Antihyperlipidemic activity of high sulfate content derivative of polysaccharide extracted from Ulva pertusa (Chlorophyta)

► We prepared high sulfate content ulvan derivative. ► The antihyperlipidemic activities of the derivative and ulvan were determined. ► The derivative exhibited stronger antihyperlipidemic activity than ulvan. ► It was likely that the sulfate content had significant effect on the antihyperlipidemic activity. ► The antihyperlipidemic activity of HU was not concentration dependent. In this study, high sulfate content ulvan (HU) was prepared with sulfur trioxide/N,N-dimethylformamide (SO3–DMF) in formamide, and the antihyperlipidemic activity of ulvan and HU in mice was determined. Obvious differences in antihyperlipidemic activity between natural ulvan and HU were observed, moreover, the antihyperlipidemic activity of HU-fed 250mg/kg was the strongest, compared to natural ulvan fed group, triglyceride (TG) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) concentrations were significantly decreased 28.1% (P