In Vivo Macrophage-stimulation Activity of the Enzyme-degraded Water-soluble Polysaccharide Fraction from a Marine Alga (Gracilaria verrucosa)

• Published in: Bioscience, biotechnology, and biochemistry Vol. 60; no. 10; pp. 1667 - 1671
• Main Authors: Yoshizawa, Yasuko, Tsunehiro, Jun, Nomura, Kazuyo, Itoh, Masao, Fukui, Fumio, Ametani, Akio, Kaminogawa, Shuichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Taylor & Francis 01.10.1996; Japan Society for Bioscience Biotechnology and Agrochemistry; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Administration, Oral; Animals; Biodegradation, Environmental; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical Fractionation; Female; General pharmacology; Glycoside Hydrolases; Gracilaria verrucosa; Hydrolysis; Injections, Intraperitoneal; Macrophage Activation; Marine; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; oral administration; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Polysaccharides - isolation & purification; Polysaccharides - pharmacology; Pseudomonas - enzymology; radical secretion; red alga; Rhodophyta; Rhodophyta - chemistry; Solubility; Stimulation, Chemical; sulfated polysaccharide; Water - chemistry; Intraperitoneal administration; Immune response; Pharmacognosy; Algae; Rodentia; Oral administration; Activation; Biological activity; Marine environment; Vertebrata; Immunostimulant agent; Mammalia; Mouse; Animal; Plant origin; Polysaccharide; Thallophyta; Macrophage
• ISSN: 0916-8451; 1347-6947
• DOI: 10.1271/bbb.60.1667

The water-soluble polysaccharide fraction from Gracilaria verrucosa (GWS) has been reported to increase the phagocytic activity of mice [Yoshizawa et al., Nippon Shokuhin Kogyo Gakkaishi, 41, 557-560 (1994)]. In this study, the macrophage-stimulation activity of enzyme-degraded GWS (GWS-E) was investigated by intraperitoneally and orally administering GWS-E to mice. The intraperitoneal administration of GWS-E increased the number of peritoneal exudate cells (PEC), and increased the phagocytic activity and oxygen radical-secreting activity (spontaneous chemiluminescence) of PEC. This administration could also stimulate splenic macrophages (SPM), increasing radical-secreting activity. When GWS-E was administered orally, the radical-secreting activity of PEC and SPM increased. In this case of oral administration, the activity of SPM increased in a dose-dependent manner, while that of PEC had an optimum dose. These results indicate that GWS-E had macrophage-stimulation activity in vivo and would be suitable as a source for a physiologically functional food with protective and immunopotentiating activity.