Objective: To compare the methods for developing immune-suppressed mice models induced by cyclophosphamide (CTX) with different dosages and ways.
Methods: The mice were assigned to three groups; distilled water were given by gavage daily to the mice in control group; 60 mg/kg of CTX were given by gavage daily to the mice in CTX-1 group; and the mice in CTX-2 group were intraperitoneally injected (ip) with 200 mg/kg bw of CTX one day before the end of the experiment. The experiment lasted for 30 days.
Results: The body weight, spleen weight, the percentage of lymphocytes in peripheral blood, activities of natural killer cells (NK) and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) and HC50 in CTX-1 group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The percentage of T lymphocytes in peripheral blood, the percentage of Th and Ts lymphocytes and Th/Ts ratio in CTX-2 group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Other immunological indices in CTX-2 group were significantly lower than the control group (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: A proper immunosuppressed animal model for the functional food evaluating system could be established by gavaging 60 mg/kg bw of CTX for 30 days or by one intraperitoneal injection (ip) of 200 mg/kg. But the former might be more fitted to establish the immunosuppressed model.