Fermented Noni Exudate-treated dendritic cells directly stimulate B lymphocyte proliferation and differentiation.

Noni juice as a folk medicine has been used for over two thousand years. Recently, some active ingredients of Noni juice have been successfully isolated and intensively studied. Because dendritic cells (DCs) are central regulators both in priming innate and adaptive immune responses and in maintaining self tolerance, in the current study we treated DCs with fermented Noni Exudate (fNE) in order to explore their function in regulating other immune cells. It was shown that fNE-treated DCs stimulate proliferation of splenocytes, among which, B cells are the major responsive cell group. The proliferative response of B cells to fNE-treated DCs is cell contact-dependent, CD40L-independent; and the adhesion feature of DCs was enhanced to form large DC-B conjugation cluster. Moreover, it was demonstrated that fNE-treated DCs promote B cell differentiation and Ig class switching. These results lay a foundation for the further exploration of fNE as a biological response modifier in the immune system.

Fermented Noni exudate (fNE): a mediator between immune system and anti-tumor activity.

The anti-tumor activity of Morinda citrifolia fruit juice (Noni) has been previously reported. However, the mechanism behind this activity remains unknown. In the present study, we studied the anti-tumor activity of fermented Noni exudate (fNE) and demonstrated that intraperitoneal injection of this material significantly increased the percentages of granulocytes and NK cells in the peripheral blood, peritoneum, and spleen. Furthermore, in preventive and treatment settings, fNE injection induced complete tumor rejection in normal C57BL/6J mice, partial tumor rejection in C57 nude mice lacking functional lymphocytes, and no tumor rejection in NK cell deficient beige mice. Over 85% of the C57BL/6J mice that received fNE survived the first tumor injection and rejected up to 5 x 10(6) tumor cells when re-challenged. The anti-tumor activity remains in the heat-inactivated and filtrated supernatant of fNE. These data demonstrate that fNE appears to be able to stimulate the innate immune system and the adaptive immune system to reject tumor cells. NK cells respond quickly and appear to be among the major players of the innate immune system, while the adaptive immune system reacts later with a retained memory.