Immuno-modulatory and Antitumor Effect of Crude Polysaccharides Extracted from Sclerotium of Grifola umbellata

摘要

Neutral salt-soluble, hot water-soluble and methanol-soluble materials (hereinafter referred to Fr. NaCl, Fr. HW and Fr. MeOH, respectively) were extracted from sclerotium of Grifola umbellata. The Fr. NaCl and Fr. HW did not show any direct cytotoxicity against NIH3T3, Sarcoma 180 and MCF-7, but Fr. MeOH showed cytotoxicity against these cell lines at the concentration of 1000 mu g/ml. Intraperitoneal injection with Fr. NaCl showed antitumor effect with life prolongation of 66.7% and decrease the number of Sarcoma 180 cells of 54.2% in mice inoculated with Sarcoma 180. Fr. NaCl improved the immunopotentiation activity through alternative complement pathway and the alkaline phosphatase activity by 85.05-88.73% and 6 folds, respectively. The numberof peritoneal exudate cells and the circulating leucocytes were increased by 1.7 and 3.6 folds in the Fr. NaCl treating group compared with the control group, respectively. The weight of immunoorgans such as liver, spleen and thymus were also gradually increased. The hematological analysis of the Fr. NaCl group was similar with that of the control group. The total polysaccharide and protein contents of Fr. NaCl were 98.25% and 1.44%, respectively. These results indicate that the antitumor activity of Fr. NaCl was exerted through immunopotentiation, but not through cytotoxicity against the tumor cells.