Studies of glycosaminoglycan composition and biologic activity of Vessel, a hypolipidemic agent

Heparin-like glycosaminoglycans (GAG) were isolated from commerical Vessel and their biologic properties studied. Vessel was found to be a mixture of chondroitin sulfates, dermatan sulfate and heparin-like GAG. Chondroitin sulfates and dermatan sulfate in Vessel were hydrolyzed by chondroitinase ABC and the residual Vessel was fractionated on a Dowex-1 Cl- column eluting with a stepwise-increasing concentration of NaCl (1.2--4.0 M). The major fractions eluted at 1.6 M and 1.8 M NaCl were tentatively identified by chemical analysis as heparin-like GAG with somewhat lower sulfate content than standard heparin. Both fractions had lipoprotein lipase-releasing activity and anticoagulant activity similar to heparin, but 1.6 M NaCl fraction had a third of the anticoagulant activity of standard heparin. The 1.8 M NaCl fraction complexed with serum lipoproteins similarly to heparin. In preliminary studies cholesterol-fed rabbits treated with Vessel exhibited somewhat less atherosclerosis than controls.