Immunomodulatory activity of sulfated polysaccharides from Agarum cribrosum

Abstract

Sulfated polysaccharides extracted from Agarum cribrosum and its fractionated using ion-exchange chromatography (crude, F1 and F2) were investigated to determine their molecular characteristics and biological activities. The crude and fractionated polysaccharides (F1 and F2) contained mostly of carbohydrates (52.4-56.0%), sulfates (12.7-23.0%) and uronic acid (14.1-21.8%) with small amount of proteins (3.9-9.3%). The monosaccharides levels of sulfated polysaccharides were mainly included fucose (43.1-44.2%), mannose (17.9-29.2%) and galactose (5.6-33.0%) with minor amount of rhamnose (2.3-4.6%) and glucose (0.9-3.5%). The sulfated polysaccharides contained one or two subfractions with average molecular weights (Mw) ranging from 123 × 103 to 765 × 103 g/mol. The sulfated polysaccharides, especially the F1 and F2 fractions, strongly stimulated mouse macrophage cells, Raw 264.7 cells, producing considerable amount of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-a) and various cytokines (IL 1-β, IL-6 COX-2 and iNOS) which suggested that they could be strong immunostimulators. The overall results implies that the strong immunomodulatory activity of sulfated polysaccharides from A. cribrosum might be good sources of natural healthcare products, such as supplements and nutraceuticals.ionated polysaccharides (F1 and F2) contained mostly of carbohydrates (52.4-56.0%), sulfates (12.7-23.0%) and uronic acid (14.1-21.8%) with small amount of proteins (3.9-9.3%). The monosaccharides levels of sulfated polysaccharides were mainly included fucose (43.1-44.2%), mannose (17.9-29.2%) and galactose (5.6-33.0%) with minor amount of rhamnose (2.3-4.6%) and glucose (0.9-3.5%). The sulfated polysaccharides contained one or two subfractions with average molecular weights (Mw) ranging from 123 × 103 to 765 × 103 g/mol. The sulfated polysaccharides, especially the F1 and F2 fractions, strongly stimulated mouse macrophage cells, Raw 264.7 cells, producing considerable amount of nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-a) and various cytokines (IL 1-β, IL-6 COX-2 and iNOS) which suggested that they could be strong immunostimulators. The overall results implies that the strong immunomodulatory activity of sulfated polysaccharides from A. cribrosum might be good sources of natural healthcare products, such as supplements and nutraceuticals.