Immunoenhancement effect of crude polysaccharides of Helvella leucopus on cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppressive mice

Abstract

In this study, the immunoenhancement effect of crude polysaccharides (HLP) from the fruiting bodies of Helvella leucopus were investigated on immunosuppressive mice model induced by cyclophosphamide (CTX). Monosaccharide composition analysis indicated that HLP was composed of mannose, rhamnose and glucose with ratio of 8.51:1:1.87. HLP treatment could alleviate the atrophy of immune organs and weight loss observed in immunosuppressive mice. Moreover, HLP significantly increased the spleen and thymus indexes in a dose-dependent manner. The histopathological analysis indicated HLP had protective function against CTX-induced immunosuppression. Besides, HLP could promote the proliferation and pinocytic activity of peritoneal macrophages, and also enhance splenocyte proliferation and natural killer (NK) cell activity. In addition, HLP could stimulate the production of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-2 (IL-2), interferon gamma (IFN-γ) in serum and spleen tissue. Therefore, these results indicated that HLP could prevent immunosuppression in chemotherapy.

Keywords

• Helvella leucopus
• Crude polysaccharides
• Cyclophosphamide
• Immunoenhancement effect