Yonago Acta medica 1992;35:147–150

Effect of Chitin on the Production of Interleukin-lβ in Human Blood Monocytes

Takahiko Tanigawa, Yoshinori Tanaka, Katsuyuki Tomita*, Takao Sasaki*, Hitoshi Sashiwa†, Hiroyuki Saimoto†, Yoshihiro Shigemasa†, Yoshiharu Okamoto‡, Saburo Minami‡ and Akira Matsuhashi‡

Department of Bacteriology and *Third Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago 683 and †Department of Materials Science, Faculty of Engineering and ‡Department of Veterinary Surgery, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, Tottori 680, Japan

To evaluate the biological activities of chitin, β-(1,4)-poly-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, we assessed the amount of interleukin-l β (IL-lβ) production in human monocytes that were incubated for 24 h in a chitin-coated plastic dish. The amount of IL-lβ that the human monocytes produced in the chitin-coated dish was significantly higher than the amount of IL-lβ that the monocytes produced in the chitin-coated dish was not enhanced by lipopolysaccharide stimulation. The accelerated production of IL-lβ by chitin-stimulated human monocytes might, therefore, be related to the improved wound healing by the chitin-patch.

Key words: chitin; interleukin-1β; human monocytes

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