Purification, characterization and bioactivities of a 4-O-methylglucuronoxylan from Aralia echinocaulis

The discovery of active constituents from food plants is an important area of research in pharmaceutical sciences. Aralia echinocaulis is a medicinal food plant that is mainly used to prevent or treat rheumatoid arthritis in China. This paper reported the isolation, purification and bioactivity of a polysaccharide (HSM-1-1) from A. echinocaulis. Its structural features were analyzed according to the molecular weight distribution, monosaccharide compo-sition, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. The results indicated that HSM-1-1 was a new 4-O-methylglucuronoxylan mainly composed of xylan and 4-O-methyl glu-curonic acid with the molecular weight of 1.6 x 104 Da. Furthermore, the antitumor and anti-inflammatory activities of HSM-1-1 in vitro were investigated, and the results showed that HSM-1-1 had potent proliferation inhibition activity on colon cancer cell SW480 with an inhibition rate of 17.57 & PLUSMN; 1.03 % at a concentration of 600 & mu;g/mL, as measured via MTS methods. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a polysaccharide structure obtained from A. echinocaulis and its bioactivities, and its potential as an adjuvant natural product with anti-tumor effects is shown.

Automated summary

This study isolated and purified a polysaccharide (HSM-1-1) from Aralia echinocaulis, a medicinal food plant used for rheumatoid arthritis treatment in China. HSM-1-1 was found to be a new 4-O-methylglucuronoxylan with anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory activities.