Structural characterization of an immunostimulating polysaccharide from the stems of a new medicinal Dendrobium species: Dendrobium Taiseed Tosnobile

Abstract

Dendrobium Taiseed Tosnobile, a new Dendrobium species developed by crossbreeding Dendrobium tosaense and Dendrobium nobile, exhibits the characteristics of high mass production and high polysaccharide content. This study investigated the structural characterization and immunostimulating effects of a polysaccharide isolated from D. Taiseed Tosnobile (DTTPS). DTTPS was fractioned using a DEAE-650M column to obtain the major neutral polysaccharide (DTTPS-N). The structural characteristics of DTTPS-N were investigated through high-performance anion exchange chromatography, high-performance size exclusion chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In the immunostimulating experiment, BALB/c mice were administered DTTPS (100 and 300mg/kg) daily for 3 weeks. The results revealed that DTTPS-N comprised arabinose, galactose, glucose, mannose, and xylose at a ratio of 1:1.5:3.0:29.9:1.3. DTTPS-N comprised (1→3; 1→4)-Man as the backbone, and its average molecular weight was 281kDa. Pharmacological experiments demonstrated that DTTPS substantially increased the population of splenic natural killer (NK) cells, NK cytotoxicity, macrophage phagocytosis, and cytokine induction. This is the first study to demonstrate the structural characteristics and immunopharmacological effects of an active polysaccharide derived from D. Taiseed Tosnobile.

Keywords: Cytotoxicity; Dendrobium Taiseed Tosnobile; Heteromannan; Immunostimulating; Phagocytosis; Polysaccharide.