title: Analytical aspects of pharmaceutical grade chondroitin sulfates.
abstract: Chondroitin sulfate is a very heterogeneous polysaccharide in terms of relative molecular mass, charge density, chemical properties, biological and pharmacological activities. It is actually recommended by EULAR as a symptomatic slow acting drug (SYSADOA) in Europe in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis based on meta-analysis of numerous clinical studies. Chondroitin sulfate is also utilized as a nutraceutical in dietary supplements mainly in the United States. On the other hand, chondroitin sulfate is derived from animal sources by extraction and purification processes. As a consequence, source material, manufacturing processes, the presence of contaminants, and many other factors contribute to the overall biological and pharmacological actions of these agents. The aim of this review is to evaluate new possible more specific analytical approaches to the determination of the origin and purity of chondroitin sulfate preparations for pharmaceutical application and in nutraceuticals, such as the evaluation of the molecular mass values, the constituent disaccharides, and the specific and sensitive agarose-gel electrophoresis technique. Furthermore, a critical evaluation is presented, together with a discussion of the limits of these analytical approaches. Finally, the necessity for reference standards having high specificity, purity and well-known physico-chemical properties useful for accurate and reproducible quantitative analyses will be discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biologia Animale, Biological Chemistry Section, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy. volpi@unimo.it
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Volpi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002356:Cartilage / Q000737:chemistry*; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D019587:Dietary Supplements / Q000032:analysis*; D004187:Disaccharides / Q000032:analysis; D004340:Drug Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D015394:Molecular Structure; D008970:Molecular Weight; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000188:drug therapy; D011786:Quality Control; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013678:Technology, Pharmaceutical / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards
chemical_list: D004187:Disaccharides; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates