| abstract |
A protein-bond polysaccharide, useful as an antiretroviral agent and particularly in the treatement of AIDS,n (i) possessing a molecular weight of from 50,000 to 3,000,000 as measured by gel permeation chromatography; (ii) exhibiting a positive color reaction characteristic in the «-naphthol sulfuric acid reaction, the indole sulfuric acid reaction, the anthrone sulfuric acid reaction, the phenol sulfuric acid reaction, the tryptophane sulfuric acid reaction, the Lowry-Folin method and the ninhydrin reaction after hydrochloric acid hydrolysis; (iii) in which the ratio of the weight of the protein moiety determined by the Lowry-Folin method to the weight of the saccharide moiety determined by the phenol sulfuric acid method is from 40:60 to 70:30; (iv) showing solubility in Water and insolubility in pyridine, chloroform, benzene, hexane Bnd methanol, (v) exhibiting a specific rotation, of from -10° to 30°, (vi) showing a characteristic absorption at 890 cm- 1 in the infra-red absorption spectrum, (vii) containing the amino acids aspartic acid, threonine, serine, glutamic acid, glycine, alanine, valine and leucine in an amount of not less than 70% by weight of the total weight of the amino acids of the protein moiety thereof, and (viii) containing as saccharides glucose and mannose in an amount of not less than 75% by weight of the total weight of the saccharides of the saccharide moiety thereof, the ratio of glucose to mannose being of from 2:1 to 4:1. |