Polysaccharide of Asparagus cochinchinensis (Lour.) Merr: Preliminary characterization and antitumor activity in vivo

A novel high molecular weight polysaccharide (ACP) extracted and purified from Asparagus cochinchinensis (Lour.) Merr was preliminarily characterized by HPGPC, Ion chromatography, FT-IR, NMR, and SEM, and its in vivo antitumor activity was investigated using an H22 tumor-bearing mice model. ACP was identified to be a homogeneous component with a purity of 95.75 ± 1.58%, a molecular weight of 74.7 kDa, and an acidic polysaccharide composed of Rha, Ara, Gal, Glc, Xyl, Man, GalA, and GlcA at a molar ratio of 0.34:1.86:8.72:15.99:1:0.52:2.25:0.11 with α- and β-anomeric units. In vivo antitumor activity evaluation showed that ACP could effectively inhibit the growth of solid tumors in H22 hepatocellular carcinoma-transplanted mice at inhibition rates of 26.5% and 45.3%, respectively, with the two possible apoptosis mechanisms involving arresting the cell cycle in G0/G1 phase and reducing the mitochondrial membrane potential in H22 cells. These results indicate the potential of ACP as a therapeutic agent of liver cancer.