EuroWire, KRASNOYARSK: Russian scientists have developed modified compounds derived from spruce wood that showed anticoagulant and antioxidant activity in laboratory tests, according to a study published on Feb. 16 in the journal Polysaccharides. The research focused on galactoglucomannan, a natural polysaccharide found in spruce, and examined how chemical modification changed its behavior in blood-related tests. The study described laboratory findings and material analysis, not an approved medicine, but it identified several modified derivatives with markedly stronger clot-slowing activity than the original biopolymer.
The study was authored by Valentina S. Borovkova, Yuriy N. Malyar, Natalia N. Drozd and Maria V. Sereda, with researchers linked to the Krasnoyarsk Science Center, Siberian Federal University and the National Medical Research Center of Hematology. Their work examined how sulfation of spruce-derived galactoglucomannan altered the polymer’s structure, solubility and biological properties. The team prepared a series of derivatives and tested how they affected clotting indicators and free-radical activity under controlled laboratory conditions using established analytical and biochemical methods.
According to the paper, the researchers extracted galactoglucomannan from spruce wood and introduced sulfate groups using a sulfamic acid-urea system in a 1,4-dioxane medium. That process produced sulfated derivatives with degrees of substitution ranging from 0.4 to 1.8. The authors reported that longer sulfation times were associated with stronger anticoagulant activity, with the most active samples reaching 18.52 and 21.19 international units per milligram. By comparison, the untreated starting material showed only negligible anticoagulant activity in the same testing framework.
Laboratory tests show stronger clot-slowing activity
The strongest derivatives effectively prevented the formation of fibrin clots in human blood and plasma in vitro, the study said. Researchers measured activity through activated partial thromboplastin time-based calculations and reported a statistically significant relationship between sulfation time and anticoagulant effect. Samples produced after 150 and 180 minutes of sulfation delivered the best results in the series. The findings indicated that the chemical addition of sulfate groups, rather than the native spruce polysaccharide alone, was central to the increase in anticoagulant performance recorded in the experiments.
The study also found that antioxidant behavior depended on the assay used. The sulfated compounds did not rely primarily on DPPH radical scavenging, but they performed more strongly in the ABTS test. The best-performing sample achieved 96% ABTS radical absorption at a concentration of 2 milligrams per milliliter, according to the paper. That result placed the derivatives among spruce-based materials showing a dual profile in the laboratory, combining measurable anticoagulant activity with antioxidant performance after controlled chemical modification of the original natural polymer.
Spruce biopolymer modified through controlled sulfation
The researchers did not report animal studies, clinical trials or any approved drug based on the compounds. Instead, the paper was limited to laboratory testing and material characterization, including molecular weight distribution, infrared spectroscopy and structural analysis of the sulfated products. The authors said the most active derivatives were relevant to thromboresistant biomaterials, a category of materials designed to reduce clot formation when exposed to blood. The work therefore describes bioactive laboratory compounds and material components rather than a finished anticoagulant treatment for patients.
Galactoglucomannan is one of the main hemicelluloses in spruce wood and has been studied for uses in gels, coatings and biomedical materials. In this study, the reported advance was the controlled production of non-degradable sulfated derivatives with reproducible anticoagulant activity and strong ABTS-measured antioxidant performance. The paper presents the findings as part of broader efforts to adapt natural polysaccharides for medical materials through targeted chemical modification while retaining biocompatible characteristics, with the Feb. 16 publication marking the team’s latest peer-reviewed report on the spruce-derived system.