In vivo pharmacokinetic study of a Cucurbita moschata polysaccharide after oral administration

Orally administrated is the primary way of pumpkin polysaccharides intake, and this is the way that they elicit their multiple bioactivities. However, little is known about how those orally ingested polysaccharides work, and the pharmacokinetics of pumpkin polysaccharides after orally administrated has not been described. This study aimed to elucidate the pharmacokinetic information (the plasma concentration-time curve, tissue distribution, and excretion profiles) of the pumpkin polysaccharide (PPc) in vivo after oral administration. Results revealed that PPc could enter into the blood and exhibited a relatively long circulation in the blood with a mean residence time (MRT) of 7.45 h and presented a higher aggregation of PPc in the liver and kidneys. To obtain the visualization of the systemic circulation of PPc, in vivo imaging was used with near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging, which distributed into various tissues with different region of interest (ROI) values after oral administration. The in-depth understanding of oral delivery of PPc in vivo was provided, which will provide the instruction clinical medication and deepen the understanding of bioactivities mechanisms of oral pumpkin polysaccharides.