Abstract
Momordica charantia Linn. is used as an edible and medicinal vegetable in sub-tropical areas. Until now, studies on its composition and related activities have been confined to compounds of low molecular mass, and no data have been reported concerning the plant’s polysaccharides. In this work, a crude polysaccharide of M. charantia (MCP) fruit was isolated by hot water extraction and then purified using DEAE-52 cellulose anion-exchange chromatography to produce two main fractions MCP1 and MCP2. The immunomodulatory effects and physicochemical characteristics of these fractions were investigated in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that intragastric administration of 150 or 300 mg·kg−·d−1 of MCP significantly increased the carbolic particle clearance index, serum haemolysin production, spleen index, thymus index and NK cell cytotoxicity to normal control levels in cyclophosphamide (Cy)-induced immunosuppressed mice. Both MCP1 and MCP2 effectively stimulated normal and concanavalin A-induced splenic lymphocyte proliferation in vitro at various doses. The average molecular weights of MCP1 and MCP2, which were measured using high-performance gel permeation chromatography, were 8.55 × 104 Da and 4.41 × 105 Da, respectively. Both fractions exhibited characteristic polysaccharide bands in their Fourier transform infrared spectrum. MCP1 is mainly composed of glucose and galactose, and MCP2 is mainly composed of glucose, mannose and galactose. The results indicate that MCP and its fractions have good potential as immunotherapeutic adjuvants.
Highlights
Momordica charantia Linn. is a typical sub-tropical vegetable belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family and is widely used as a traditional remedy for many diseases in Asia, Africa and SouthAmerica
We present the structural characterisation of MCP1 and MCP2 by gas chromatography, mass spectrometry (GC-MS), high-performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC) and Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy
The immunomodulatory activity of MCP1 and MCP2 was evaluated in primary cultured splenic lymphocytes obtained from normal mice
Summary
Momordica charantia Linn. is a typical sub-tropical vegetable belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family and is widely used as a traditional remedy for many diseases in Asia, Africa and South. Many studies have confirmed that the fruit of M. charantia and its extracts possess antidiabetic/hypoglycaemic [1], hypolipidaemic [2], antiobesity [3], anti-inflammatory [4], antioxidant [5], antiviral [6,7], and antitumour [8,9] activities in vivo and in vitro and have no-to-low side effects in animals and in humans [10]. S-180 tumour cell growth in BALB/c mice Such bioactivity might be due to unique structural features, including an α-(1→4)-D-glucan main chain and water-soluble galactose and mannose side chains [19]. Mizuno indicated that the antitumour activity of polysaccharides obtained from mushrooms was strongly dependent on compounds with a high molecular weight, ranging from 500 kDa to 2000 kDa, rather than on compounds containing glycosidic bonds, such as (1→3)-β-glucans [21]. We present the structural characterisation of MCP1 and MCP2 by gas chromatography, mass spectrometry (GC-MS), high-performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC) and Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy
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