Carrageenans as a New Source of Drugs with Metal Binding Properties

Marine Drugs

Yuri S. Khotimchenko¹  Elena V. Khozhaenko²  Maxim Y. Khotimchenko²  Elena A. Kolenchenko¹ 

[1] Laboratory of Pharmacology, Institute of Marine Biology, Far East Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, 690041, Russia; E-Mail:;Department of Pharmacology, Vladivostok State Medical University, Vladivostok, 690990, Russia; E-Mail:

关键词: carrageenan;    heavy metal;    metal binding activity;    equilibrium study;   

DOI  :  10.3390/md8041106

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Carrageenans are abundant and safe non-starch polysaccharides exerting their biological effects in living organisms. Apart from their known pro-inflammation properties and some pharmacological activity, carrageenans can also strongly bind and hold metal ions. This property can be used for creation of the new drugs for elimination of metals from the body or targeted delivery of these metal ions for healing purposes. Metal binding activity of different carrageenans in aqueous solutions containing Y³⁺ or Pb²⁺ ions was studied in a batch sorption system. The metal uptake by carrageenans is not affected by the change of the pH within the range from 2.0 to 6.0. The rates and binding capacities of carrageenans regarding metal ions were evaluated. The Langmuir, Freundlich and BET sorption models were applied to describe the isotherms and constants, and the sorption isothermal data could be explained well by the Langmuir equation. The results obtained through the study suggest that κ-, ι-, and λ-carrageenans are favorable sorbents. The largest amount of Y³⁺ and Pb²⁺ ions are bound by ι-carrageenan. Therefore, it can be concluded that this type of polysaccharide is the more appropriate substance for elaboration of the drugs with high selective metal binding properties.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2010 by the authors; licensee Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, Switzerland