Pharmacological, Structural, and Drug Delivery Properties and Applications of 1,3-β-Glucans

Abstract

1,3-β-Glucans are a class of natural polysaccharides with unique pharmacological properties and the ability to form single- and triple-helical structures that can be formed into resilient gels with the application of heat and humidity. The pharmacological capabilities of 1,3-β-glucans include the impartation of tumor inhibition, resistance to infectious disease, and improvements in wound healing. Curdlan is a linear 1,3-β-glucan that has been used extensively to study the nature of these helical structures and gels, and Curdlan sulfates have found ongoing application in the inhibition of HIV infection. 1,3-β-Glucan gels have been used in food science as stabilizers and encapsulating agents, in nanoscience as scaffolds to build nanofibers and nanowires, and in drug delivery to form nanoparticles and create helical micelles encapsulating polynucleotides. 1,3-β-Glucans are beginning to have enormous significance due to their dual nature as structure-forming agents and pharmacological substances, and research is especially focused on the application of these polymers in animal nutrition and drug delivery.

Role of seaweed laminaran from Saccharina longicruris on matrix deposition during dermal tissue-engineered production

“…Senni et al [47] have demonstrated that deep sea hydrothermal bacteria glycosaminoglycans, resembling hyaluronan, can improve collagen aggregation and potently collagen deposition. ␤-Glucan is known to be a structure forming agent, creating helical micelles with other molecules [48], which could also act as an aggregating agent for collagen molecules. Independently of the collagen deposition capacity, ␤-glucan as well as several glycosaminoglycans has been shown to increase cell collagen biosynthesis [22][23][24], which can thus also induce an increase in tissue thickness.…”

Future Prospects for Scaffolding Methods and Biomaterials in Skin Tissue Engineering: A Review

“…A non-toxic and super-absorptive hydrogel made up of pullulan (glucan polysaccharide), a biosynthetic derivative of starch, has been effectively used for antibacterial or antimycotic drugs released at wound site [238]. Different types of d -glucans derived from yeast, grain, and fungi have been utilized to prepare the gel structures which support effective wound healing with lowered skin irritation [239]. A dextran biomaterial, Carboxymethyl Benzylamide Sulfonate Dextran (CMDBS), has structural similarity with the glycosaminoglycan heparin, and is well-known for not only stimulating wound healing but also for being effective in controlling Staphylococcus aureus biofilm formation [240].…”

Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) Glucan Polysaccharides – Occurrence, Separation and Application in Food, Feed and Health Industries

“…In Eastern culinary tradition, eating mushrooms (which contain large quantities of soluble -glucan in their fruiting bodies) has long been recognized as healthy, and four pharmaceutical preparations, based on mushroom extracts, have been registered as drugs in Japan (Hyodo et al, 2005). In the Western world several clinical trials (Babineu et al, 1994;Weitberg, 2008;Spruijt et al, 2010) proved the beneficial properties of WGP and PGG glucans, which are still waiting to be registered as drugs (Vetvicka, 2011;Lehtovaara & Gu, 2011). The following therapeutic activities of yeast -glucan are well-established in treating the following conditions: post-surgical infections, hospital pneumonia, acute renal failure (Koc et al, 2011), pressure ulcers (bed sores), wound healing (surgical and as result of injury, Spruijt et al, 2010) and burns caused by heat, UV or X-ray radiation.…”