Rheum Tanguticum Polysaccharide Prevention of Irradiation-induced Immune Damage

Radiation therapy is one of the most important strategies in cancer treatment with irreplaceable advantages. However, it should not be overlooked that the immune damage caused by radiation therapy, which means that radiation therapy could lead to the immune function lessening and immune organ damage (Hu et al., 1988; Uh et al., 1994). The immune system damage could further weaken the immune function and leave the tumor out of control. At the same time, patients experienced physical deterioration, ruining their quality of life. Therefore, the research on radioprotector has been the hot spot in radiation therapy. In recent years, scholars in many countries have extracted a variety of polysaccharide from plants which could strengthen the immune system, such as ginseng polysaccharides (Lim et al., 2004), the polysaccharide from mulberry leaves (Hwan et al., 2000), polysaccharide from mugwort leaves (Lan et al., 2010), ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides (Gao et al., 2003; Zhua et al., 2007), wolfberry polysaccharide (Tang et al., 2011), Achyranthes bidentata polysaccharides (Chen et al., 2003), Grifola frondosa polysaccharide (Yin et al., 2007), lentinan (Yin et al., 2007), polyporus polysaccharide (Wong et al., 2011), angelica polysaccharide (Yang et al., 2006). All of them have been verified that they could enhance immunity. In addition, because of its wide material sources, natural, non-toxic and low cost, plant polysaccharides is a promising radioprotector (Schepetkin