| 초록 |
Fucoidan belongs to the fucans, a class of polysaccharides from marine sources rich in L-fucose. Fucoidan has anti-coagulant, anti-thrombotic properties, it is immunmodulatory and shows anti-inflammatory activities. Recent studies have indicated the presence of ordered repeat units in fucoidans from different sources. However, the relationships between structure and activity are not easy to elucidate since most of the studies of the biological activity have been carried out with rather crude material. Recent studies have now revealed that there is a relationship between the degree of polymerization/sulfation and different types of biological activity. High molecular weight fucoidan shows a rather low solubility in aqueous media, a high viscosity and low anticoagulant activity compared with low molecular weight samples obtained by degradation under e-beam irradiation. |
