Studies of macrophage immuno-modulating activity of polysaccharides isolated from Paecilomyces tenuipes

The objective of this study was to evaluate the immunomodulatory effects of the Paecilomyces sinensis polysaccharides (PtP) on the activity of macrophages and human monocytes. A water-soluble polysaccharide, with estimated molecular weight of 2.04×104Da, was isolated from P. sinensis. The results indicate that PtP can increase the activity of LDH and ACP in AMφ and PMφ of rats and human mononuclear cells, and enhance the pinocytic activity of macrophages and TNF-α production by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), suggesting that PtP had potent immunomodulatory properties and could be explored as a novel potential immunostimulants for the food and pharmaceutical purpose.