Effects of Selenizing Codonopsis pilosula Polysaccharide on Macrophage Modulatory Activities

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the immune-enhancing activity of selenizing Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharide (sCPPS5) in nonspecific immune response. In in vitro experiment, the results showed that sCPPS5 could promote the phagocytic uptake, NO production, and TNF-α and IL-6 secretion of RAW264.7 cells. sCPPS5 could also strongly increase the IκB-α degradation in the cytosol and the translocation of NF-κB p65 subunit into the nucleus of RAW264.7 cells. In the vivo experiment, sCPPS5 at medium doses could significantly improve the phagocytic index of peritoneal macrophages and induce the secretion of TNF-α and IL-6. Moreover, the effect of sCPPS5 was significantly better than Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharide (CPPS). These results indicated that selenylation modification could significantly enhance the immune-enhancing activity of CPPS in the nonspecific immune response.