β-Glucan in invertebrates

Abstract

b-Glucans, as biologically active polysaccharides, have been used for decades but only recently have become a focus of evolutionary studies. As b-glucans are shown to be active in all animal species studied - from earthworms to humans - we can safely conclude that b-glucan immunostimulation is one of the first defensive mechanisms active across the entire evolutionary spectrum. The recognition of b-glucans as major components of yeast, fungal, and bacterial cell walls belongs to the first defense mechanisms that evolved during phylogenetic processes .