Biological activities and pharmaceutical applications of polysaccharide from natural resources: A review

• Published in: Carbohydrate polymers Vol. 183; pp. 91 - 101
• Main Authors: Yu, Yue, Shen, Mingyue, Song, Qianqian, Xie, Jianhua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2018
• Subjects: Application; Biological activities; cell walls; drug therapy; glycemic effect; growth and development; Medicine; microorganisms; natural resources; Pharmaceutical; Polysaccharide; polysaccharides; Medicine; Biological activities; Pharmaceutical; Polysaccharide; Application
• ISSN: 0144-8617; 1879-1344; 1879-1344
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2017.12.009

•Interest in natural polysaccharides is increasing rapidly.•Various biological activities of polysaccharides were summarized.•Application of polysaccharides in field of pharmacology were reviewed.•Polysaccharides from natural resources have wide prospects of pharmaceutical application. Pharmacotherapy using natural substances can be currently regarded as a very promising future alternative to conventional therapy. As biological macromolecules, polysaccharide together with protein and polynucleotide, are extremely important biomacromoleules which play important roles in the growth and development of living organism. Polysaccharide is important component of higher plants, membrane of the animal cell and the cell wall of microbes. It is also closely related to the physiological functions. Recently, increasing attention has been paid on polysaccharides as an important class of bioactive natural products. Numerous researches have demonstrated the bioactivities of natural polysaccharides, which lead to the application of polysaccharides in the treatment of disease. In this paper, the various aspects of the investigation results of the bioactivities of polysaccharides were summarized, including its diversity pharmacological applications, such as immunoregulatory, anti-tumor, anti-virus, antioxidation, and hypoglycemic activity, and their application of polysaccharides in the treatment of disease are also discussed. We hope this review can offer some theoretical basis and inspiration for the mechanism study of the bioactivity of polysaccharides.