Description
Acetylglucosamine or N-acetylglucosamine is potentially for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. N-Acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) is a monosaccharide that usually polymerizes linearly through (1, 4)-beta-linkages. GlcNAc is the monomeric unit of the polymer chitin, the second most abundant carbohydrate after cellulose. In addition to serving as a component of this homogeneous polysaccharide, GlcNAc is also a basic component of hyaluronic acid and keratin sulfate on the cell surface. GlcNAc has been reported to be an inhibitor of elastase release from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (range 8-17% inhibition), however this is much weaker than the inhibition seen with N-acetylgalactosamine (range 92-100%)