Purification, partial characterization and anti-inflammatory characteristics of lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn) plumule polysaccharides.

A novel lotus plumule polysaccharide (LPPS) was purified, characterised and cultured with RAW264.7 macrophages to evaluate its anti-inflammatory characteristics. LPPS was purified using Sepharose 6B gel filtration and dissolved into two major components, fraction-1 (F1) and fraction-2 (F2). The molecular weights of native F1 and F2 were approximately distributed at >2,000 and 25.7kDa, respectively. The total protein and carbohydrate constituent ratios in LPPS, F1, and F2 were 30.0±0.9% vs. 70.0±0.9%, 30.1±2.6% vs. 69.9±2.6%, and 96.5±6.1% vs. 3.5±6.1% (w/w), respectively, suggesting that F1 may be a major proteo-polysaccharide component and F2 a glycoprotein constituent in LPPS. Pro-/anti-inflammatory (IL-6/IL-10) cytokine secretion ratios by lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages were significantly decreased by F1 and F2 treatments, particularly by F2, in a dose-dependent manner under a preventive experimental model. This study suggests that purified components, F1 and F2 from LPPS, have strong anti-inflammatory effects on LPS-induced inflamed macrophages in a preventive manner.