Las β-(1？3)-glucanas: moléculas inmunomoduladoras contaminantes de productos farmacéuticos

a literature review was made in pubmed database, making emphasis on papers published in the last decade. the subject headings for this search were glucans, glucans recognition, glucans biological activitiy, glucans pharmaceuticals. on the basis of the available information, the main aspects related to this topic were analyzed and shown in this paper. b-(1？3)-glucans are glucose-derived polymers found mainly in the cellular wall of fungi, yeasts and plants. they are considered pathogens-associated molecular patterns that are ecognized by several receptors, being dectin-1 the key recognition receptor of these structures. some authors have underlined their immunomodulating properties. it has been demonstrated that they synergize and potentate the actions of toll-like receptor ligands on the release of proinflammatory cytokines, though b-(1？3)-glucans have shown an antinflamatory profile which greatly depends on their structural characteristics. b-(1？3)-glucans are important pollutants stemming from cellulose depth filters used in clarification process of parenteral blood derivatives. for this reason, it is necessary to study the consequences of their presence in parenterals. this review summarized the main aspects related with the recognition and biological activities of b-(1？3)-glucans as well as it delved into studies on their presence in blood derivatives as main pollutant. finally, the paper underlined the role of monnocyte activation test to detect b-(1？3)-glucans in parenterals.