| Shrnutí: | Loss of immunity is an important cause in the pathology of infectious disease. This study investigates the effect of <i>Litsea japonica</i> fruit extract (LJFE) as a potential functional food on immunity and hematopoietic function in immunosuppressed BALB/c mice. Immunity-stimulating activity was observed in mice supplemented with LJFE at low (25 mg/kg), medium (50 mg/kg), and high (100 mg/kg) dosage for seven days after administration of cyclophosphamide. LJFE treatment significantly improved spleen injury score (<i>p</i> < 0.001) and body weight (<i>p</i> < 0.02) by approximately two-fold with a high dosage of LJFE (100 mg/kg). Spleen-derived lymphocyte analysis demonstrated that the numbers of clusters of differentiation (CD)4<sup>+</sup> and CD8<sup>+</sup> T-cells were notably increased by approximately two-fold (<i>p</i> < 0.001) with a high dosage of LJFE (100 mg/kg). In mouse splenocytes differentiated into T- and B-lymphocytes, LJFE significantly induced proliferation up to approximately 90% of control for T- (<i>p</i> < 0.001) and B-lymphocytes (<i>p</i> < 0.01) with a high dosage of LJFE (100 mg/kg). Furthermore, LJFE significantly recovered the numbers of white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay revealed that serum levels of immune-related cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-2, and interferon (IFN)-γ, were notably Increased. In addition, serum levels of immunoglobulin (Ig) A, IgM, and IgG were restored by LJFE treatment. This study provides a reference to use <i>L. japonica</i> as a functional food ingredient to improve immunity and hematological function in humans.
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