Desenvolvimento de polissacarídeos com ação terapêutica em osteoartrite

Abstract

The viscosupplementation is a therapeutic technique used in the osteoarthritis treatment, in which the sinovial fluid (lubricant of the ligaments) is replaced by viscoelastic solutions derived from hyaluronic acid with rheological properties better than the starting material. This treatment is expensive and commercially, only hialuronic acid is used. The research of other polysaccharides such as the guar gum and chitin, for the application on viscosupplementation, increases the possibility of substituting the hyaluronic acid with other from more abundant sources and more viable. The guar gum (GGNP) was purified through various methods with the aim to reduce contaminants, such as polysaccharides (but not galactomannan) and most importantly, proteins. The method with best efficiency in the reduction of these contaminants was the physic+Fehling method, resulting in a guar (GGFISFEH) with 96% of galactomannan and 0% of proteins. The commercial gum (GGNP) and the purified (GGFISFEH) were crosslinked with glutaraldehyde to originate fluids hydrogel of high viscosity. The increase in viscosity of the polysaccharides with the increase of the crosslinking reaction time is gradual and can be interrupted at the moment a hydrogel fluid is obtained through dialysis against water. The hydrogels obtained have viscosity forty times (GelGGNP) and eight hundred times (GelGGFISFEH) than the initial viscosities of the gums. The purified guar gum (GGFISFEH) was modified through oxidative reaction with a TEMPO reagent and through a sulfatation reaction, with the aim of introducing carboxylated and sulphate groups, making their structure similar to the one from the hyaluronic acid and the chondroitin sulfate. The reactions were efficient in the modification, resulting in degree of substitution (DS) of 0.36 for the oxidated gum (GGOXID) and 0.60 for the sulfated gum(GGSULF). 13C and 1H NMR analyses indicated that the sulfatation occurred in C6 of galactose and the oxidation on C6 of mannose The chitin was carboxylated to form a water soluble polyeletrolite and with a group of acetyl glucosamine similar to the hyaluronic acid. This reaction was tested in various conditions, resulting in different DS. The best yield was of 92% with a DS of 0.53. The pharmacological tests were conducted on rats Wistar. The effect, per si, in the articulate cavity of GGNP and GFISFEH, both in solution and gel was also studied. The GGNP caused incapacitation and dosage-dependant cell influx, an effect not demonstrated by GGFISFEH. The articular incapacitation was greater with the administration of GelGGNP. It was also evaluated the therapeutic effect of GGFISFEH in solution and gel, and Hilano G-F20 in osteoarthritis induced by the transection of the anterior cruciate ligament. The inhibition of the articular incapacitation obtained through gel or through the guar solution were entirely similar to the results obtained with the Hilano G-F20. The guar gum presents potential as a viscosuplemented agent.