Preparation of Polysaccharides from Qifuyin and Investigation of Their Anti-Oxidant and Regenerative Effects Based on Planaria

Qifuyin (QFY) has been used for the treatment of senile dementia in traditional Chinese medicine. Polysaccharides are the main components in QFY, but they have not been sufficiently studied. Here, we extracted QFY polysaccharides (QFYP) with 29.9 ± 0.81% yield and 70.1 ± 0.10% purity using hydrothermal extraction and alcohol precipitation. The QFYP-1 and QFYP-2 were separated through DEAE-52 cellulose column chromatography. The 207.1 mg QFYP-1 was obtained with 20.71% yield and 92.8% purity. The 108.0 mg QFYP-2 was extracted with 10.80% yield and 84.5% purity. The in vitro anti-oxidant assay showed that QFYP could scavenge DPPH, ABTS+, O2- radicals and chelate Fe2+, with IC50 of 0.43 mg/mL, 0.92 mg/mL, 3.4 mg/mL and 6.5 mg/mL respectively. In vivo animal experiments showed that QFYP increased the head regeneration score of the decapitated planaria after 72 h. The free-swimming behavior test of the post-regenerated planaria showed that QFYP increased the total motion distance and movement angle of planaria. This indicated that QFYP was successfully prepared, and exerted anti-oxidant effects and promoted regenerative activities.