Astaxanthin Boosts Immune System
Astaxanthin has exceptional antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that help support systemic immune function and promote overall wellness through the following ways:
- Providing antioxidant support
- Supporting a healthy inflammatory response
- Promoting healthy immune function
The immune system consists of innate (natural) and acquired (adaptive) immunity. Acquired immunity is composed of lymphocytes, which are highly active cells that constantly generate reactive oxidative products (ROS) as a part of their normal cellular activity. Oxidizing pollutants and many viruses also can induce ROS production by normal cells. The ROS are highly reactive and can destroy cellular membranes, cellular proteins and nucleic acids.
Astaxanthin supports immune cell mitochondria, producing energy for immune cell activity, proliferation and antibody production. It also helps support the innate and acquired immune systems, redox homeostasis and healthy inflammatory responses to maintain healthy immune function.
Immune Boosting mechanism of Astaxanthin
Astaxanthin plays roles in regulating immunity, as it can protect immune cells, increase the number of immune cells, promote the production of immunoglobulin or secretion level of cytokine, and inhibit the cytokine storm or inflammatory storm due to immune response overreaction. Roles of astaxanthin in boosting immune system include:
- Building more white blood cells
When your body is in distress and a particular area is under attack, white blood cells rush in to help destroy the harmful substance and prevent illness. This production naturally requires a lot of energy, which is generated locally by the mitochondria. During energy production, mitochondria generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), and without proper protection these can lead to membrane damage, tissue disruption and low energy production. This, in turn, hinders the production of white blood cells.
Astaxanthin has the ability of spanning the full-membrane bilayer and protecting against ROS, setting conditions for optimal leukopoiesis.
T cells and B cell lymphocytes work together to recognize foreign substances called antigens. As the main factors responsible for adaptive immunity, T cells and B cells are sometimes called the "special forces" of the immune system.
A clinical trial of young female students showed that 2 or 8 mg of astaxanthin significantly increased T and C cells after just 4 weeks of supplementation.
In the later stages of a pathogenic viral infection, the body may overreact its immune response, resulting in systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), which is an exaggerated defense response of the body to harmful stressors (infection, trauma, surgery, acute inflammation, ischemia or reperfusion, or malignancy tumors, etc.) to localize and then eliminate the endogenous or exogenous source of the insult.
Astaxanthin possesses powerful antioxidant properties that can help combat local inflammation and the development of SIRS, as evidenced by the reduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-a and IL-6.
Alfa Chemistry is a professional supplier of high-grade natural astaxanthin products which can boost your immune system. For more information, please feel free to contact us.
