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Contaminated heparin was linked to at least 149 deaths and hundreds of adverse reactions. Published report indicates that heparin contaminants were a natural impurity, dermatan sulfate, and a contaminant, oversulfated chondroitin sulfate (OSCS). OSCS was assumed to derive from animal cartilage. By analyzing 26 contaminated heparin lots from different sources, our data indicate that the heparin contaminants were chemically sulfated or chemically sulfated/desulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) consisting of heparan sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, and dermatan sulfate based on monosaccharide quantification, CE, heparin lyase digestion, and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis. Since currently recommended heparin quality control assays had failed to detect certain heparin contaminants, a simple method that detects most contaminants in heparin was developed. This assay detects specific heparin structures that most contaminants cannot mimic and can be performed in any laboratory equipped with an UV spectrometer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anticoagulant heparan sulfate proteoglycans bind and activate antithrombin by virtue of a specific 3-O-sulfated pentasaccharide. They not only occur in the vascular wall but also in extravascular tissues, such as the ovary, where their functions remain unknown. The rupture of the ovarian follicle at ovulation is one of the most striking examples of tissue remodeling in adult mammals. It involves tightly controlled inflammation, proteolysis, and fibrin deposition. We hypothesized that ovarian heparan sulfates may modulate these processes through interactions with effector proteins. Our previous work has shown that anticoagulant heparan sulfates are synthesized by rodent ovarian granulosa cells, and we now have set out to characterize heparan sulfates from human follicular fluid. Here we report the first anticoagulant heparan sulfate purified from a natural human extravascular source. Heparan sulfate chains were fractionated according to their affinity for antithrombin, and their structure was analyzed by 1H NMR and MS/MS. We find that human follicular fluid is a rich source of anticoagulant heparan sulfate, comprising 50.4% of total heparan sulfate. These antithrombin-binding chains contain more than 6% 3-Osulfated glucosamine residues, convey an anticoagulant activity of 2.5 IU/ml to human follicular fluid, and have an anti-Factor Xa specific activity of 167 IU/mg. The heparan sulfate chains that do not bind antithrombin surprisingly exhibit an extremely high content in 3-O-sulfated glucosamine residues, which suggest that they may exhibit biological activities through interactions with other proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]