Stimulation and Inhibition of Interferon-β Production of Human Diploid Fibroblasts by Foodstuffs(Food & Nutrition)

We screened for foodstuffs affecting interferon-β(IFN-β) production of human foreskin diploid fibroblasts, in the presence of poly I・poly C, cycloheximide, and actinomycin D. α- and β-caseins stimulated IFN-β production dose-dependently, but K-casein inhibited it. Of the two chymosin fragments of K-casein, glycomacropeptide was an inhibitor but p-K-casein was not. β-lactoglobulin stimulated IFN-β production weakly, but lactoferrin inhibited it strongly. It was also shown that serum contained some factors inhibiting IFN-β induction and stimulating its production.