Background: The strong immunostimulating potential of β-glucans has been well established in numerous diseases. However, the effects on viral infection were less studied.
Methods: In our study, we focused on possible effects of a special combined glucan formulation on immunosuppression caused by influenza infection.
Results: We found that a 2-week oral feeding with glucan mixture significantly reduced the effects of influenza infection in total mortality. Our study was focused on phagocytosis, cytokine levels, antibody response and cytotoxicity assay.
Conclusions: Based on our data, we concluded that these effects are caused by stimulation of both cellular and humoral immune reaction resulting in lower viral load.
Keywords: Glucan; immune system; influenza; virus.