Pharmacological profiles of animal- and nonanimal-derived sulfated polysaccharides – comparison of unfractionated heparin, the semisynthetic glucan sulfate PS3, and the sulfated polysaccharide fraction isolated from Delesseria sanguinea

Sulfated polysaccharides (SP) such as heparin are known to exhibit a wide range of biological activities, e.g., anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory, and antimetastastic effects. However, since the anticoagulant activity of heparin is dominating, its therapeutic use for other medical indications is limited due to an associated risk of bleeding. Further disadvantages of heparin are its animal origin, the shortage of resources, and its complex and variable composition. However, SP without these limitations may represent a substance class with good prospects for applications other than anticoagulation. In this study, the in vitro pharmacological profiles of two nonanimal-derived SP were investigated in comparison with unfractionated heparin. One is the natural SP fraction from the red algae Delesseria sanguinea (D.s.-SP). The other one is the chemically defined PS3, a semisynthetic β-1,3-glucan sulfate with proven in vivo anti-inflammatory and antimetastatic activities. All three polysaccharides were examined in vitro for their inhibitory effects on the coagulation and complement system, polymorphonuclear neutrophil elastase, hyaluronidase, matrix metalloproteinase-1, heparanase, and p-selectin-mediated cell adhesion. Compared with heparin, the nonanimal-derived polysaccharides have a four times weaker anticoagulant activity, but mostly exhibit stronger (1.4–224 times) effects on test systems investigating targets of inflammation or metastasis. According to their different structures, PS3 and D.s.-SP differ in their pharmacological profile with PS3 being the strongest inhibitor of heparanase and cell adhesion and D.s.-SP being the strongest inhibitor of hyaluronidase and complement activation. Considering both pharmacological profile and pharmaceutical quality parameters, PS3 represents a candidate for further development as an anti-inflammatory or antimetastatic drug whereas D.s.-SP might have perspectives for cosmetic applications.