Dietary litchi pulp polysaccharides could enhance immunomodulatory and antioxidant effects in mice

• Published in: International journal of biological macromolecules Vol. 92; pp. 1067 - 1073
• Main Authors: Huang, Fei, Zhang, Ruifen, Liu, Yang, Xiao, Juan, Liu, Lei, Wei, Zhencheng, Yi, Yang, Zhang, Mingwei, Liu, Dong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.11.2016
• Subjects: Animals; Antioxidant activity; Antioxidants - metabolism; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Cell Proliferation - drug effects; Cyclophosphamide - pharmacology; Dietary Carbohydrates - metabolism; Dietary Carbohydrates - pharmacology; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Fruit - chemistry; Glutathione Peroxidase - metabolism; Immunity, Mucosal - drug effects; Immunoglobulin A - blood; Immunoglobulin G - blood; Immunoglobulin M - blood; Immunologic Factors - metabolism; Immunologic Factors - pharmacology; Immunomodulatory activity; Interleukin-6 - blood; Litchi - chemistry; Litchi pulp polysaccharides; Lymph Nodes - cytology; Lymph Nodes - drug effects; Lymph Nodes - immunology; Lymphocyte Subsets - drug effects; Male; Malondialdehyde - antagonists & inhibitors; Malondialdehyde - metabolism; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Superoxide Dismutase - metabolism; Thymus Gland - cytology; Thymus Gland - drug effects; Thymus Gland - immunology; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - blood; Litchi pulp polysaccharides; Antioxidant activity; Immunomodulatory activity
• ISSN: 0141-8130; 1879-0003
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2016.08.021

The purpose of this study was to investigate the immunomodulatory and antioxidant activities of litchi pulp polysaccharides (LP) in cyclophosphamide (Cy)-induced mice. The administration of LP (50, 100 and 200mg/kg/d) remarkably enhanced mesenteric lymph node cells proliferation and serum IgA. Moreover, IL-6, TNF-α, IgG and IgM levels in serum were significantly improved in a dose-dependent manner with LP treatment. Dietary LP induced systemic immune responses including stimulating the proliferation of splenocytes, balancing the ratio of spleen lymphocyte subsets, up-regulating the thymus and spleen indices. Thus, we speculate litchi polysaccharides would express their systemic immunomodulatory effects by triggering the intestinal mucosal immunity. Likewise, LP also significantly increased total antioxidant capacity, as well as superoxidase dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activity, while decreasing malondialdehyde levels in the serum and liver. The immunomodulatory activity of LP was accompanied with its antioxidant activity, which might be related with its structure and prebiotic effect. This is a novel study on the relationship between the immunomodulatory and antioxidant activities of litchi polysaccharides.