The effect of soluble beta-1,3-glucan and lipopolysaccharide on cytokine production and coagulation activation in whole blood.

Soluble beta-1,3-glucan has been demonstrated to protect against infection and shock in rats and mice, and clinical studies suggest that administration of soluble glucans to trauma/surgical patients decreases septic complications and improves survival. However, little is known about the precise mechanisms by which glucans influence the state of activation of blood cells, which are responsible for the fulminant cytokine production and the activation of the coagulation system observed in serious gram-negative infection. We studied therefore the effect of an underivatized, soluble yeast beta-1,3-glucan and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), either alone or in combination, on tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8 and IL-10 secretion and monocyte tissue factor (TF) expression in human whole blood.