COMPARISON OF THE CARBOHYDRATE BIOLOGICAL RESPONSE MODIFIERS KRESTIN,SCHIZOPHYLLAN AND GLUCAN PHOSPHATE BY AQUEOUS SIZE-EXCLUSION CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH IN-LINE ARGON-ION MULTI-ANGLE LASER-LIGHT SCATTERING PHOTOMETRY AND DIFFERENTIAL VISCOMETRY DETECTORS

A major barrier to the development, preclinical and clinical applicati on of natural carbohydrate biological response modifiers has been the difficulty involved in accurately characterizing carbohydrate polymers with molecular masses ranging from 10(4) to 10(7) g/mol. Herein, we e mployed size exclusion chromatography with multi-angle laser light sca ttering and differential viscometry to compare and contrast structural properties of the biological response modifiers Krestin, schizophylla n and glucan phosphate. Krestin, schizophyllan and glucan phosphate ex hibit significant differences in molecular mass moments, molecular mas s distribution, polymer sizes, intrinsic viscosity and perhaps their s olution behaviour. This knowledge of precise physicochemical data is r equired for a better understanding of the properties and higher struct ure of complex carbohydrate biological response modifiers.