Marine Oligosaccharides

Oligosaccharides are low molecular weight (LMw) carbohydrates in nature, between simple sugars and polysaccharides. They can be extracted or obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis from various biomass sources or synthesized from simple oligosaccharides by enzymatic transfer reactions. The high solubility and low viscosity of oligosaccharides at neutral pH particularly enhance their application in biomedicine. Their biodegradable, non-toxic and non-allergenic properties have likewise attracted the interest of the scientific community. Marine oligosaccharides are produced in marine organisms naturally and/or by hydrolysis of derived polysaccharides. Marine oligosaccharides have recently attracted increasing interest in the fields of food, agriculture and medicine due to their specific physical and chemical properties. Moreover, the trend of exploiting the new marine functional food based on marine oligosaccharides has predominated in utilization of the marine biological resources nowadays.

Biological activities

As a degradation product of polysaccharides, marine oligosaccharides have significant biological activities, including anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory and more.

• Anti-tumor activity

Tumors are one of the diseases that seriously threaten people's health and life. Although many drugs have been used to treat tumors, they are often accompanied by serious adverse effects. In recent years, a growing number of scientists have realized the enormous potential of marine organisms as a source of novel molecules and new anti-cancer agents. Among these, marine oligosaccharides have emerged as an attractive candidate for the treatment of cancer as a non-immunogenic, non-toxic and biodegradable polymer. They can not only kill tumor cells directly, but also impair the nutritional support system of tumors by targeting the tumor blood vessel network and activating the immune system.

• Anti-inflammatory activity

It is known that inflammation involves a complex series of protective and reparative responses to tissue injury caused by either mechanical and autoimmune stimuli or infection. Recently, numerous anti-inflammatory compounds have been isolated from marine algae with potential protective efficacy against neuroinflammation. Among them, marine oligosaccharides influence cellular immunity, humoral immunity and inflammatory processes in autoimmune diseases in many ways and have reliable efficacy in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.

• Antibacterial activity

Antibiotics used to treat infectious diseases have provided immeasurable benefits to human health. However, with the use of antibiotics, bacterial resistance has become an extremely serious worldwide problem. Research and development of new strategies to prevent bacterial infections has become one of the hot spots in medicine. A surprising discovery is that marine oligosaccharides derived from seaweeds have antibacterial and anti-biofilm properties. They can enhance the activity of certain antibiotics against multi-drug resistant bacteria. For example, Jeon ^[1] prepared chitosan oligosaccharides with a high degree of polymerization. These marine oligosaccharides have significant antibacterial activity. They inhibit the growth of E. coli and completely inhibit its growth at a concentration of 0.5%.

• Other activities

In addition to the above biological activities, marine oligosaccharides also have biological activities such as antioxidant, anticoagulant, antihypertensive, immunity enhancing and obesity suppressing.

Our products

With a deep research base in the field of marine chemistry, Alfa Chemistry has the ability to offer a wide range of high quality marine oligosaccharides. The main products we offer are listed below.

If you do not find what you need, please contact us. We also offer product customization according to customer's detailed requirements.

Reference

1. Jeon, Y. J.; et al. Production of chitooligosaccharides using an ultrafiltration membrane reactor and their antibacterial activity. Carbohydrate Polymers. 2000, 41(2): 133-141.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic or therapeutic procedures.