Degradation of porphyran from Porphyra haitanensis and the antioxidant activities of the degraded porphyrans with different molecular weight.

In the present paper, ascorbate and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) were used to degrade porphyran. It was found that porphyran could be degraded by free radical that was generated by ascorbate and H2O2 in combination. It was possible to prepare desired porphyran products with different molecular weight by adjusting ascorbate to H2O2 proportions and their concentrations. The molar ratio of 1 was demonstrated more effective than in other ratios. Higher concentrations accelerated the degradation. Moreover, results of chemical analysis and FT-IR spectra suggested that the main structure of degraded products still remained although some changes happened. The degraded and natural porphyrans possessed scavenging 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-radical activity and reducing power. Higher antioxidant activities were found in both systems when the molecular weight was reduced. The results indicated that the antioxidant activities were closely related to the molecular weight. The degraded porphyrans are potential antioxidant in vitro.

Antioxidant activity of different sulfate content derivatives of polysaccharide extracted from Ulva pertusa (Chlorophyta) in vitro.

Polysaccharide extracted from Ulva pertusa (Chlorophyta) is a group of sulfated heteropolysaccharide; for simplicity, the sulfated polysaccharide is referred to as ulvan in this paper. In this study, different sulfate content ulvans were prepared with sulfur trioxide/N,N-dimethylformamide (SO3-DMF) in formamide, and their antioxidant activities were investigated including scavenging activity of superoxide and hydroxyl radicals, reducing power and metal chelating ability. As expected, we obtained several satisfying results, as follows: firstly, high sulfate content ulvans had more effective scavenging activity on hydroxyl radical than natural ulvan. Secondly, comparing with natural ulvan, high sulfate content ulvans exhibited stronger reducing power. Thirdly, HU4 (sulfate content, 30.8%) and HU5 (sulfate content, 32.8%) showed more pronounce chelating ability on ferrous ion at high concentration than other samples.

Chemical composition and moisture-absorption/retention ability of polysaccharides extracted from five algae.

In this study, we prepared seven polysaccharides extracted from five algae including one brown alga Saccharina japonica, one red alga Porphyra haitanensis and three green algae Codium fragile, Enteromorpha linza and Bryopsis plumose. The chemical composition and capability of moisture-absorption and moisture-retention were investigated in comparison with those of hyaluronic acid (HA). The low molecular weight polysaccharides extracted from brown seaweed exhibited the highest moisture-absorption and moisture-retention abilities of all of the polysaccharides studied and performed better than HA. The relationships between chemical composition (including sulfated groups, monosaccharide, and molecular weight) and the functions of polysaccharides were also studied. We found the sulfated group was a main active site for moisture-absorption and moisture-retention abilities. These abilities were also related to molecular weight; with the exception of the low molecular weight polysaccharide extracted from red seaweed, lower molecular weight improved moisture-absorption and moisture-retention abilities.

Structural studies on a novel fucogalactan sulfate extracted from the brown seaweed Laminaria japonica.

A low molecular weight fucogalactan, obtained from the brown seaweed Laminaria japonica, was separated into three fractions (LF1, LF2 and LF3) by DEAE-Sepharose FF column chromatography. All three fractions contained predominantly fucose, sulfate group and galactose. The results showed that the main fraction LF2 consisted of l-fucose, d-galactose and sulfate at a molar ratio 6:1:9. Structural study on the LF2 was carried out by NMR spectroscopy. The backbone of LF2 was primarily (1-->3)-linked alpha-l-fucopyranose residues (75%) and a few (1-->4)-alpha-l-fucopyranose linkages (25%). The branch points were at C-4 of 3-linked alpha-l-fucopyranose residues by beta-d-galactopyranose unites (35%, molar ratio) or at C-2 of 3-linked alpha-l-fucopyranose residues by non-reducing terminal fucose unites (65%, molar ratio). Sulfate groups occupied at position C-4 or C-2, sometimes C-2, 4 to fucose residues, and C-3 and/or C-4 to galactose residues. The structure of LF2 was supposed as following: .

Preparation of the different derivatives of the low-molecular-weight porphyran from Porphyra haitanensis and their antioxidant activities in vitro.

Porphyran extracted from Porphyra haitanensis is a sulfated polysaccharide, which possesses excellent antioxidant activities. In this study, we prepared one low-molecular-weight porphyran and its sulfated, acetylated, phosphorylated and benzoylated derivatives. Their antioxidant activities were investigated including scavenging effect of superoxide, hydroxyl and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals. The results of chemical analysis and FT-IR spectrums showed the modification was successful. And in addition, we found that certain derivative exhibited stronger antioxidant activity than low-molecular-weight porphyran. The benzoylated derivative showed the most excellent antioxidant activity in three assays, so this derivative needs to be attended to.

Effects of fucoidan on chronic renal failure in rats.

The effects of fucoidan on chronic renal failure (CRF) were investigated in vivo in a subtotal nephrectomy CRF model and a cryoinjury induced CRF model in rats. Fucoidan showed renoprotective effects in both models. Fucoidan (100 or 200 mg/kg, orally) significantly decreased elevated serum creatinine and urea nitrogen levels. Histopathological changes of renal tubules and interstitium were markedly alleviated by fucoidan and the mesangial areas were also greatly reduced. The activities of fucoidan were dose-dependent.