Structural characterization and hepatoprotective activity of a galactoglucan from Poria cocos

To find the polysaccharide with hepatoprotective activity from Poria cocos and clarify its structure, a galactoglucan (PCP-1C) with a molecular weight of 17 kDa was purified from the Poria cocos sclerotium by column chromatography and activity evaluation in the present work. It was composed of galactose, glucose, mannose, and fucose in a molar percentage of 43.5: 24.4: 17.4: 14.6. Structural characterization showed that PCP-1C has a backbone consisted of 1,6-alpha-D-Galp, which branches composed of 1,3-beta-D-Glcp, 1,4-beta-D-Glcp, 1,6-beta-D-Glcp, T-beta-D-Glcp, T-alpha-D-Manp, T-alpha-L-Fucp and 1,3-alpha-L-Fucp. In vivo experiments found that PCP-1C can apparently improve the damage of liver tissue in CCl4-treated mice and relieve oxidative stress and inflammation. PCP-1C also reduced the expression of CAR and CYP2E1 in the liver. These findings indicated strong hepatoprotective effect of PCP-1C, which was attributed to the reduction of CCl4 metabolism via inhibiting the CAR/CYP2E1 signal pathway.

Automated summary

In this study, a galactoglucan (PCP-1C) with hepatoprotective activity was purified from Poria cocos, showing significant liver protective effects in CCl4-treated mice by improving liver tissue damage, reducing oxidative stress and inflammation, and decreasing the expression of CAR and CYP2E1 in the liver. These results suggest that the hepatoprotective effect of PCP-1C is attributed to the inhibition of the CAR/CYP2E1 signal pathway and reduction of CCl4 metabolism.