THE ANTICOAGULANT ACTIVITY AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF FRACTIONATED AND PURIFIED GLYCOSAMINOGLYCANS FROM VENERID CLAM MERETRIX CASTA (CHEMNITZ)

Heparin (heterogeneous anionic polysaccharide), the glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) has been used as an anticoagulant for several years in clinical studies. In the present study, GAGs from Meretrix casta were fractionated by ion exchange chromatography (Amberlite IRA-900). The active fractions were identified by agarose gel electrophoresis and metachromatic assay (confirmatory test) pooled, dialyzed, and purified by barium acetate. The molecular weights of both fractionated and purified GAGs were observed through polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis and its structural characterization relied on Fourier transform-infrared and H-1-NMR spectroscopy. Finally the activated partial thromboplastin time and the disaccharides profile of GAGs were also determined. The outcome of results of this study suggested that the extracted GAGs from M. casta could be an alternative source of heparin.