Oral NaHCO Activates a Splenic Anti-Inflammatory Pathway: Evidence That Cholinergic Signals Are Transmitted via Mesothelial Cells.

We tested the hypothesis that oral NaHCO intake stimulates splenic anti-inflammatory pathways. Following oral NaHCO loading, macrophage polarization was shifted from predominantly M1 (inflammatory) to M2 (regulatory) phenotypes, and FOXP3CD4 T-lymphocytes increased in the spleen, blood, and kidneys of rats. Similar anti-inflammatory changes in macrophage polarization were observed in the blood of human subjects following NaHCO ingestion.