Ophiopogon polysaccharide liposome can enhance the non-specific and specific immune response in chickens

• OPL could significantly enhance non-specific immune response in vitro and in vivo.
• OPL could significantly improve specific immune response in vivo.
• The activity of OP was significantly improved after encapsulated with liposome.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the immune-enhancing activity of ophiopogon polysaccharide liposome (OPL). In non-specific immune response experiment, the phagocytosis and cytokines secretion of peritoneal macrophages in vitro and in vivo were performed. In specific immune response experiment, the activity of OPL was measured on chickens which were vaccinated with Newcastle disease (ND) vaccine and then challenged with ND virus at 49-old-day. The results showed that OPL could significantly promote the phagocytosis of macrophages and induce the secretion of IL-2 and IL-6 in vitro; OPL at high and medium doses could significantly improve the phagocytosic index, promote lymphocyte proliferation, increase the proportion of T lymphocyte subpopulations (CD4+ and CD8+), enhance antibody titer and improve the protective rate in vivo. Moreover, its efficacy was significantly better than ophiopogon polysaccharide (OP). These results indicated that the immune-enhancing activity of OP was significantly improved after encapsulated with liposome.