Different local therapeutic effects of various polysaccharides on MH134 hepatoma in mice and its relation to inflammation induced by the polysaccharides.

The local antitumor activities and inflammation-inducing activities of various antitumor polysaccharides were examined and the relation between the two types of activity was studied. The tested antitumor polysaccharides included MG (a mannoglucan prepared from the culture fluid of Microellobosporia grisea), lentinan, bacterial lipopolysaccharide, TAK (a glucan from Alcaligenes faecalis) and their derivatives. Local antitumor activity was tested by intratumoral administration of the polysaccharides 4, 7 and 10 days after inoculation of MH134 hepatoma intradermally (id) into the abdomen of C3H/He mice. MG and its derivatives showed strong local antitumor activity. Inflammation-inducing activity was assayed by measuring foot-pad swelling and accumulation of iv-injected 51Cr-labeled spleen cells after injection of the test materials into the footpads of C3H/He mice. TAK had the strongest inflammation-inducing activity among the polysaccharides tested. No close correlation was found between the local antitumor activity and the inflammation-inducing activity.