Characterization of immunomodulatory polysaccharides from Salvia officinalis L.

Crude polysaccharide fractions, rich mainly in arabinogalactans (A), pectin (B) and glucuronoxylan-related polymers (D), have been obtained from aerial parts of sage (Salvia officinalis L.) by sequential extraction with various reagents. Arabinogalactans displayed on HPLC a dominance of lower molecular-mass polymers ((M) over bar (w) < 10,000), while pectin and glucuronoxylan-related polysaccharides showed predominance of polymers with (M) over bar (w) > 50,000. Individual polysaccharide fractions were examined for their immunomodulatory activity in the in vitro comitogenic thymocyte test. The polysaccharide fractions tested possessed the capacity to induce rat thymocyte proliferation in the order D > B > A. Besides, fraction D possessed a significant comitogenic effect, and the SIcomit/S-mit ratio 3-4 indicates potential adjuvant properties of this glucuronoxylan-rich material. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.