Antitumor activity of Polygonatum sibiricum polysaccharides.

Cancer is a global public health problem. Natural polysaccharides have been shown to enhance the effectiveness of cancer treatments. Polygonatum sibiricum (PS) has been used for millennia to treat diverse diseases. PS comprises numerous active constituents, including saponins, peptides, volatile oils, polysaccharides, and lectins. Many studies have highlighted the crucial role of polysaccharides in PS. Modern studies have shown that Polygonatum sibiricum polysaccharide (PSP) exhibits diverse pharmacological activities, including immunomodulatory, antitumor, antioxidant, and anti-aging effects. However, further study of the antitumor mechanisms is difficult because the activities of PSP are closely associated with its complex structural features and the different molecular weights of its components. Therefore, this review focuses on the research background and the extraction and purification of PSP. Studies related to the mechanism of the antitumor effects of PSP constituents of different molecular weights are also summarized, and perspectives on PSP research are presented.

Lai W ，Ning Q ，Wang G ，Gao Y ，Liao S ，Tang S ... -  《-》

A Review: The Bioactivities and Pharmacological Applications of Polygonatum sibiricum polysaccharides.

Cui X ，Wang S ，Cao H ，Guo H ，Li Y ，Xu F ，Zheng M ，Xi X ，Han C ... -  《MOLECULES》

Effect of steaming process on the structural characteristics and antioxidant activities of polysaccharides from Polygonatum sibiricum rhizomes.

Polygonatum sibiricum (P. sibiricum) rhizomes are widely used as a tonic and functional food, and are often processed to enhance their tonic function by repeated steaming and drying. As the most important constituent, the polysaccharide from P. sibiricum rhizomes (PSP) has demonstrated various activities, but the alteration of structural characteristics and activities of the purified PSPs during steaming process was rarely investigated. To well understand the effect of steaming process on the polysaccharides of P. sibiricum, neutral polysaccharides from P. sibiricum rhizomes (PSP0 ~ PSP9) after steaming were first isolated and purified, and then the chemical properties and antioxidant activities were determined. The results showed that the molar ratios of monosaccharides in PSPs were different. The molecular weights of PSPs were increased significantly after the fourth steaming. Morphological studies showed that the surface of PSPs became much tighter during the steaming process. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra displayed the polysaccharides had similar backbones and chemical groups. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of PSPs was measured through radical scavenging tests. It was found that the radical scavenging activity of PSPs was elevated strikingly after steaming, and increased gradually with numbers of steaming process. The biological and chemical variance of PSPs revealed considerable segregation of PSP0, PSP1 ~ PSP4 and PSP5 ~ PSP9. In conclusion, our results proposed the fourth time as the optimal number of steaming to extract functional polysaccharide from P. sibiricum rhizomes.

Li Q ，Zeng J ，Gong P ，Wu Y ，Li H ... -  《-》

Microwave-Assisted Degradation of Polysaccharide from Polygonatum sibiricum and Antioxidant Activity.

Four polysaccharide fractions (P-1: 71.40%, P-2: 1.95%, P-3: 1.14%, P-4: 1.64%) were isolated from crude Polygonatum sibiricum polysaccharide (PSP), processed by water extraction, ethanol precipitation, and further separated with diethylaminoethyl cellulose-52 anion-exchange chromatography. Their molecular weights and monosaccharide compositions were characterized by high performance gel chromatography with evaporative light scattering detector and ultraviolet-visible detector. The antioxidant activity of four polysaccharides fractions were assessed by the electron transfer menchanism (DPPH, ferric reducing power, and ABST assays) and chelation of transition metals (Fe2+ and Cu2+ chelation ability). The highest content fraction P-1 exhibited the lowest antioxidant activity, and the ranking of antioxidant capacity was P-4 > P-3 > P-2 > PSP > P-1. After processed by microwave-assisted degradation, the molecular weight of P-1 was decreased from 2.99 × 105 to 2.33 × 103 Da, while the antioxidant activity of degraded P-1 was about eightfold higher than natural P-1. These results indicated that the proposed microwave-assisted degradation approach was an efficacious methodology to improve their bioactivity by lower the molecular weight of polysaccharides. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This study provided an environmentally friendly, convenient and efficient microwave-assisted degradation technology to process the neutral polysaccharides from Polygonatum sibiricum. The results could be used for the development and utilization of various plant polysaccharides as a kind of food supplement in our daily life.

Zhang H ，Cai XT ，Tian QH ，Xiao LX ，Zeng Z ，Cai XT ，Yan JZ ，Li QY ... -  《-》

Characterization and protective effect of Polygonatum sibiricum polysaccharide against cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppression in Balb/c mice.

In this study, the polysaccharide from Polygonatum sibiricum (PSP) was evaluated for the immunomodulatory activity by the cyclophosphamide (Cy)-induced immunosuppressed-model in vivo. The PSP has been analyzed in order to identify a variety of chemical properties such as monosaccharide compositions and structural confirmation. The results show that the main components of PSP were galactose and rhamnose. The PSP could significantly stimulate neutral red phagocytosis of RAW264.7 macrophages. Compared with the cyclophosphamide group, PSP accelerated recovery of spleen and thymus indexes, and enhanced T cell and B cell proliferation responses as well as peritoneal macrophage phagocytosis. In addition, PSP treatment restored the levels of IL-2, TNF-α, IL-8 and IL-10 in the serum of the Cy-treated mice in a dose-dependent manner. Therefore, PSP played an important role in the protection against immunosuppression in the Cy-treated mice and could be used as a potential immunostimulant agent.

Liu N ，Dong Z ，Zhu X ，Xu H ，Zhao Z ... -  《-》