Sulfated polysaccharides from the viscera of Mustelus shark: Characterization and antioxidant, anticoagulant and anti-proliferative activities

Abstract

In the present study, sulfated polysaccharides (SPs) from smooth hound shark were extracted using different precipitation agents, the cetylpyridinium chloride or ethanol, named SHSP-I and SHSP-II, respectively. The UV–visible scan demonstrated the absence of nucleic acids or proteins in the extracted SHSPs. The antioxidant, anticoagulant and anti-proliferative activities were also investigated. Results showed that SHSPs displayed reducing and scavenging capacities, as shown by the oxygen radical absorbance capacity, the total antioxidant capacity and the hydroxyl radical-scavenging activities. Moreover, extracted SPs were able to prolong the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), the prothrombin time (PT) and the thrombin time (TT) and they reduced the fibrinogen level (FL), without inducing erythrocytes hemolysis, which indicated that they inhibited the intrinsic and extrinsic coagulation pathways and thrombin-mediated fibrin formation. The SHSP-I was more effective on prolonging the blood clotting time by more than 120 s at 1 mg/ml in the aPTT and about 70 s and 60 s at 2.5 mg/ml in the PT and TT, respectively, compared to the SHSP-II. The anti-proliferative activity of SHSPs was tested against the growth of K562 human myelogenous leukemia cells and Caco-2 colon cancer cells. Data showed that both polysaccharides have a dose-dependent inhibitory effect, where SHSP-I exhibited the strongest activity against the tested cells and the K562 was more sensitive than Caco-2 line cells to the action of SHSPs. The overall data suggested that SPs from shark viscera could be useful to be used as nutraceutical agents.