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Immunomodulation of tahneeq method in IL-12 and CD8+ T-Lymphocyte, an in-vivo study in neonatal rats
Susilorini1,2, Suradi3,4, Dono Indarto3,5,6
1Doctorate Student of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia.
Insights
Tahneeq, a traditional infant oral stimulation, enhances neonatal immune responses. Both mild and strong tahneeq increased IL-12 expression and CD8+ T-lymphocytes in Wistar rats, suggesting benefits for mucosal immunity development.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Neonatal immunology
- Mucosal immunity
Background:
- Neonatal immune system development is crucial for T cell and antigen-presenting cell (APC) proliferation.
- Tahneeq is a traditional practice involving oral stimulation of newborns with Ajwa palm dates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of tahneeq on IL-12 expression in dendritic cells (DCs) and CD8+ T lymphocytes in neonatal Wistar rats.
- To compare the impact of mild versus strong tahneeq intensity on these immune markers.
Main Methods:
- 90 neonatal Wistar rats were divided into control (breastmilk only), mild tahneeq (T1), and strong tahneeq (T2) groups.
- IL-12 expression was measured via immunohistochemical staining.
- Blood CD8+ T-lymphocytes were quantified using flow cytometry at various time points post-birth.
Main Results:
- Both T1 and T2 groups showed significantly higher IL-12 expression than controls (p<0.001).
- IL-12 expression was highest in the T2 group (p<0.001).
- CD8+ T-lymphocyte percentages increased in T1 and T2 groups compared to controls at 5, 13, and 30 days (p<0.05).
Conclusions:
- Tahneeq, regardless of scratch intensity, boosts neonatal IL-12 expression and systemic CD8+ T-lymphocytes.
- The findings suggest tahneeq's potential role in developing neonatal mucosal immunity.
- Further research into anti-inflammatory cytokines and Treg cells is recommended to understand immune modulation mechanisms.
Abstract:
Stimulation of the neonatal immune system is quite important for the proliferation and differentiation of antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and T cells. Tahneeq is a traditional method to manually rub the palatal mucosa of newborn babies with premasticated Ajwa palm dates. The present study was to investigate the tahneeq effects on IL-12 expression of dendritic cells (DCs) and blood T lymphocytes expressing CD8+ in neonatal Wistar rats. The number of 90 healthy neonatal Wistar rats have randomly divided into three groups: control group received breastmilk only, treatment group (T1) receiving breast milk + mild-scratched intensity of tahneeq, and T2 group received breastmilk + strong-scratched intensity of tahneeq on the palatal and gingival mucosa immediately after birth. Seven neonatal Wistar rats in all groups were then sacrificed in three hours after birth and days 1, 5, 7, 13, and 30 treatment. IL-12 expression in the palatal and gingival mucosa was determined using immunohistochemical staining, and blood CD8+ T-lymphocytes were quantified using a flow cytometer. One way ANOVA was used to analyze the percentage of IL-12 and CD8+ T-lymphocytes among neonatal Wistar rat groups. The T1 and T2 newborn rat groups had significantly higher IL-12 expression than the control group (p<0.001). The increased IL-12 expression in T2 groups significantly increased (p<0.001) compared to the IL-12 expression in the T1 and control groups. The percentage of CD8+ T lymphocytes in all neonatal rat groups increased on three hours after birth and day 30 treatment but remained constant on days 5 and 7 treatment and decreased on day 13 treatment. At 5, 13, and 30th days treatment, the percentage of CD8+ T lymphocytes in T1 and T2 neonatal rat groups was significantly higher (p<0.05) than that in the control group. In conclusion, the impact on systemic CD8+ T cells did not influence by the depth of the scratch. Both mild and strong tahneeq increased the systemic CD8+ T-lymphocytes in neonatal Wistar rats. The roles of anti-inflammatory cytokines and Treg cells should be further investigated to unravel those different results for the development of mucosal immunity in neonates.
