Chemical and biochemical studies on carbohydrate esters. XII. The phagocytic response of the reticuloendothelial system in mice following intraperitoneal administration of disaccharide esters of fatty acids.

Abstract

The effects of twenty-three disaccharide esters of fatty acids on the phagocytic response of the reticuloendothelial system (RES) were examined by measuring the intravascular clearance of colloidal carbon 24 h after a single intraperitoneal injection into ddY mice. A marked increase in the phagocytic activity was demonstrated with the following samples : i) nine lots of industrially produced sucrose-tallowates containing the mono- and higher esters of stearic and palmitic acids (ca. 2-4 : 1) in various ratios ranging from 3 : 7 to 7 : 3, and ii) three laboratory-prepared samples, that is, sucrose-(di)- and -(poly)-stearates and trehalose-(di)-stearate. The phagocytic indexes shown by these agents at doses of 100 and 50 mg/kg, and, in some cases, even at 25 mg/kg were higher than, or comparable to, that obtained with 50 mg/kg of zymosan. Such a significant RES-stimulation could not be observed with other samples, i.e., a lot of commercial sucrose-tallowate consisting almost entirely of monoesters and a commercial sucrose-palmitate containing the mono-, di- and polyesters, ii) laboratory-prepared samples such as sucrose- and trehalose-(mono)-stearates, and -(mono)-myristates, maltose-(mono)-, -(di)-, and -(poly)-stearates and maltose-(mono)- and -(poly)-palmitates, and iii) sucrose and stearic acid in the free form.