Abstract: The objective of this work was to explore the in vivo antioxidant capacity of abalone viscera polysaccharides (AVP) and its immunoenhancing activity in mice. An animal model of ethanol-induced oxidative injury and normal mice were used for this experiment. The in vivo antioxidant capacity was evaluated by measuring superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and the contents of glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA) and protein carbonyl content in liver. The immunoenhancing activity was determined with respect to immune orange indices, cell immunity, humoral immunity and nonspecific immunity. For this purpose, we measured immune organ indices, footpad swelling, hemolysin antibody level and phagocytic index (α). Results showed that AVP exerted good in vivo antioxidant capacity by significantly increasing SOD activity and GSH level (P < 0.05), and reducing the contents of MDA and protein carbonyl (P < 0.05) in the liver of mice with ethanol-induced oxidative injury. Furthermore, AVP enhanced immune function in normal mice by significantly increasing spleen and thymus indices, footpad swelling, serum hemolysin level (P < 0.01) and α value (P < 0.05). Additionally, our data demonstrated that both the antioxidant capacity and immunoenhancing activity of AVP were concentration dependent. This study can provide a theoretical basis for intensive processing and industrial development of abalone viscera.

Key words: abalone visceral polysaccharides, in vivo antioxidant activity, immunoenhancing activity