Abstract:

Objective: This study aimed to examine the protective effects of Pleurotus eryngii polysaccharides (PePs) on
mice bearing sarcoma 180 (S180) cells and the efficacy of PePs in reducing the side-effects of chemotherapy with cisplatin.
Methods: Healthy male mice were randomly divided into blank control group (A), PePs treatment group (B), model blank
group (C), chemotherapy group (D), Peps treatment group (E) and Pep treatment plus chemotherapy group (F). PePs were
intraperitoneally injected at a dose of 100 mg/(kg·d) body weight (bw) daily for 40 days. A single dose of ascites fluid
(3 mL/kg bw) from mice inoculated with S180 was subcutaneously injected on the first day of experiment. Chemotherapy
was achieved by five repeated intraperitoneal injections of 5.0 mg/kg bw of cisplatin every other day from 10 days after
administration of S180 cells. During 20–40 days after inoculation of S180 cells, the death rate, body weight, blood
leucocyte number, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities, malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in the
ascites fluid of mice were measured. Results: The fungal polysaccharides significantly reduced the mortality rate of S180-
bearingmice, prolonged the survival time, increased the number of blood leucocytes, enhanced the activities of ascites SOD
and CAT enzymes, decreased the ascites MDA concentration, and reduced the adverse effects of chemotherapy on mouse
immunity (P < 0.05). Conclusion: PePs possess strong protective effects on S180-bearing mice and reduce the side effects of
cisplatin chemotherapy.

Key words: Pleurotus eryngii polysaccharides, sarcoma 180 (S180) cells, chemotherapy, protective effect