Intestinal regulatory T cell induction by β-elemene alleviates the formation of fat tissue-related inflammation

Yingyu Zhou; Tomohiro Takano; Yimei Wang; Xuyang Li; Rong Wang; Yoshio Wakatsuki; Haruyo Nakajima-Adachi; Masaru Tanokura; Takuya Miyakawa; Satoshi Hachimura

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2020.101883

Intestinal regulatory T cell induction by β-elemene alleviates the formation of fat tissue-related inflammation

iScience. 2020 Nov 30;24(1):101883. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101883. eCollection 2021 Jan 22.

Authors

Yingyu Zhou^{1

2}, Tomohiro Takano^{1

2}, Yimei Wang^{1

2}, Xuyang Li², Rong Wang^{1

2}, Yoshio Wakatsuki³, Haruyo Nakajima-Adachi^{1

2}, Masaru Tanokura^{1

2}, Takuya Miyakawa², Satoshi Hachimura^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Research Center for Food Safety, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
² Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
³ Department of Clinical Bio-regulatory Science, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.

Abstract

The role of the intestinal immune system in the inhibition of fat tissue-related inflammation by dietary material is yet to be elucidated. Oral administration of β-elemene, contained in various foodstuffs, downregulated expressions of inflammatory cytokines and increased Foxp3⁺CD4⁺ T cells in adipose tissue of obese mice. However, β-elemene did not affect the inflammatory response of adipose tissue in vitro, suggesting that the inhibition observed in vivo was not due to direct interactions of adipose tissue with β-elemene. Instead, β-elemene increased Foxp3⁺CD4⁺ T cell population enhancing gene expressions of transforming growth factor β 1, retinaldehyde dehydrogenase 2, integrin αvβ8, and interleukin-10 in intestinal dendritic cells (DCs) in vivo and in vitro. Taken together, this study suggested the therapeutic effects of β-elemene on treating experimental obesity-induced chronic inflammation by adjusting the balance of immune cell populations in fat tissue through the generation of regulatory T cells in the intestinal immune system by modulating DC function.

Keywords: Human Metabolism; Immunology.