Antioxidant activity and potential hepatoprotective effect of polysaccharides from Cyclina sinensis

In the present study, we investigated the preliminary structure, in vitro antioxidant and in vivo hepatoprotective activities of polysaccharides from Cyclina sinensis (CSPS). The analytic results of Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy indicated the presence of α-type glycosidic linkages in CSPS-1 or CSPS-2, and the average molecular weights for CSPS-1, CSPS-2 and CSPS-3 were 69, 81 and 101 kDa, respectively. For antioxidant activities in vitro, crude CSPS, CSPS-1, CSPS-2 and CSPS-3 showed moderate H(2)O(2) scavenging activity, lipid peroxidation inhibition effect and strong Fe(2+) chelating activity. For hepatoprotective activity in vivo, the administration of CSPS significantly decreased serum levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, inhibited the formation of malondialdehyde and enhanced the activities of liver superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase in carbon tetrachloride-induced liver injury mice. These results suggested that CSPS had potent antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities.