Extraction, characterization of Astragalus polysaccharides and its immune modulating activities in rats with gastric cancer

One major polysaccharide fractions, glucose, were isolated from the polysaccharides extract of Astragalus (AP), a valuable traditional Chinese medicine, using thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and Sephadex G-100 chromatography. HPLC and IR methods were used for a qualitative and quantitative determination of from polysaccharides of Astragalus. The HPLC method was validated for linearity, precision and accuracy. The results indicated that polysaccharides of Astragalus is an alpha-(1 -> 4)-d-glucan with alpha-(1 -> 6)-linked branches attached to the O-6 of branch points. Bioactivity tests showed that polysaccharides of Astragolus is active for spleen lymphocytes proliferation. The polysaccharicles also presented anti-inflammatory activities. These data together suggest that polysaccharicles of Astragalus presents significant immune modulating activity, thus supporting the popular use of the polysaccharides in the treatment of gastric cancer diseases. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.