Selenium (Se) is a potential chemopreventive or chemotherapeutic agent against malignant
tumor.
Selenium-
oligosaccharides are important
selenium source of dietary supplementation. Due to the insufficient natural production, it is therefore urgent to develop
selenium-
oligosaccharides by artificial synthesis.
Chitosan, the N-deacetylated derivative of
chitin, has been applied widely in biomedical field, owing to its nontoxicity, hydrophilicity, biocompatibility, and biodegradation. While
chitosan is water insoluble at neutral pH, limiting its application in physiological conditions.
Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS), the hydrolysate of
chitosan, is readily soluble in water because of the shorter chain lengths of the oligomers and the free amino groups in the D-
glucosamine units. This study was aimed at preparing COS-conjugated
selenium (COS-Se) and examining the toxicity and ability on improving immune function and blocking
gastric cancer growth. Our results demonstrated that COS-Se displayed directly co-mitogenic and mitogenic actions on mouse splenocytes proliferation in vitro. Besides, COS-Se treatment could effectively elevate phagocytosis and increase the secretion of anti-inflammatory
cytokine in mouse peritoneal macrophages. Further in vivo experiments showed that COS-Se exhibited immuno-enhancing effects through promoting the phagocytic index, spleen index and thymus index with no obvious toxicity to Kunming mice. Moreover, COS-Se inhibited proliferation and
metastasis of human
gastric cancer cells, with non-toxic effects on the normal fibroblast cells in vitro. COS-Se supplementation could significantly repress the growth of gastric
adenocarcinoma through reducing levels of CD34,
vascular endothelial growth factor and
matrix metalloproteinase-9 of nude mice. In conclusion, COS-Se was non-toxic and showed great potential as a functional food ingredient in
cancer prevention.