Oral absorption and clearance of partially depolymerized fucosyl chondroitin sulfate from sea cucumber

Partially depolymerized holothurian glycosaminoglycan (DHG), a fucosyl chon droitin sulfate chains isolated from sea cucumber, was administered by the intravenous and oral routes to experimental animal. After intravenous injec tion, clearance of DHG, as measured by the postcolumn HPLC, displayed compl ex kinetics that were not dose dependent. DHG was excreted unchanged in the urine. No degradation products of DHG were detected by either gel filtrati on or anion exchange HPLC at any time in plasma, indicating that administer ed DHG is not catabolyzed by mammalian. Anion exchange chromatographic beha vior of DHG excreted into urine after oral administration showed that parti al desulfation might occur through intestinal absorption. After oral admini stration of DHG (50 mg/kg), 0.1% of the dose was found in urine collected f or 24 hours. More than 5% of intravenously administered DHG (1 mg/kg) was e xcreted into urine in 23 hours. These results are suggesting that orally ad ministered macromolecules such as DHG are absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd.