Polysaccharides complexing agents

Electrostatic and non-electrostatic biopolymer complexes can also be used as effective steric stabilizers of double (multiple) emulsions. In this type of emulsion, the droplets of one liquid are dispersed within larger droplets of a second immiscible liquid (the dispersion medium for the smaller droplets of the first liquid). In practice, it is found that the so-called direct water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) double emulsions are more common than inverse oil-in-water-in-oil (O/W/O) emulsions (Grigoriev and Miller, 2009). In a specific example, some W/O/W double emulsions with polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) as the primary emulsifier and WPI-polysaccharide complexes as the secondary emulsifying agent were found to be efficient storage carriers for sustained release of entrapped vitamin Bi (Benichou et al., 2002). 

Absorption of iron by the individual varies with age, iron status, the amount and chemical form of the iron ingested, and with conditions in the gastrointestinal tract, only about 5—15% of iron in the diet being normally absorbed. Ferrous iron, as the sulphate, gluconate, fumarate or lactate or as ferrous ammonium sulphate, is appreciably taken up into the bloodstream from the duodenum, especially in the presence of ascorbic acid, a reducing agent. Little difference was found in the extent of their absorption between ferrous sulphate and the various chelates, but ferric ammonium citrate or polysaccharide complexes were only very poorly absorbed22)... 

Another group of complexing agents, especially useful for charged polysaccharides, are such quarternary ammonium salts as cetyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide or cetylpyridinium bromide. Scott has summarized the work in this field. Acidic polysaccharides form insoluble complexes... 

An ideal antimicrobial agent should be non-toxic and possess broad-spectrum antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal activity and exclude resistance. This has led to the design of a combination agent, iodine-lithium-alpha-dextran [66 ]. This uses the non-specific antimicrobial action of molecular and ionized iodine and the systemic immunomodulatory effects of the polysaccharide complex of iodine and lithium. This new agent has been assessed by parenteral administration in HIV-infected patients. The adverse effects of phlebitis of punctured small veins and subfebrile fever,... 

A strain of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus produces an unusual polysaccharide called emulsan. It is a complex polymer comprising about 15% fatty acyl esters and 20% protein. This structure enables it to act as an emulsifying agent, stabilising hydrocarbon/water emulsions at very low concentrations (0.1-1.0%). This property,... 

In addition to being necessary for all forms of life, biopolymers, especially enzymes (proteins), have found commercial applications in various analytical techniques (see Automated instrumentation, clinical chemistry Automated instrumentation, hemtatology Biopolymers, analytical techniques Biosensors Immunoassay) in synthetic processes (see Enzyme applications, industrial Enzyme applications in organic synthesis) and in prescribed therapies (see Enzyme applications, THERAPEUTICS IMMUNOTHERAPEUTIC AGENTS Vitamins). Other naturally occurring biopolymers having significant commercial importance are the cellulose (qv) derivatives, eg, cotton (qv) and wood (qv), which are complex polysaccharides. 

In the mammal, complex polysaccharides which are susceptible to such treatment, are hydrolyzed by successive exposure to the amylase of the saliva, the acid of the stomach, and the disaccharidases (e.g., maltase, invertase, amylase, etc.) by exposure to juices of the small intestine. The last mechanism is very important. Absorption of the resulting monosaccharides occurs primarily in the upper part of the small intestine, from which the sugars are earned to the liver by the portal system. The absorption across die intestinal mucosa occurs by a combination of active transport and diffusion. For glucose, the aclive transport mechanism appears to involve phosphorylation The details are not yet fully understood. Agents which inhibit respiration (e.g., azide, fluoracetic acid, etc.) and phosphorylation (e.g., phlorizin), and those which uncouple oxidation from phosphorylation (e.g., dinitrophenol) interfere with the absorption of glucose. See also Phosphorylation (Oxidative). Once the various monosaccharides pass dirough the mucosa, interconversion of the other... 

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