虾青素的免疫调节机制及在抗疫中的潜在应用

Research progress on astaxanthin immunoregulation mechanisms and its potential applications in anti-pandemic

虾青素是一种脂溶性类胡萝卜素,存在于多种水生生物中,而在所有积累虾青素的微生物中,雨生红球藻被认为是自然界中生产天然虾青素最好的微生物。虾青素具有极强的抗氧化活性,在抗肿瘤、抗炎、器官保护等方面都有一定的功效;同时,虾青素在免疫调节方面也显示了特殊作用,能够保护免疫细胞,增加免疫细胞的数量,促进免疫球蛋白产生或细胞因子分泌水平,抑制免疫应答反应过度而引起的细胞因子风暴或炎症风暴等。为此,综述虾青素在免疫调节方面的作用,归纳目前有关分子机制或信号通路的一些研究成果,并结合全球新型冠状病毒肺炎(COVID-19)疫情,基于虾青素突出的免疫调节功能及抗炎效果,探讨它在抗疫中的潜在应用,旨在为虾青素用于保障健康及抗疫药物研发提供一定的依据。

Astaxanthin is a fat-soluble carotenoid and found in many aquatic organisms.Of all the microorganisms that accumulate astaxanthin,Haematococcus pluvialis is considered to be the best microorganism in nature that is used to produce natural astaxanthin.Astaxanthin has extremely strong antioxidant property,and it shows anti-tumor,anti-inflammatory and organ protection effects.Besides,astaxanthin may also play roles in regulating immunity,as it can protect immune cells,increase the number of immune cells,promote the production of immunoglobulin or secretion level of cytokine,and inhibit the cytokine storm or inflammatory storm due to immune response overreaction.In this review,therefore,we especially focus on the roles of astaxanthin in immune regulation,summarizing the research results on its molecular mechanisms or signal pathways,and concerning on the battle against the current global pandemic of coronavirus 2019-nCoV(SARS-CoV-2),we discuss the potential applications of astaxanthin in this anti-epidemic or-pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)based on the outstanding immunoregulation property and anti-inflammatory effect of astanxanthin,in order to provide some ideas for protection of human health and development of anti-epidemic drugs.