Effect of polyporus polysaccharide on NO production,iNOS activity and intracellular reduced glutathione level from peritoneal macrophages of mice

Objective:To investigate the effect of polyporus polysaccharide (PPS) on nitric oxide (NO)production from peritoneal macrophages of mice and its immunoregulatory and antineoplastic mechanism.Methods:NO output,iNOS(inducible nitric oxide synthase)activity and reduced glutathione(GSH)level were determined by Griess reaction,fluorimetry and DTNB colorimetry respectively.Results:PPS treatment resulted in a dose dependent increase of NO production and iNOS activity.There was a negative correlation between the increase of NO output and decrease of GSH concentration( P 0.05).Conclusion:PPS is able to induce iNOS activity and to stimulate NO synthesis,which is associated with the consumption of intracellular GSH.Intracellular GSH could regulate NO synthesis of macrophages and protect host cells from NO mediated cytotoxicity.