Chondroitin sulfate with potential pharmacological activities: research progress and its application prospect / 中国药学杂志

ABSTRACT

Chondroitin sulfate (CS) is a heterogeneous and negatively charged polysaccharide composed of repeating disaccharideunits, and has many pharmacological activities. CS has been recommended as symptomatic slow acting drugs for osteoarthritis (SYSADOA) in clinical practice. CS is shown to have promising prospect as a potential candidate for anti-metastasis of cancers and as a neurite outgrowth agent for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease characterized by progressive loss of neurons. Moreover, CS is also involved in interaction with virus during its cell entry, wound healing and osteogenesis, and may be a promising drug candidate in these areas. Based on original publications, the research advances of CS in these areas and its applications were reviewed. The possibility of chemoenzymatic synthesis of specific CS chains as potential drugs was also discussed here, which may be used in the treatment of osteoarthritis, anti-metastasis of cancers, and so on.