotoxicity, and vasodilation. NO is synthesized by three
types of NOS: neuronal nitric oxide synthase, endothelial nitric
oxide synthase, and iNOS. Among these NOS, NO production
by iNOS is absolutely high, and it plays an important pathologi-
cal role. It has been reported that iNOS is expressed in various
cells such as macrophage when exposed to external stimuli to pro-
duce large amounts of NO. Prostaglandin E2 promotes the ex-
pansion of blood vessels and permeability of blood vessel walls
and stimulates the secretion of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-
6, as well as aggregating immune cells into inflammatory sites
(Lee et al., 2012).
In order to investigate the effect of type II collagen extract on
the immune function, we investigated the changes of the body
weight, leukocyte count, blood CD4+, CD8+ cell ratio, spleen
CD4+, and CD8+ cell ratio in MTX-induced immunosuppres-
sive rats. Cell viability and NO production of type II collagen ex-
tract were also observed.
Body weight was significantly increased at 1st and 2nd weeks
after type II collagen extract administration, but not at 3rd and
4rd weeks. Leukocyte counts were significantly increased in the
experimental group treated with low and high doses type II colla-
gen extract treated group compared to the control group induced
with MTX treatment. As a result of the measurement of CD4+
cell ratio in the blood, the experimental group administered with
high dose type II collagen extract was significantly increased com-
pared to the control group induced by MTX administration. As a
Result
of the CD8+ cell ratio in the blood, the experimental group
administered with the low and high doses type II collagen extract
was significantly increased compared with the control group in-
duced by MTX administration. As a result of the spleen B cell ra-
tio, the experimental groups administered with low and high dos-
es type II collagen extract were significantly increased compared
to the control group induced with MTX administration. As a re-
sult of measuring the CD4+ cell ratio in the spleen, the experi-
mental groups administered with the low and high doses type II
collagen extract were significantly increased as compared with the
MTX-induced experimental group. In addition, the concentration
of CD8+ cells ratio in the spleen was significantly increased in the
experimental groups administered with the low and high doses
type II collagen extract compared to the experimental group in-
duced with the MTX administration.
These results suggest that the type II collagen extract may con-
tribute to changes in leukocyte counts caused by MTX and
changes in CD8+ cell ratio in the blood. It was also confirmed
that there was a significant effect on the changes of B cell ratio,
CD4+ and CD8+ cell ratio in the spleen. In addition, the type II
collagen extract did not show cytotoxicity, and it was also con-
firmed that the inhibition of NO production was significant.
Therefore, it is thought that type II collagen extract may help to
restore the immune function in the living body caused by im-
paired immune function.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was re-
ported.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by the Strat-up Growth Technology
Development Program (S2402431) funded by Korea Technology
and Information Promotion Agency for SMEs.
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