NOVEL GLYCOSAMINOGLYCAN AND DRUG COMPOSITIONS CONTAINING THE SAME

摘要

A glycosaminoglycan having as the basic skeleton a structure composed of repeating disaccharic units each constituted of a uronic acid residue and a glucosamine residue and bearing sulfate groups, characterized in that substantially no sulfate groups bonded to the 6-position hydroxyl groups of the glucosamine residues of the basic skeleton are detected as determined by a chemical disaccharide analysis method which comprises decomposing the glycosaminoglycan with nitrous acid, reacting the obtained product with p-nitrophenyl-hydrazine and subjecting the product thus obtained to high-performance liquid chromatography and that the ratio of uronic acid residues having sulfate groups at the 2-position to the whole of the uronic acid residues constituting the basic skeleton is 45 molar % or above as calculated from the composition determined by an enzymatic disaccharide analysis method which comprises digesting the glycosaminoglycan with glycosaminoglycan hydrolase and subjecting the obtained product to high-performance liquid chromatography. This glycosaminoglycan is usable as an active ingredient for drugs.