Aureobasidium pullulans culture supernatant significantly stimulates R-848-activated phagocytosis of PMA-induced THP-1 macrophages.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs), which recognize a wide range of microbial pathogens and pathogen-related products, play important roles in innate immunology. Macrophages have a variety of TLRs, and pathogen binding to TLR resulted in the activation of macrophages. R-848, an immune response modifier, is an analog of imidazoquinoline derivative and binds to an endosome-localized TLR to exert an anti-viral response on leukocytes.

A small scale study on the effects of oral administration of the β-glucan produced by Aureobasidium pullulans on milk quality and cytokine expressions of Holstein cows, and on bacterial flora in the intestines of Japanese black calves.

Background: The β-(1 → 3),(1 → 6)-D-glucan extracellularly produced by Aureobasidium pullulans exhibits immunomodulatory activity, and is used for health supplements. To examine the effects of oral administration of the β-(1 → 3),(1 → 6)-D-glucan to domestic animals, a small scale study was conducted using Holstein cows and newborn Japanese Black calves.

Findings: Holstein cows of which somatic cell count was less than 3 x 10⁵/ml were orally administered with or without the β-(1 → 3),(1 → 6)-D-glucan-enriched A.