Antioxidant Activities of Natural Polysaccharides and Their Derivatives for Biomedical and Medicinal Applications

Author: mycolabadmin
2022-12-19
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Summary

This research examines how natural sugar-based compounds (polysaccharides) from plants, fungi, and other sources can act as powerful antioxidants for medical treatments and applications. These natural compounds help protect cells from damage caused by harmful molecules called free radicals, which are linked to many chronic diseases. Impacts on everyday life: – Natural polysaccharides could lead to safer and more effective medications with fewer side effects – These compounds can be used to create better food packaging that keeps food fresh longer – They can help create improved wound healing materials and tissue repair treatments – Natural polysaccharides offer environmentally friendly alternatives to synthetic materials in medical and food applications – These compounds could help develop better treatments for common conditions like diabetes and heart disease

Background

Many chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases are closely related to in vivo oxidative stress caused by excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS). Natural polysaccharides, as biomacromolecules with good biocompatibility, have been widely used in biomedical and medicinal applications due to their superior antioxidant properties.

Objective

This review aims to analyze the antioxidant mechanisms of natural polysaccharides and discuss their applications in pharmaceutics/drug delivery, tissue engineering, and antimicrobial food additives/packaging materials. The review also provides scientometric analysis of highly cited papers to demonstrate that antioxidant activity is the most widely studied aspect of natural polysaccharides.

Results

The analysis found that antioxidant activity is the most widely studied pharmacological effect of natural polysaccharides. The antioxidant mechanisms mainly involve regulation of signal transduction pathways, activation of enzymes, and scavenging of free radicals. Natural polysaccharides demonstrate significant potential in drug delivery systems, tissue engineering applications, and food packaging materials due to their antioxidant properties.

Conclusion

Natural polysaccharides and their derivatives show promising applications in medicinal and biomedical fields, particularly due to their antioxidant activities. Their effectiveness is influenced by chemical structure, source type, and extraction methods. Selecting appropriate chemical structure modification and extraction methods can help improve their antioxidant activity. Further research is needed to fully utilize these safe and abundant natural medicinal resources.

Published in:Antioxidants (Basel),
Study Type:Review,
Source: 10.3390/antiox11122491