Rice bran hemicellulose increases the peripheral blood lymphocytes in rats

We found that the hemicellulose extracted from rice bran fiber (RBF) increased the peripheral blood leukocytes in rats. Wistar male rats were fed a 10% RBF or various proportions of hemicellulose diet for 2 weeks. The body weight and relative tissue weight were not affected by the RBF or hemicellulose dietary. The number of peripheral blood leukocytes and lymphocytes was significantly increased in rats fed a 10% hemicellulose diet than that of rats fed a control diet (p < 0.01). The proportion of each lymphocyte subset was not significantly changed, but the ratio of CD4 positive cells to CD8 positive cells was relatively increased.