Glycosaminoglycans from pig duodenum.

A polysaccharide extract from pig duodenum, used in therapy as antilipemic, was shown by chromatographic and electrophoretic methods to be a mixture of the glycosaminoglycans (GAG) heparin (HEP), heparan sulfate (HS), dermatan sulfate (DeS), chondroitin sulfates (ChS) and hyaluronic acid (HA), in the ratio 24:31:23:9:13. The GAG mixture was fractionated with alkyl-ammonium salts, and, for DeS, with copper salts. Further purification of the fractions either by repeated complexation or by removal of residual impurities using specific enzymes or chemical reactions, permitted obtaining individual GAG more than 97% pure by electrophoretic and 1H-NMR analysis. These preparations will be used to assess the contribution of individual GAG to the biological activity of duodenal GAG extracts.