Abstract
Polyploidization is an effective means of improving the active components and quality of secondary metabolism in medicinal plants. In the present study, we compared the immunostimulatory effects of crude polysaccharides from tetraploid and diploid Echinacea purpurea. The results showed that the carbohydrate contents of crude polysaccharide of tetraploid E. purpurea (CPE4) and diploid E. purpurea (CPE2) were 85.51% and 44.65%, respectively. 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and gel-permeation chromatography (GPC) analyses showed no major differences in the overall structure and molecular weight of polysaccharides between CPE4 and CPE2. However, some differences in the relative content of the same polysaccharides group were observed between CPE4 and CPE2. In in vitro tests, EP4 could stimulate lymphocyte proliferation and secretion of cytokines maximally at the concentration of 0.0312 mg/mL, and EP2 could stimulate lymphocyte proliferation and secretion of cytokines maximally at the concentration of 0.125 mg/mL. In in vivo tests, EP4 was more effective at promoting the proliferation of lymphocytes and secretion of cytokines in mice immunosuppressed by cyclophosphamide than EP2 at the same concentration. Taken together, these data demonstrated that the relative content of the partial polysaccharides group is increased, and the immunoregulatory effect is enhanced in tetraploid E. purpurea.
Highlights
Echinacea purpurea (E. purpurea) Moench is a type of Echinacea plant (Asteraceae)
The results showed that the effect of CPE4-H was most evident (SI = 2.112), and at the same concentration, CPE4-H was higher than the CPE2 groups in that proliferation of lymphocytes in mice was inhibited by cyclophosphamide, but there was no significant difference between the CPE2-H and S groups
Chromosome doubling in medicinal plants typically leads to changes of shape, structure, and secondary metabolites and usually to a higher content of medicinal ingredients [24, 29, 30, 32,33,34,35]
Summary
Echinacea purpurea (E. purpurea) Moench is a type of Echinacea plant (Asteraceae). E. purpurea, popularly known as purple coneflower, is an important medicinal plant native to North America. Polyploidy may increase the content of active pharmaceutical ingredients in medicinal plants [19, 20]. The content of bioactive secondary metabolites in most polyploid medicinal plants is higher than that in diploid plants; the induction of polyploidy will certainly result in an increase of biological activity [24, 25]. We used modern pharmacology methods to study the effects of ploidy level on the content and immune activity of polysaccharides in vitro and in vivo. The present study provides a theoretical basis for breeding through induction of polyploidy to achieve a higher yield of biomass and bioactive compounds to increase the clinical treatment effects of E. purpurea
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