Shen Tao, Wang Shangteng, Liang Quntao, Sharp Joshua S, Wei Zheng
Institute of Glycobiochemistry, National Engineering Research Centre of Chemical Fertilizer Catalyst, Fu Zhou University, 350002, Fu Zhou, P.R. China.
College of Biological Science and Engineering, Fu Zhou University, 350002, Fu Zhou, P.R. China.
Glycoconj J. 2023 Apr;40(2):169-178. doi: 10.1007/s10719-023-10105-y. Epub 2023 Feb 7.
Dried leech (Whitmania pigra whitman) has been widely used as a traditional animal-based Chinese medicine. Dried leech extracts have been reported to have various biological activities that are often associated with mammalian glycosaminoglycans. However, their presence and possible structural characteristics within dried leech were previously unknown. In this study, glycosaminoglycans were isolated from dried leech for the first time and their structures were analyzed by the combination of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, liquid chromatography-ion trap/time-of-flight mass spectrometry and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate were detected in dried leech with varied disaccharide compositions and possess a heterogeneous structure. Heparan sulfate species possess an equal amount of total 2-O-sulfated, N-sulfated and acetylated disaccharides, while chondroitin sulfate /dermatan sulfate contain high content of 4-O-sulfated disaccharides. Also, the quantitative analysis revealed that the contents of heparan sulfate and chondroitin/dermatan sulfate in dried leech varied significantly, with chondroitin/dermatan sulfate being by far the most abundant. This novel structural information could help clarify the possible involvement of these polysaccharides in the biological activities of the dried leech. Furthermore, leech glycosaminoglycans showed a strong ABTS radical scavenging ability, which suggests the potential of leech polysaccharides for exploitation in the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries.
干水蛭（宽体金线蛭）作为一种传统的动物源中药已被广泛应用。据报道，干水蛭提取物具有多种生物活性，这些活性通常与哺乳动物糖胺聚糖有关。然而，它们在干水蛭中的存在及其可能的结构特征此前尚不清楚。在本研究中，首次从干水蛭中分离出糖胺聚糖，并通过傅里叶变换红外光谱、液相色谱 - 离子阱/飞行时间质谱和聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳相结合的方法对其结构进行了分析。在干水蛭中检测到硫酸乙酰肝素和硫酸软骨素/硫酸皮肤素，它们具有不同的二糖组成且结构不均一。硫酸乙酰肝素种类中总2 - O - 硫酸化、N - 硫酸化和乙酰化二糖的含量相等，而硫酸软骨素/硫酸皮肤素含有高含量的4 - O - 硫酸化二糖。此外，定量分析表明，干水蛭中硫酸乙酰肝素和硫酸软骨素/硫酸皮肤素的含量差异显著，其中硫酸软骨素/硫酸皮肤素的含量最为丰富。这一新颖的结构信息有助于阐明这些多糖在干水蛭生物活性中可能的作用。此外，水蛭糖胺聚糖表现出较强的ABTS自由基清除能力，这表明水蛭多糖在营养保健品和制药行业具有开发潜力。
