Effects of a chemically derived homo zwitterionic polysaccharide on immune activation in mice

In this study, a chemically modified homo zwitterionic polysaccharide (ZPS), sulfated chitosan, was used to examine its effects on murine immune response. The results showed that homoZPS could markedly promote the proliferation of both splenic T/B cells and adhesive cells. In particular, flow cytometry assay demonstrated that the sulfated chitosan could non-specifically activate CD3(+) and CD8(+) T cells proliferation in vitro. The effectiveness of sulfated chitosan as adjuvant was tested using bovine serum albumin (BSA) and diphtheria toxin (DT) as antigens and compared with that of aluminum hydroxide. The levels of specific antibodies to BSA and DT significantly increased after homoZPS vaccination. Both homoZPS and aluminum hydroxide adjuvants could protect mice against the attack of DT from edemas of spleen and tail. The present findings demonstrated the chemically derived homoZPS could be a potential candidate in the development of T-lymphocyte dependent vaccine adjuvants.