Heparin-mimetic Polysaccharides

Though heparin is one of the oldest drugs currently in widespread clinical use for undesired blood clots its side effects are diverse and call for development of novel approaches. One of these approaches is the use of polysaccharides that can mimic heparin. Chemical modifications of polysaccharides such as phosphorylation sulfation oxidation carboxylation offer a chance to increase their biological activities. The aim of this research was to obtain sulfated derivatives with differing sulfation degrees of levan polysaccharides and to investigate their acceptability to be used as heparin-mimetic agents.