Oral delivery and gastrointestinal absorption of soluble glucans stimulate increased resistance to infectious challenge.

Glucans are immunomodulatory carbohydrates found in the cell walls of fungi and certain bacteria. We examined the pharmacokinetics of three water-soluble glucans (glucan phosphate, laminarin, and scleroglucan) after oral administration of 1 mg/kg doses in rats. Maximum plasma concentrations for glucan phosphate occurred at 4 h.

Pharmacokinetics of fungal (1-3)-beta-D-glucans following intravenous administration in rats.

Glucans are microbial cell wall carbohydrates that are shed into the circulation of patients with infections. Glucans are immunomodulatory and have structures that are influenced by bacterial or fungal species and growth conditions. We developed a method to covalently label carbohydrates with a fluorophore on the reducing terminus, and used the method to study the pharmacokinetics following intravenous administration of three highly purified and characterized glucans (glucan phosphate, laminarin and scleroglucan) that varied according to molecular size, branching frequency and solution conformation.