The Role of Myricetin in Enhancing the Body's Immunity
Immunity is a crucial safeguard for the body to resist the invasion of external pathogens and maintain the stability of the internal environment. As a flavonoid compound widely existing in nature, myricetin has attracted extensive attention due to its diverse biological activities. This article aims to review the role of myricetin in improving the body's immunity and related research progress, elaborating on its impact on the function of immune cells, regulation of immune-related substances, and potential applications in disease prevention, so as to provide a reference for the in-depth research and practical application of myricetin in the field of immune regulation.
Keywords: Myricetin; Immunity; Immune cells; Immune regulation; Internal environment homeostasis
1. Introduction
In nature, organisms are constantly exposed to threats from various pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi in the external environment, and also need to deal with the proliferation of abnormal cells in the body. Immunity serves as an important defense line for organisms to resist these adverse factors. When the body's immunity declines, it becomes vulnerable to pathogen infections, leading to various diseases such as colds, chronic inflammation, and even increasing the risk of tumor occurrence. Therefore, finding safe and effective immune-regulating substances has become one of the hotspots in current research. Myricetin is a natural flavonoid compound, widely present in plants such as bayberries, grapes, tea, and berries. In recent years, with the deepening of research on natural products, the biological activities of myricetin have been gradually revealed. It has multiple effects including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, and lipid-lowering properties. Relevant studies have shown that myricetin can affect the body's immune function through various pathways and has positive significance in enhancing the body's immunity.
2. Basic Overview of Myricetin
Myricetin is widely distributed in nature and can be detected in a variety of edible plants. Its chemical structure contains multiple phenolic hydroxyl groups, which endow it with strong antioxidant activity and also lay a foundation for its interaction with various molecules in the organism. Myricetin is prone to degradation under light; its structure may be damaged in high-temperature environments; meanwhile, its stability will decrease under strongly acidic or alkaline conditions. These physicochemical properties need to be considered during the extraction, separation, storage, and application of myricetin.
3. The Impact of Myricetin on the Function of Immune Cells
3.1 Impact on Lymphocytes
Lymphocytes are an indispensable cell population in the immune system, mainly including T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes, which mediate cellular immunity and humoral immunity respectively. When treated with a certain concentration of myricetin, the proliferative activity of T lymphocytes is significantly enhanced, and the expression levels of markers related to T cell activation are also increased, indicating that myricetin can enhance the immune function of T lymphocytes. In addition, when the body is invaded by pathogens, B lymphocytes can produce antibodies more quickly under the action of myricetin, enhancing the body's ability to clear pathogens.
3.2 Impact on Macrophages
Macrophages are immune cells with phagocytic functions, capable of phagocytizing and clearing pathogens, aging cells, apoptotic cells, etc., and can also secrete a variety of cytokines to participate in the immune regulation process. The phagocytosis rate of macrophages treated with myricetin against foreign bodies is significantly increased, which may be related to the ability of myricetin to promote the expression of phagocytosis-related receptors on the surface of macrophages. In addition, myricetin can also promote macrophages to secrete various cytokines, and these cytokines play an important role in immune regulation, being able to regulate the functions of other immune cells and enhance the body's immune response.
3.3 Impact on Neutrophils
Neutrophils are the most numerous white blood cells in the blood, playing an important role in the body's resistance to bacterial infections. They can clear pathogens through phagocytosis and the release of lysosomal enzymes. Myricetin can not only improve the chemotactic ability of neutrophils, enabling them to gather at the site of inflammation more quickly and exert the function of clearing pathogens in a timely manner, but also inhibit the release of some inflammatory mediators by overactivated neutrophils, avoiding damage to the body's tissues caused by excessive activation of neutrophils, thereby maintaining the body's immune balance.
4. The Regulation of Myricetin on Immune-Related Substances
4.1 Regulation of Cytokines
Cytokines are biologically active small-molecule proteins secreted by immune cells and other cells, which can regulate the proliferation, differentiation, and function of immune cells, and participate in immune responses and inflammatory reactions. Myricetin can inhibit excessive immune responses and inflammatory reactions by regulating the secretion of some anti-inflammatory cytokines, thus avoiding damage to the body's tissues. The above results indicate that myricetin can maintain the body's immune homeostasis through the balanced regulation of the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and anti-inflammatory cytokines.
4.2 Impact on the Complement System
The complement system is an important part of the body's immune system, composed of a series of serum proteins. It can be activated through the classical pathway, alternative pathway, and lectin pathway, and participate in immune defense and immune regulation. Studies have found that myricetin can promote the activation of the complement system, enhance the bactericidal and cytolytic effects of complement, thereby improving the body's ability to clear pathogens. At the same time, myricetin can also avoid excessive activation of the complement system, because excessive activation of the complement system may cause damage to the body's own tissues. By regulating the activation degree of the complement system, myricetin can exert its immune defense function while protecting the body's tissues.
4.3 Impact on Immunoglobulins
Immunoglobulins, also known as antibodies, are secreted by plasma cells differentiated from B lymphocytes, and can bind to corresponding antigens to exert immune effects. In relevant animal experiments, after feeding animals with feed containing myricetin, the contents of immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M in the animal serum increased significantly. This indicates that myricetin can increase the production of immunoglobulins by promoting the proliferation and differentiation of B lymphocytes and the function of plasma cells, thereby enhancing the body's specific immune response ability to pathogens.
5. Potential Applications of Myricetin in Disease Prevention
5.1 Application in the Prevention of Infectious Diseases
Infectious diseases are caused by pathogen infections, and the strength of the body's immunity is closely related to the occurrence and development of infectious diseases. Myricetin can enhance the immune function of the respiratory mucosa, promote the secretion of defensive substances such as immunoglobulins by the respiratory mucosa, and at the same time enhance the activity of immune cells such as T lymphocytes and macrophages, improving the body's ability to clear respiratory viruses and bacteria, thereby reducing the risk of respiratory infections. In addition, myricetin can also regulate the immune function of the gastrointestinal tract, protect the gastrointestinal mucosal barrier, enhance the phagocytic and killing abilities of gastrointestinal immune cells, and reduce the colonization and infection of gastrointestinal pathogens.
5.2 Application in the Prevention of Chronic Inflammatory Diseases
Chronic inflammatory diseases are a type of diseases characterized by long-term chronic inflammation, such as rheumatoid arthritis and chronic enteritis. The abnormal activation of the body's immune system plays an important role in their pathogenesis. Myricetin has a certain anti-inflammatory effect and can regulate the body's immune function to maintain immune balance, thus having potential application prospects in the prevention of chronic inflammatory diseases. Meanwhile, through regulating the function of immune cells and the secretion of cytokines, myricetin can avoid excessive activation of the immune system, reduce damage to the body's tissues, and thereby delay or prevent the occurrence of chronic inflammatory diseases.
5.3 Potential Application in Tumor Prevention
The occurrence of tumors is closely related to the body's immune surveillance function. When the body's immune surveillance function declines, mutated cells in the body cannot be cleared in time and are prone to abnormal proliferation, leading to the occurrence of tumors. Studies have found that myricetin can enhance the activity of natural killer cells (NK cells), which are important cells in the body's anti-tumor immunity and can directly kill tumor cells. At the same time, myricetin can also promote the proliferation and differentiation of tumor-specific T lymphocytes, enhancing the body's specific immune response to tumor cells. In addition, the antioxidant effect of myricetin helps to reduce the damage of free radicals to cells, lower the risk of cell mutation, and thus indirectly play a role in tumor prevention.
6. Conclusions and Prospects
As a natural flavonoid compound, myricetin can affect the body's immune system through multiple pathways, including promoting the proliferation and differentiation of T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes, enhancing the phagocytic function of macrophages and the chemotactic ability of neutrophils, regulating the secretion and activity of immune-related substances such as cytokines, complement, and immunoglobulins, thereby maintaining the body's immune homeostasis and improving the body's resistance to pathogens. At the same time, based on its immune-regulating effect, myricetin has potential application value in the prevention of infectious diseases, chronic inflammatory diseases, and tumors. At present, most studies are still in the stage of in vitro experiments and animal experiments, and there are few studies on the immune-regulating effect and safety of myricetin in humans. In the future, more clinical studies need to be carried out to provide a basis for its clinical application. In conclusion, as a natural product with good immune-regulating effects, myricetin has broad research and application prospects. With the deepening of research, it is believed that myricetin will play a more important role in improving the body's immunity and the prevention and treatment of related diseases.
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