Assessment of the immunomodulatory activity of cheese extracts by a complete and easy to handle in vitro screening methodology.

A simple and rapid screening methodology based on the in vitro culture of murine hybridoma and human T-lymphocytes was developed to assess the potential immunomodulatory activity of water-soluble extracts (WSE) from cheese. The two immune cell lines were cultured in microplates with or without cheese WSE. The proliferation and the metabolic activity of cells were monitored at their different growth phases by the BrdU (5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine) and MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenylterazolium bromide] assays, respectively.