A main goal of cancer research is to completely prevent recurrence following surgery and to increase survival time. Cytotoxic anticancer chemotherapeutic agents generally produce severe side effects, while reducing host resistance to cancer and infections, especially through the destruction of lymphoid and bone marrow cells. In this study, we have investigated the effect of chitosan on lymphocyte proliferation, natural killer (NK) cell activity, and monocyte activity in mice. Mice splenocytes were incubated with chitosan and Concanavalin A to observe the effects on cell proliferation. The cytotoxic activities of NK cell and monocyte in chitosan-exposed mice were assayed by cytotoxicity against Yac-1 cells. We detected an increase of cell growth in splenocytes proliferation. The cytotoxic activities of NK cell and monocyte in chitosan-exposed mice were increased in comparison with control. Our results suggest that chitosan augments lymphocyte proliferation, and activation of NK cells and monocyte.

Keywords: Chitosan, Lymphocyte proliferation, NK, Monocyte