Chemical characterization of polysaccharides from Arctium lappa root and its hepatoprotective effects on mice

To clarify the structure of Arctium lappa polysaccharide (ALP) with hepatoprotective activity, the ALP with a molecular weight of 2193 Da was purified. It was mainly composed of fructose and glucose (mole ratio = 0.635: 0.284), and little amount of arabinose, galactose and mannose (mole ratio = 0.049: 0.010: 0.021). Structural characterization showed that ALP had a backbone consisted of ->(2-beta-D-Fruf-1)n ->. Histopathological analysis showed that ALP had a protective effect on CCl4-induced liver inflammation. ALP obviously inhibited the level of alanine transaminase, aspartate aminotransferase and inflammatory cytokines, and decreased the mRNA ex-pressions of toll-like receptors 4/nuclear factor-kappaB pathway and the corresponding proteins in liver tissue. In addition, ALP also had antioxidant effects. These results suggested that ALP could be used as a treatment for liver injury and has a broad development prospect.