Structural elucidation and anti-osteoporosis activities of polysaccharides obtained from Curculigo orchioides

Abstract Curculigo orchioides , is a traditional Chinese medicine, is used in strengthening tendons and bones. We evaluated the anti-osteoporosis activity of the crude polysaccharide (CO70) isolated from the rhizomes of C. orchioides in ovariectomized rats. CO70 showed excellent anti-osteoporosis activity comparable to that of 17 β -estradiol. To explore the constituents responsible for the anti-osteoporosis activity of CO70, a novel homogeneous heteropolysaccharide, COP70-3, was isolated and purified from CO70. COP70-3 has a main backbone chain of (1→5)-linked α -L-Ara f , (1,3→5)-linked α -L-Ara f , (1→6)-linked β -D-Gal p , (1→4)-linked β -D-Man p , (1,2→5)-linked α -L-Ara f , (1→3)-linked β -L-Rha p , (1, 3→6)-linked β -D-Man p , (1→3)-linked α -D-Gal p A, (1,3→6)-linked β -D-Gal p and (1→6)-linked α -D-Glc p residues. Furthermore, 1.87 nM COP70-3 obviously promoted the differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells, while 0.94 and 1.87 nM COP70-3 significantly improved the osteogenic mineralization rate. These data indicate that COP70-3 has favorable anti-osteoporosis activity in vitro .