PECTIN AND ITS COMPOSITIONS AS REMEDIATION TOOLS IN TIMES OF WAR

Kozlov K.¹, Demchenko P.², Mikhalovsky S.³, Demchenko V.¹, Lupaѕcu T.⁴

1 State institution "Kundiiev Institute of Occupational Health of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine", Kyiv, Ukraine
²Technologica LLC, Kyiv, Ukraine
³ANAMAD Ltd, Brighton, UK; University of Southampton, UK
⁴Institute of Chemistry of Academy of Sciences of Moldova

Introduction. Pectin, owing to its hydrophilic and anionic nature, can function as an intestinal adsorbent. Human studies on the prophylactic use of pectin demonstrated a reduction in metal content in the blood of workers exposed to lead or mercury over several weeks.

The aim of the research – to investigate the detoxifying properties of pectin based on mercury elimination as well as analyzing the spatial structures of these complexes.

Materials and methods of the research. Experimental studies were performed on male Wistar rats. Equilibrium spatial structure of pectin active groups and complexes with Hg2+ ion has been studied by the DFT method.

Results. In our experimental studies, we conducted measurements of sulfhydryl groups (SH-groups) in liver and kidney tissues, as these groups are known to be impacted by mercury. Sugar-beet pectin resulted in an increase in total SH-groups content followed by a statistically significant increase in non-protein SH-groups content in liver tissues.

Conclusions. Based on the detoxifying properties and spatial structures observed, further synthesis of composite enterosorbents containing activated carbon and pectin is proposed.

Key words: mercury, pectin, carbohydrate complexes, SH-groups

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