Anticoagulant properties of sulphated polysaccharides and a proteoglycan from Codium fragile ssp. atlanticum

A high molecular weight sulphated (18.4%) proteoglycan was isolated from extracts of Codium fragile ssp. atlanticum by molecular exclusion chromatography on Sepharose 2B. Ion exchange chromatography, using Sepharose CL-6B, of lower molecular weight components eluted from the Sepharose 2B column gave two major products with sulphate contents of 10.2% and 7.5%, respectively. Anticoagulant activities of each of the three products were assessed using coagulation techniques and chromogenic substrate assays. An increase in anticoagulant effect was demonstrated by increasing concentration and sulphate content of each algal component. The mechanism of anticoagulant action was shown to be, principally, anti-thrombin in character due to potentiation of heparin cofactor II and antithrombin III activity. Although the anticoagulant substances described are unlikely to be used as antithrombotic therapeutic agents, they have uses as biomedical reagents for investigation of the processes of thrombin inhibition.