Anti-Kaposi's sarcoma and antiangiogenic activities of sulfated dextrins

Delivery of the sulfated polysaccharide dextrin 2-sulfate by the intraperit oneal route to the lymphatic circulation resulted in a clinically significa nt improvement in Kaposi's sarcoma in three patients. Our in vitro studies show that although sulfated dextrins do not interfere with the growth of is olated human umbilical vein endothelial cells, they do inhibit the morpholo gical differentiation of endothelial cells into tubes as well as reduce nem vessel formation in a placental angiogenesis assay. The antiangiogenic eff ect of dextrin 6-sulfate is greater than that of dextrin 2-sulfate and is i ndependent of their anti-human immunodeficiency virus type 1 activities.