Olafsdottir E S, Ingólfsdottir K
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Planta Med. 2001 Apr;67(3):199-208. doi: 10.1055/s-2001-12012.
Lichens have been used for medicinal purposes throughout the ages, and beneficial claims have to some extent been correlated with their polysaccharide content. Of 13,500 lichen species growing worldwide, less than 100 species have been investigated for polysaccharide content. Lichen polysaccharides are mainly of three different structural types: beta-glucans, alpha-glucans, and galactomannans. In addition, a few complex heteroglycans have recently been described, such as thamnolan, a water-soluble, immunologically active heteroglycan with a novel rhamnopyranosylgalactofuranan type of structure. A number of investigations have been carried out on biological effects of lichen polysaccharides, most notably antitumour, immunomodulating, antiviral, and memory-enhancing effects. The current review summarizes present knowledge on the structural characteristics and biological activity of lichen polysaccrides.
地衣长期以来一直被用于药用，其有益功效在一定程度上与其多糖含量相关。在全球生长的13500种地衣物种中，对其多糖含量进行研究的物种不到100种。地衣多糖主要有三种不同的结构类型：β-葡聚糖、α-葡聚糖和半乳甘露聚糖。此外，最近还描述了一些复杂的杂聚糖，如 thamnolan，一种具有新型鼠李糖基半乳呋喃聚糖结构类型的水溶性、免疫活性杂聚糖。已经对地衣多糖的生物学效应进行了多项研究，最显著的是抗肿瘤、免疫调节、抗病毒和增强记忆作用。本综述总结了目前关于地衣多糖结构特征和生物活性的知识。
