Sulfated polysaccharide from Cyclocarya paliurus enhances the immunomodulatory activity of macrophages

In this study, a sulfated polysaccharide (S-CP_1-8) was obtained from Cyclocarya paliurus by chlorosulfonic acid-pyridine method. S-CP_1-8 was chemical characterized and cultured with macrophage RAW264.7 cells to evaluate its immunomodulatory activity. Preliminary physicochemical analysis identified arabinose (Ara), galactose (Gal) and glucose (Glc) were the major monosaccharides of S-CP_1-8, with average Molecular weight (Mw) of 970kDa and contained sulfate with degree of substitution (DS) of 0.12. Meanwhile, our findings demonstrated that tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 secretion levels were significantly increased by S-CP_1-8 treatment in RAW264.7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, nitric oxide (NO) release and phagocytic activities of macrophages were significantly enhanced by the treatment of S-CP_1-8 compared with native Cyclocarya paliurus polysaccharide (CP). The results indicated that S-CP_1-8 could enhance the immunomodulatory effects on RAW264.7 macrophages, as comparison with CP group. S-CP_1-8 could serve as potential immunomodulatory agents to be used as complementary medicine or functional foods.