Immunomodulatory effects of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Caulerpa racemosa</Emphasis> var peltata polysaccharide and its selenizing product on T lymphocytes and NK cells in mice

A polysaccharide, CrvpPS, was isolated from Caulerpa racemosa var peltata. It was reacted with nano-selenium in distilled water containing ascorbic acid (Vit C) to form a stable CrvpPS-nano-Se complex. The immunomodulatory effects of CrvpPS and CrvpPS-nano-Se on T lymphocytes subgroups and NK cells in mice were investigated. After intragastric administration for 10 days separately, both CrvpPS and CrvpPS-nano-Se showed significant stimulatory functions to thymus gland of mice. Moreover, the CrvpPS-nano-Se induced the percentage of CD₃ ⁺, CD₃ ⁺CD₄ ⁺, NK cells and the CD₄ ⁺/CD₈ ⁺ value to increase significantly (P<0.05) when analyzed by flow cytometry, which is better than the CrvpPS, sucrose-nano-Se, and even the positive drug levamisole.