Exopolysaccharides from Klebsiella oxytoca: anti-inflammatory activity

Abstract

Exopolysaccharides (EPS) produced by Klebsiella oxytoca are of environmental, pharmaceutical,and medicinal interest. However, studies about the anti-inflammatory activity of EPS produced bythis microorganism still remain limited. The aim of this study was to produce, characterize, andevaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of EPS from K. oxytoca in a pleurisy model. Colorimetricanalysis revealed that precipitated crude exopolysaccharides (KEPSC) and deproteinatedexopolysaccharides (KEPS) present high levels of total carbohydrates (65.57% and 62.82%,respectively). Analyses of uronic acid (7.90% in KEPSC and 6.21% in KEPS) and pyruvic acid(3.01% in KEPSC and 1.68% in KEPS) confirm that the EPS are acidic. Gas chromatographymass spectrometry analyses demonstrated that the EPS consisted of rhamnose (29.83%), glucose(11.21%), galactose (52.45%), and mannose (6.50%). The treatment of an experimental pleurisymodel in rats through subcutaneous administration of 50, 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg of KEPSdecreased both the volume of inflammatory exudate and the number of leukocytes recruited tothe pleural cavity. The present data showed that EPS production by K. oxytoca using the methoddescribed is easy to perform and results in a good yield. In addition, we show that KEPS exhibitanti-inflammatory activity when administered subcutaneously in rat