Evaluation of ocean biomass products that activate cell-medicated immunity in mice cutaneously infected with herpes simplex virus type 1

We screened and evaluated the activation of cell-medicated immunity by ocean biomass products using a cutaneous herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection model. In this model, a delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) associated with cell-mediated immunity is an important immune defense systems. An aqueous fraction of ovary of Seriola quinqueradiata (A-SQ) or a lipophilic fraction of head and internal organs of Hymenocephalus lethonemus (L-HL) was administered orally to mice infected with HSV-1 three times daily during 8 days (days 0 to 7) after infection. They delayed the progress of herpetic skin lesions without toxicity and significantly increased the DTH reaction to inactivated HSV-1 antigen on the footpads of infected mice. Further, A-SQ and L-HL increased the production of interferon-γ from splenocytes of HSV-1-infected mice by the inactivated-HSV-1. Thus, the efficacies of A-SQ and L-HL against HSV-1 infection may be due to the augmentation of cell-mediated immunity through DTH reaction