The fruits of Lycium barbarum have a long history as an edible and medicinal food in Asian regions and have multiple consumption methods; the polysaccharides (LBPs) are commonly considered as their major immunological constituents. The current study revealed that the total phenolic amide moieties from L. barbarum fruits showed greater potential immunomodulatory activity in vivo than did LBPs. Through subsequent investigation on the immunological bioactive phenolic amides, three new phenolic amides, lyciumamides L-N (1-3), as well as 12 analogues, were obtained from the total phenolic amide fraction. Extensive spectroscopic methods were used to elucidate the new structures. Compounds 4-6 and 15 significantly promoted LPS-stimulated B splenocyte, while compounds 4-6 displayed accelerative effects on the proliferation of Con A-stimulated T lymphocytes at a concentration of 20.0 μg/mL. These data indicated that extracts from L. barbarum fruits enriched with phenolic amides could be developed as a nutritional dietary supplement for immunocompromised individuals.
Keywords: Lycium barbarum; immunomodulatory activity; lyciumamide; phenolic amides.