Influence of Molecular Weight of Polysaccharides from Laminaria japonica to LJP-Based Hydrogels: Anti-Inflammatory Activity in the Wound Healing Process

Abstract

In this study, polysaccharides from Laminaria japonica (LJP) were produced by the treatment of ultraviolet/hydrogen peroxide (UV/H2O2) degradation into different molecular weights. Then, the degraded LJP were used to prepare LJP/chitosan/PVA hydrogel wound dressings. As the molecular weight of LJP decreased from 315 kDa to 20 kDa, the swelling ratio of the LJP-based hydrogels rose from 14.38 ± 0.60 to 20.47 ± 0.42 folds of the original weight. However, the mechanical properties of LJP-based hydrogels slightly decreased. With the extension of the UV/H2O2 degradation time, the molecular weight of LJP gradually decreased, and the anti-inflammatory activities of LJP-based hydrogels gradually increased. LJP that were degraded for 60 min (60-gel) showed the best inhibition effects on proinflammatory cytokines, while the contents of TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β decreased by 57.33%, 44.80%, and 67.72%, respectively, compared with the Model group. The above results suggested that low Mw LJP-based hydrogels showed great potential for a wound dressing application.

Chemically modified seaweed polysaccharides: Improved functional and biological properties and prospective in food applications

“…Sulfated polysaccharides have been proven to have antiinflammatory effect (Kidgell et al, 2020;Marques et al, 2012), and a positive correction between sulfate content of polysaccharides and their anti-inflammatory effect has also been observed (Chen, Wang et al, 2021). Degradation effectively improves the anti-inflammatory activity of seaweed polysaccharides (Chen, Huang et al, 2022;Cicinskas et al, 2020). Several UV/H 2 O 2 -degraded polysaccharides from brown algae S. japonica (LJP) exhibited significantly improved anti-inflammatory effect in LPS-treated HaCaT cells by decreasing IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α (Chen, Huang et al, 2022).…”

“…Degradation effectively improves the anti‐inflammatory activity of seaweed polysaccharides (Chen, Huang et al., 2022; Cicinskas et al., 2020). Several UV/H 2 O 2 ‐degraded polysaccharides from brown algae S. japonica (LJP) exhibited significantly improved anti‐inflammatory effect in LPS‐treated HaCaT cells by decreasing IL‐1β, IL‐6, and TNF‐α (Chen, Huang et al., 2022). Lower the Mw of LJP, higher the anti‐inflammatory activity.…”

Structural Modification and Biological Activity of Polysaccharides

“…There are certain differences in the biological activities of polysaccharides with different molecular weights. Hydrogels based on low-molecular-weight laminarin have greater application potential in wound dressings [ 60 ]. High-performance gel permeation chromatography can be used to analyze not only the molecular weight of polysaccharides but also the homogeneity of polysaccharides [ 61 ].…”