In vivo metabolism of aloemannan

The metabolism of fluoresceinyl isothiocyanate labeled aloemannan (FITC-AM) was examined by p.o. and i.v. administration in mice at a dose of 120 mg/k g, Analysis of FITC-AM in urine and feces showed that FITC-AM (MW 500 KD) w as metabolized into smaller molecules that mainly accumulated in the kidney s. AM was catabolized by the human intestinal microflora to catabolites 1 a nd 2 with molecular weights of 30 and 10 KD, respectively. Hydrolysis of AM showed hexosamine peaks on HPAE. The findings suggest that the immunomodul ation of AM may come from not only neutral polysaccharides but also contami nated hexosamine in AM.