Purification and Partial Characterization of an Acidic Polysaccharide with Complement Fixing Ability from the Stems of Avicennia Marina

An acidic polysaccharide fraction that had high anticomplementary activity was isolated from the stems of Grey Mangrove in 0.15% yield. The final fractions was designated HAM-3-IIb-II. The polysaccharide fraction appeared to be homogenous by high performance size exclusion chromatography with an estimated molecular weight of 105 kDa. The isolated polysaccharide is more effective than polysaccharide K (PSK) in its anticomplementary activity at 58 microg/ml of PSK and 23 microg/ml of HAM-3-IIb-II that inhibit 50% of complement activity in the complement fixation assay. Structural studies indicated that HAM-3-IIb-II was rich in galacturonic acid along with arabinose, galactose and rhamnose, characterizing a pectin-type polysaccharide, which was also confirmed by FT-IR spectrum. The presence of rich neutral sugar side chains of arabinogalactans may have contributed to the expression of high activity. Traditionally, this mangrove plant is used for medicinal purposes and it appears to have some scientific applications.