A procoagulant chemically sulfated mannan.

Disorders of hemostasis can produce innumerous problems. Polysaccharides have been studied both as anticoagulant and as procoagulant agents. A mannan with a main chain of α-(1 → 6)-linked-Manp units, branched at O-2 mainly by side-chains of 2-O-linked-α-Manp units was chemically sulfated, structurally characterized by NMR and GC-MS (methylation, desulfation and methylation with trideuterated iodomethane), and tested in vitro and in vivo on blood coagulation models. Chemical analyses indicate a high degree of substitution on the sulfated polysaccharide. This polymer acted as a procoagulant agent, increasing blood coagulation in normal and hemophilic plasma, activated platelet aggregation and also decreased ex vivo aPTT. Polymers such as the sulfated mannan could be a helpful source of hemostatic agents to prevent hemorrhagic states.

Sulfation pattern of citrus pectin and its carboxy-reduced derivatives: influence on anticoagulant and antithrombotic effects.

Citrus pectin (CP), a polysaccharide composed of [→4)-α-D-GalpA-(1→]n, was submitted to one or four carboxy-reduction cycles, resulting in CP-CR1 and CP-CR4, which had 40% and 2% of GalpA units, respectively. The polysaccharides were chemically sulfated and their anticoagulant and antithrombotic effects determined. Sulfated polysaccharides (CP-S, CP-CR1S and CP-CR4S) had different anticoagulant activities, doubling APTT at concentrations of 28.7, 13.2, and 4.9 µg/ml respectively. CP-CR1S and CP-CR4S also showed antithrombotic activity in vivo with ED50 of 3.01 and 1.70 mg/kg, respectively. Like heparin, they inhibited thrombin by a mechanism dependent on AT and HCII. Their hemorrhagic potential was also similar to that of heparin. According to methylation analysis, 91.1% and 50.2% of 6-O-position in CP-CR4S and CP-CR1S were sulfated, respectively. Therefore, substitution of carboxyl groups by sulfate esters in these polysaccharides increases the anticoagulant and antithrombotic effects.

Antithrombin and heparin cofactor II-mediated inactivation of alpha-thrombin by a synthetic, sulfated mannogalactan.

INTRODUCTION: A mannogalactan from Pleurotus ostreatoroseus (MgPr) was chemically sulfated to give MgPr-S1, which was evaluated for its anticoagulant and antithrombotic activities, bleeding tendency, and platelet aggregation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: MgPr-S1 was partially characterized by HPSEC-MALLS, methylation analysis, and 13C NMR spectroscopy. Its anticoagulant activity was determined by assays of aPTT, TT, alpha-thrombin and factor Xa residual activity, heparin cofactor II (HCII)-, or antithrombin (AT)-mediated inhibition. The antithrombotic effect was evaluated in rats using a venous thrombosis model and the bleeding tendency was also tested in vivo. Platelet aggregation was investigated by an adaptation of the method of Born [1]. RESULTS: The hydroxyl groups of beta-D-Manp units and OH-2 and OH-4 of the (1-->6)-linked alpha-D-Galp units were preferentially substituted. The anticoagulant activity of MgPr-S1 was mainly by thrombin inhibition with antithrombin and HCII, and had an effect on platelet aggregation induced by ADP and alpha-thrombin. It almost completely inhibited thrombus formation in vivo at a dose of 6 mg/kg and heparin inhibited thrombus formation at a dose of 0.200 mg/kg. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that the chemically sulfated mannogalactan could act as an alternative to heparin as anticoagulant.

Structure of Agaricus spp. fucogalactans and their anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive properties.

Fucogalactans from Agaricus brasiliensis (EPF-Ab) and A. bisporus var. hortensis (EPF-Ah) were prepared via by aqueous extraction and a purification procedure. EPF-Ab had M(w) 19.4 x 10(3)g/mol and EPF-Ah M(w) 31.1 x 10(3)g/mol. EPF-Ab had a (1-->6)-linked alpha-D-Galp main-chain partially substituted in O-2 by non-reducing end-units of alpha-L-Fucp. EPF-Ah had a similar main-chain with O-2 substitution, but was partially methylated at HO-3, as well as having 2.5% non-reducing end-units of beta-D-Gal. In mice, EPF-Ab gave 39% antinociceptive inhibition (ID(50)>100mg/kg) and no anti-inflammatory activity. EPF-Ah also gave an inhibition of 39% at ID(50) 0.33 mg/kg and also inhibited by 61% (ID(50) 5.0mg/kg) total cell migration and by 32% peritoneal capillary permeability, which is related to the anti-inflammatory effect. The small differences in chemical structure in these polysaccharides thus modified their biological activities.

Influence of molecular weight of chemically sulfated citrus pectin fractions on their antithrombotic and bleeding effects.

Evaluated were the anticoagulant and antithrombotic activities, and bleeding effect of two chemically sulfated polysaccharides, obtained from citric pectin, with different average molar masses. Both low-molecular-weight (Pec-LWS, 3,600 g/mol) and high-molecular-weight sulfated pectins (Pec-HWS, 12,000 g/mol) had essentially the same structure, consisting of a (1-->4)-linked alpha-D-GalpA chain with almost all its HO-2 and HO-3 groups substituted by sulfate. Both polysaccharides had anticoagulant activity in vitro, although Pec-HWS was a more potent antithrombotic agent in vivo, giving rise to total inhibition of venous thrombosis at a dose of 3.5 mg/kg body weight. Surprisingly, in contrast with heparin, Pec-HWS and Pec-LWS are able to directly inhibit alpha-thrombin and factor Xa by a mechanism independent of antithrombin (AT) and/or heparin co-factor II (HCII). Moreover, Pec-HWS provided a lower risk of bleeding than heparin at a dose of 100% effectiveness against venous thrombosis, indicating it to be a promising antithrombotic agent.

A gel-forming beta-glucan isolated from the fruit bodies of the edible mushroom Pleurotus florida.

Glucans of basidiomycetes are considered to be an important class of polysaccharides, as they can act as biological response modifiers. We now isolate a gel-forming, water-soluble beta-glucan, with a molecular mass of 1.2 x 10(6)g/mol (HPSEC), from the fruit bodies of the edible mushroom Pleurotus florida, via alkaline extraction, followed by fractionation by freeze-thawing. Structural assignments were carried out using mono- and bi-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, monosaccharide composition, methylation analyses, and a controlled Smith degradation. It was a branched beta-glucan, with a main chain of (1-->3)-linked-Glcp residues, substituted at O-6 by single-unit Glcp side chains, on average to every fourth residue of the backbone.

Unusual partially 3-O-methylated alpha-galactan from mushrooms of the genus Pleurotus.

Indistinguishable partially 3-O-methylated galactans were isolated from the edible basidiomycetes Pleurotus eryngii and Pleurotus ostreatoroseus. They were obtained via successive aqueous extraction, freeze-thawing, precipitation with Fehling solution of soluble material, and ultrafiltration. Mono- and bidimensional 13C and 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (HMBC, HETEROTOCSY, COSY, and HMQC), and methylation analysis were used to determine their structures. They were linear, partially 3-O-methylated, (1-->6)-linked alpha-d-galactans containing Gal and 3-Me-Gal, in a 3:1 molar ratio (GC-MS of alditol acetates).