The present study investigates the relationship between the high-order structure and hypolipidemic activity of four well-defined sulfated fucans from sea cucumber. The chain conformation, determined by a combination of AFM and SEC-MALLS-RI, indicate that fucosylated chondroitin sulfate (fCS) from Pearsonothuria graeffei (fCS-Pg) and Isostichopus badionotus (fCS-Ib), and fucoidan from P.graeffei (fuc-Pg) were assigned as a random coil conformation with polysaccharide chain outstretched, while I. badionotus (fuc-Ib) was assigned as a spherical conformation and exhibited high viscosity. Fuc-Pg and fuc-Ib with higher molecular weights had a greater impact in inhibiting pancreatic lipase activity in vitro. However, fCS-Pg, fCS-Ib and fuc-Pg with random linear conformation exhibited excellent hypolipidemic activity in Sprague-Dawley rats (SD rats) fed on high-fat diet (HFD), whereas fuc-Ib showed only a modest effect. Our results indicate that structural characteristics, including side branch and sulfation pattern can affect the chain conformation of polysaccharides, which determine their physicochemical properties and hypolipidemic activity.
Keywords: Anti-hyperlipidemic activity; Chain conformation; Structure-function relationship; Sulfated polysaccharides from sea cucumbers.
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