Immunomodulatory and Antioxidant Effects of Polysaccharides from Pleurotus ostreatus on Immunosuppressed Mice

The presented study investigates the immunity activities of Pleurotus ostreatus polysaccharides (POP) in cyclophosphamide (CTX)-immunosuppressed mice. The CTX-induced mice are orally administrated with POP at the dosage of 100, 200, and 400 mg kg(-1) bodyweight respectively, for 28 days. Experimental results show that POP improves the immune functions of the immunosuppressed mice, retards the decrease in body weight and enhances the immune organ index, and simultaneously increases the T-lymphocyte proliferation rate. In the POP group, the level of delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH), the activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), acid phosphatase (ACP), immunoprotein (Ig-A, Ig-G, Ig-M), cytokines (TNF-alpha, IL-2, INF-gamma), blood parameters (red blood cells, hemoglobin, white blood cells, platelets) are also remarkably improved compared to the CTX group. This study shows that POP exhibits significant antioxidant activity by enhancing catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), and inversely decreasing the malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. In conclusion, it can be proved that the preventive intervention of POP can enhance the immune function and antioxidant activity in the immunosuppressed mice. These findings may provide a valuable reference for the application of POP in chemotherapy-induced immunosuppression therapy.

Automated summary

The study demonstrates that Pleurotus ostreatus polysaccharides (POP) can improve immune function and exhibit significant antioxidant activity in immunosuppressed mice.