Screening active fractions from Pinus massoniana pollen for inhibiting ALV-J replication and their structure activity relationship investigation.

The objective was to identify the active fractions of polysaccharide against replication of ALV-J and elucidate their structure activity relationship. The optimal extraction conditions were extracting temperature 90℃, pH 9 and the ratio of liquid to solid 30:1. Under these conditions, extraction yield of total polysaccharide was 6.5 % ± 0.19 %. Total polysaccharide was then purified by DEAE-52 cellulose and Sephadex G-200 gel. Three fractions, PPP-1, PPP-2, and PPP-3, were identified with molecular weight of 463.70, 99.41, and 26.97 kDa, respectively. Three polysaccharide fractions were all composed of 10 monosaccharides in different proportions. Compared with PPP-1, which was mainly composed of glucose, PPP-2 and PPP-3 contained a higher proportion of galactose, glucuronic acid and galacturonic acid. The Congo red assay indicated that the PPP-2 may have a triple helical structure, while PPP-1 and PPP-3 were absent. In vitro assay showed that there was no significant cytotoxicity among the polysaccharide fractions under the concentration of 800 µg mL-1 (P > 0.05). The antiviral test showed that PPP-2 had the strongest activity, indicating PPP-2 was the major antiviral component. The structure-activity relationship showed that the antiviral activities of polysaccharide fractions were affected by their monosaccharide composition, molecular weight, and triple helical structure, which was a result of a combination of multiple molecular structural factors. These results showed that the PPP-2 could be exploited as a valued product for replacing synthetic antiviral drugs, and provided support for future applications of polysaccharide from Pinus massoniana pollen as a useful source for antiviral agent.

Effects of polysaccharide on chicks co-infected with Bordetella avium and Avian leukosis virus.

Chicks' co-infection with immunosuppressive virus and bacteria seriously threaten the development of the poultry industry. In this study, a model was established in which chicks were injected with either subgroup B ALV (ALV-B)+Bordetella avium (B. avium), or ALV-B+B. avium+Taishan Pinus massoniana pollen polysaccharide (TPPPS), or B. avium only, or B. avium+TPPPS. The data showed that the group injected with ALV-B and B. avium exhibited significant inhibition of the immune function and therefore increased pathogenicity compared with the group injected with B. avium-only. Application of TPPPS effectively alleviated immunosuppression, and body weights increased sharply in the TPPPS groups compared with non-TPPPS groups. To some extent, TPPPS may reduce the proliferation of ALV-B. These results suggest that Pinus pollen polysaccharides are beneficial treating co-infections with immunosuppressive virus and bacteria and therefore have potential for development into safe and effective immunoregulator.