Chemical and enzymatic destruction of chondroitin sulfate from Arctic skate

Due to its biocompatibility with human and animal tissues, low toxicity, and biodegradability, chondroitin sulfate (CS) is of great interest for medicine. Since CS is used as a pharmaceutical preparation, its molecular weight and solubility determine the possibilities of its use. This work presents the results of studying the chemical and enzymatic destruction of CS macromolecules and its effect on the molecular weight, solubility and crystallinity degree of the polysaccharide. CS was obtained from the cartilaginous tissue of the Arctic skate (Amblyraja hyperborea). At the stage of cartilage tissue fermentolysis, the enzymes pancreatin, hepatopancreatin and protosubtil were used. The obtained CS samples were identified by IR spectroscopy. Enzymatic destruction of glycosidic bonds in cholesterol macromolecules was carried out with a 1 % solution of the enzyme hepatopancreatin, chemical destruction with hydrogen peroxide and hydrochloric acid. The CS content in the samples was determined by the Dische method. The chemical composition of CS samples was evaluated by standard methods. The average molecular weight (MW) was determined using high performance liquid chromatography and the nephelometric method. The crystallinity degree (CD) was determined by graphical processing of diffraction patterns obtained by X-ray phase analysis of CS samples. It was found that under the action of hepatopancreatin and hydrogen peroxide, deep destruction of chondroitin sulfate occurs, to the formation of low molecular weight and oligomeric fragments. Under conditions of acid destruction in 0.5 N HCl for 20 min the MW of chondroitin sulfate is reduced by 10 % compared to the initial one. Acid destruction causes a significant decrease in the CD of the CS samples. For CS samples not degraded in acid, the solubility in distilled water increases with decreasing MW and CD. The solubility of CS after acid destruction in the range of pH = 5–9 units is 99.0 ± 0.5 %. This high solubility is most likely explained by the significant content of the amorphous phase in the samples