title: Isolation, characterization, and immunological effects of alpha-galacto-oligosaccharides from a new source, the herb Lycopus lucidus Turcz.
abstract: This study was designed to isolate and characterize a mixture of alpha-galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) from a new source, the roots of Lycopus lucidus Turcz. (RL), a traditional dietary treatment. In this study, the chemical components and immunological function of RL-GOS were investigated. HPLC analysis showed that the purified RL-GOS was a typical raffinose family oligosaccharide (RFO) with a high stachyose content of 51.8% (w/w), followed by 26.5% raffinose and 10.1% verbascose. Further functional evaluation showed that RL-GOS could elicit a significant increase (p < 0.05 vs control) in humoral immunity, as measured by plaque-forming cell (PFC) generation and serum hemolysin level in response to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) at all three tested doses of RL-GOS (0.75, 1.5, and 3.0 g/kg of BW) in mice. In addition, the cellular immune activity of RL-GOS was also demonstrated by enhancing in vivo delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction to SRBC and spleenocyte proliferation response to concanavalin A (p < 0.05, compared with control group). Nevertheless, there were no significant differences in weight gain, lymphoid organ indices, and phagocytosis capacity following RL-GOS treatment. This study provides evidence for the discovery of a new GOS source (20% w/w GOS in fresh roots of L. lucidus Turcz.) and its potential application as an immune stimulant in functional foods.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710062, China.
authors.forename: Xingbin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Nianwu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Kevin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Croft
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D005260:Female; D006968:Hypersensitivity, Delayed / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D056724:Immunity, Humoral / Q000187:drug effects; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D031333:Lycopus / Q000737:chemistry*; D051379:Mice; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000187:drug effects; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry; D011897:Random Allocation
chemical_list: D007155:Immunologic Factors; D009844:Oligosaccharides; D010936:Plant Extracts