Effect of ginseng polysaccharides on NK cell cytotoxicity in immunosuppressed mice.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of Ginseng polysaccharides (GPS) on natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity in immunosuppressed mice. Cyclophosphamide (Cy) was used to construct an immunosuppressed mouse model. The mice in each group were submitted to gavages with 200 or 400 mg/kg GPS every day for 10 days. Magnetic-activated cell sorting was used to isolate spleen NK cells, and the NK cell cytotoxicity, blood distribution, expression levels of perforin and granzyme, and the mRNA expression levels of interferon (IFN)-gamma were detected. Compared with the normal control group, the cytotoxicity and proportion of NK cells in the blood, and the expression levels of perforin, granzyme and IFN-gamma mRNA in the Cy model group were significantly reduced (P<0.05). In addition, compared with the Cy model group, the cytotoxicity and proportion of NK cells in the whole blood, and the expression levels of perforin and granzyme in the NK cells in the Cy + low-dose GPS and Cy + high-dose GPS groups were significantly increased (P<0.05). However, the mRNA expression levels of IFN-gamma in the NK cells did not significantly change (P>0.05). Compared with the normal control group, the cytotoxicity and proportion of NK cells in the whole blood, and the expression levels of perforin in the Cy + low-dose GPS and the Cy + high-dose GPS groups were significantly lower (P<0.05). However, the expression levels of granzyme in the NK cells was not significantly different, as compared with the normal control group (P>0.05). These results suggested that GPS promotes NK cell cytotoxicity in immunosuppressed mice by increasing the number of NK cells in the whole blood and upregulating the expression of perforin and granzyme. Thus, the present study investigated the molecular mechanism underlying NK cell activation by GPS, the research showed that GPS have a wide application prospects in the treatment of cancer and immunodeficiency diseases.