Screening of uric acid-lowering active components of corn silk polysaccharide and its targeted improvement on renal excretory dysfunction in hyperuricemia mice

To screen the in vitro uric acid-lowering activity of the neutral polysaccharides (NCSP) and acid polysaccharides (ACSP) isolated from the corn silk were evaluated. Furthermore, preliminary structure-activity relationships for them were investigated. The molecular weight (Mw) of NCSP and ACSP were 74.1 and 109.4 kDa, respectively. NCSP consisted of mannose (Man), glucuronic acid (GlcA), glucose (Glc), galactose (Gal), and arabinose (Ara), in addition to these monosaccharides, the ACSP contains galactose acid (GalA). NMR spectroscopy showed that the NCSP main chain consisted of 1,4,6)-α-D-Glcp, 1,4)-α-D-Glcp, 1,3)-β-D-Galp, and 1,3,5)-β-D-Manp. NCSP exhibited higher activity in anti-hyperuricemia (HUA). The results indicated that serum uric acid (UA) and liver xanthine oxidase (XO) activities levels decreased by 45.71% and 22.4% in the NCSP groups, respectively. In addition, NCSP could significantly improve the kidney damage and promote uric acid excretion. These findings provide evidence in support of NCSP as a potential dietary supplement for improving HUA.