Anti-inflammatory and angiogenic activity of polysaccharide extract obtained from Tibetan kefir

•We isolate polysaccharides from Tibetan Kefir obtained from whey fermentation.•The polysaccharides showed angiogenic and anti-inflammatory effect.•Tibetan Kefir polysaccharides have no cytotoxic effect on VERO cells.•These findings suggest a possible use of kefir polysaccharide as topical medicine.

The search for new bioactive molecules is a driving force for research pharmaceutical industries, especially those molecules obtained from fermentation. The molecules possessing angiogenic and anti-inflammatory attributes have attracted attention and are the focus of this study. Angiogenic activity from kefir polysaccharide extract, via chorioallantoic membrane assay, exhibited a pro-angiogenic effect compared with vascular endothelial factor (pro-angiogenic) and hydrocortisone (anti-angiogenic) activity as standards with an EC50 of 192 ng/mL. In terms of anti-inflammatory activity determined via hyaluronidase enzyme assay, kefir polysaccharide extract inhibited the enzyme with a minimal activity of 2.08 mg/mL and a maximum activity of 2.57 mg/mL. For pharmaceutical purposes, kefir polysaccharide extract is considered to be safe because it does not inhibit VERO cells in cytotoxicity assays.