Anti-inflammatory and immune-enhancing effects of enzyme-treated royal jelly

Royal jelly is produced by honeybees and has been shown to be various pharmacologically active. Enzyme-treated royal jelly (ERJ) is an allergen-free form of royal jelly that has been converted to shorter easy-to-absorb chain monomers. In this study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of ERJ on macrophages and mice. We found that ERJ altered macrophage proliferation and was protective against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced stress. The mice, fed ERJ for 4 weeks and stimulated LPS, significantly reduced levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukins-1, 6, 10, 12, and interferon gamma compared to control mice. ERJ significantly increased the proliferation of B-lymphocytes and T-lymphocytes, as well as the activity of natural killer cells in a dose-dependent manner. Therefore, our results indicate that ERJ has strong anti-inflammatory and immune-promoting activities and can be developed as a potential food material for prevention of inflammatory disease.