Effect of Chuanminshen violaceum polysaccharides and its sulfated derivatives on immunosuppression induced by cyclophosphamide in mice.

One hundred mice were randomly divided into five groups. The mice in one group were injected with physiological saline as the normal control group. The mice in the other four groups were injected with physiological saline, sulfated Chuanminshen violaceum polysaccharides (SCVP), Chuanminshen violaceum polysaccharide (CVP) and astragalus polysaccharide (AP) once daily for 7 d and then with cyclophosphamide (CY) in the last 3 d. The serum cytokine level, apoptosis protein expressions, spleen lymphocyte proliferation, changes in peripheral blood T-cell subsets, and immune organ index were then measured. Results showed that SCVP and CVP can overcome CY-induced immunosuppression by promoting spleen lymphocyte proliferation, raising serum IFN-γ and IL-2 levels, enlarging immune organ indexes, and decreasing excessive apoptosis. Moreover, SCVP and CVP showed the potential to treat autoimmune diseases based on CD4(+)/CD8(+) ratios. Results suggested that SCVP and CVP exhibited the potential to treat autoimmune and immunosuppression diseases.