Extraction, Structure and Immunoregulatory Activity of Low Molecular Weight Polysaccharide from Dendrobium officinale

The ethanol precipitation method has been widely-used for Dendrobium officinale polysaccharides preparation. However, the alcohol-soluble fractions have always been ignored, which causes significant wastes of resources and energies. In this study, the extraction, physicochemical properties, and immune regulation activity of an edible D. officinale polysaccharide (DOPs) isolated from the supernatant after 75% ethanol precipitation were systematically investigated. The structural characteristics determination results showed that DOPs was mainly composed of glucose and mannose at a molar ratio of 1.00:5.78 with an average molecular weight of 4.56 x 10(3) Da, which was made up of alpha-(1,3)-Glcp as the main skeleton, and the alpha-(1,4)-Glcp and beta-(1,4)-Manp as the branches. Subsequently, the cyclophosphamide (CTX)-induced immunosuppressive mice model was established, and the results demonstrated that DOPs could dose-dependently protect the immune organs against CTX damage, improve the immune cells activities, and promote the immune-related cytokines (IL-2, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha) secretions. Furthermore, DOPs treatment also effectively enhanced the antioxidant enzymes levels (SOD, GSH-Px) in sera and livers, therefore weakening the oxidative damage of CTX-treated mice. Considering these above data, DOPs presented great potential to be explored as a natural antioxidant and supplement for functional foods.

Automated summary

The ethanol precipitation method for Dendrobium officinale polysaccharides preparation has been studied extensively. However, the alcohol-soluble fractions have been overlooked, leading to significant waste of resources. This study investigated the extraction and properties of an edible D. officinale polysaccharide and found that it could protect immune organs, improve immune cell activities, promote immune-related cytokines secretions, and enhance antioxidant enzymes levels.