Present study reports the biological response modifying (BRM) activities of sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum L.) derived high molecular mass glycoproteins (HMMGs) in chickens. HMMGs were recovered from sugar cane juice by size exclusion chromatography. The electrophoretic analysis of HMMGs sample revealed the presence of eight different glycoprotein fractions with molecular weights ranging from 82.81 to 255.56 kDa. These HMMGs were evaluated for their BRM activities in terms of cellular and humoral immune responses and production performance. Results showed that HMMGs significantly enhanced (P<0.05) the in vivo and in vitro lymphoproliferative responses to phytohaemagglutinin-P and Concanavalin-A, respectively in chickens. Significantly elevated B- cell mediated immune response in terms of antibody titres to sheep red blood cells, Newcastle disease and Infectious Bursal disease vaccines (P<0.05) in HMMGs administered chickens were also detected. Production performance was determined in terms of feed conversion ratios that were significantly improved (P<0.05) in chickens administered with HMMGs as compared to those of control group. On the whole, results suggested that HMMGs have immunostimulatory potential and can be used as native BRM agents in chickens to boost up their immunity and production performance.

Key words: Biological response modifiers, Chickens, Glycoproteins, Saccharum officinarum