Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) play a crucial role due to their significant biomedical functions. Chondroitin sulfate (CS) and dermatan sulfate (DS), the main representative family of GAGs, were extracted and purified from garfish (Belone belone) by-products, i.e., skin (GSB), bones (GCB), and heads (GHB), and their composition and anticoagulant activity were investigated. CS/DS were purified by ion-exchange chromatography with yields of 8.1% for heads, 3.7% for skin, and 1.4% for bones. Cellulose acetate electrophoresis was also explored for analyzing the extracted CS/DS. Interestingly, GHB, GSB, and GCB possessed sulfate contents of 21 ± 2%, 20 ± 1%, and 20 ± 1.5%, respectively. Physico-chemical analysis showed that there were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the variances for sulfate, uronic acid, and total sugars in the GAGs extracted from the different parts of fish. Disaccharide analysis by SAX-HPLC showed that the GSB and GCB were predominately composed of ΔDi-4S [ΔUA-GalNAc 6S] (74.78% and 69.22%, respectively) and ΔDi-2,4S [ΔUA2S-GalNAc 4S] (10.92% and 6.55%, respectively). However, the GHB consisted of 25.55% ΔDi-6S [ΔUA-GalNAc 6S] and 6.28% ΔDi-2,6S [ΔUA2S-GalNAc 4S]. Moreover, classical anticoagulation tests were also used to measure their anticoagulant properties in vitro, which included the activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, and thrombin time. The CS/DS isolated from garfish by-products exhibited potent anticoagulant effects. The purified CS/DS showed exceptional anticoagulant properties according to this research and can be considered as a new agent with anticoagulant properties.
Keywords: Belone belone; anticoagulant activity; by-products; chemical characterization; chondroitine sulfate; dermatan sulfate.