doi:10.1016/j.carres.2006.03.032 
Copyright © 2006 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.
Pectin-like acidic polysaccharide from Panax ginseng with selective antiadhesive activity against pathogenic bacteria
Ji-Hye Leea, Jin Sun Shimb, Jung Sun Leeb, Mi-Kyung Kimb, Mi-Sook Chungb and Kyung Hyun Kima, c, 
, 
aDepartment of Food Technology, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Republic of Korea
bDepartment of Food Science and Nutrition, Duksung Women’s University, Seoul 132-714, Republic of Korea
cDepartment of Biotechnology, College of Science and Technology, Chungnam 339-700, Republic of Korea
Received 13 January 2006;
revised 17 March 2006;
accepted 23 March 2006.
Available online 27 April 2006.
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Abstract
Previous studies have revealed the inhibitory effects of an acidic polysaccharide purified from the root of Panax ginseng against the adhesion of Helicobacter pylori to gastric epithelial cells and the ability of Porphyromonas gingivalis to agglutinate erythrocytes. In this study, this acidic polysaccharide from P. ginseng, PG-F2, was investigated further, in order to characterize its antiadhesive effects against Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Propionibacterium acnes, and Staphylococcus aureus. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were found to be in a range of 0.25–0.5 mg/mL. However, results showed no inhibitory effects of PG-F2 against Lactobacillus acidophilus, Escherichia coli, or Staphylococcus epidermidis. PG-F2 is a pectin-type polysaccharide with a mean MW of 1.2 × 104 Da, and consists primarily of galacturonic and glucuronic acids along with rhamnose, arabinose, and galactose as minor components. The complete hydrolysis of PG-F2 via chemical or carbohydrolase enzyme treatment resulted in the abrogation of its antiadhesive activity, but limited hydrolysis via treatment with pectinase (EC. 3.2.1.15) yielded an oligosaccharide fraction, with activity comparable to the precursor PG-F2 (the MIC of ca. 0.01 mg/mL against H. pylori and P. gingivalis). Our results suggest that PG-F2 may exert a selective antiadhesive effect against pathogenic bacteria, while having no effects on beneficial and commensal bacteria.
Keywords: Bacterial adhesion; Hemagglutination; Panax ginseng (Araliaceae); Antiadhesive activity; Helicobacter pylori; Porphyromonas gingivalis; Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans; Propionibacterium acnes; Staphylococcus aureus
Figure 1. Elution profile of polysaccharides from P. ginseng by ion-exchange chromatography. A Q-Sepharose fast-flow column (2.5 × 10 cm) was used at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The thin line represents absorbance at 490 nm from the phenol–sulfuric acid assay, and the dotted line represents the NaCl concentration gradient. The pooled fractions are indicated by the bar below the peak.
Figure 2. Elution profile of PG-F2 by gel-filtration chromatography. A Sephacryl S200 column (1.5 × 68 cm) was used at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. The thin line represents the absorbance at 490 nm from the phenol–sulfuric acid assay. PG-F2 is indicated by the bar below the peak.
Figure 3. Inhibition of the binding of H. pylori to AGS cells. Attached H. pylori % = 100 − [(ODexperimental − ODnegative)/(ODpositive − ODnegative) × 100]. Negative control contained only epithelial monolayers without bacteria. Positive control contained bacteria and monolayer without added inhibitor, which was used to establish 100% attachment. Data are represented as the means of three separate experiments (mean ± s.d.).
Figure 4. Elution profile of PG-OF1 by gel-filtration chromatography. A Bio-Gel P4 column (2.5 × 102 cm) was used at a flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. The thin line represents absorbance at 490 nm from the phenol–sulfuric acid assay. PG-OF1 is indicated by the bar above the peak.
Figure 5. Micrograph images of a hemagglutination inhibition assay by pathogenic bacteria (magnification ×100). Hemagglutination was inhibited by PG-F2 from P. ginseng, which is active against H. pylori (H. p), P. gingivalis (P. g), A. actinomycetemcomitans (A. a), P. acnes (P. a), and S. aureus (S. a). The minimum inhibitory concentrations were in the range of 0.1–0.5 mg/mL. A positive control (without inhibitor) is shown along with each pathogenic bacterium.
Figure 6. Micrograph images of a hemagglutination inhibition assay by pathogenic bacteria (magnification ×100). Hemagglutination was inhibited by the oligosaccharide PG-OF1, which is active against H. pylori (H. p), P. gingivalis (P. g), A. actinomycetemcomitans (A. a), P. acnes (P. a), and S. aureus (S. a), with minimum inhibitory concentrations between 0.01 and 0.5 mg/mL. A positive control (without inhibitor) is shown along with each pathogenic bacterium.
Table 1.
Characteristics of polysaccharides and an oligosaccharide purified from P. ginseng
a Calculated as weight percent of applied material.
b Mole percent of total carbohydrate content.
Table 2.
Inhibition of bacteria-induced hemagglutination by an acidic polysaccharide from Panax ginseng and by a range of carbohydrates
a All the values are the MIC in mg/mL, corresponding to the average in triplicates. ‘—’ represents no inhibition at high concentrations above 2.0 mg/mL. Aspartic and glutamic acids were used as non-carbohydrate acidic compounds and bacterial binding did not cause nonspecific reaction (data not shown).
H.
p:
Helicobacter pylori,
P. g:
Porphyromonas gingivalis,
A. a:
Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans,
P. a:
Propionicbacterium acnes,
S. a:
Staphylococcus aureus,
S. e:
Staphylococcus epidermidis,
E. c:
Escherichia coli,
L. a:
Lactobacillus acidophillus.
b PG-F2 and PG-OF1 represent a polysaccharide and its hydrolyzed oligosaccharide from
P. ginseng, respectively.
c Pectin showed the highest inhibition to
P. gingivalis with an MIC of ca. 0.0001 mg/mL. However, pectin did not show any inhibitory activity above 0.1 mg/mL.
d GlcA, GalA, and GlcNAc are
d-glucuronic acid,
d-galacturonic acid, and
N-acetylglucosamine, respectively.
Abstract
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