戊糖聚磺酸（PPS）是一种小的半合成高度硫酸化的肝素样分子，与肝素具有许多相同的交互特性。本综述的目的是概述PPS作为介入性治疗保护剂在影响病理组织的生理过程中的潜在作用。PPS是一种多功能分子，能对许多疾病过程产生不同的治疗作用。PPS在治疗间质性膀胱炎和疼痛性肠道疾病方面已被使用数十年，它作为一种蛋白酶抑制剂在软骨、肌腱和IVD中具有组织保护性质，并作为生物支架中的细胞定向成分在组织工程应用中被使用。PPS调节补体激活、凝血、纤溶和血小板减少，并促进透明质酸合成。PPS抑制骨细胞中神经生长因子的产生，减少骨关节炎和类风湿关节炎（OA/RA）中的骨痛。PPS还从OA/RA软骨的脂肪组织饱和的亚软骨骨血管中去除脂肪化合物，减轻关节疼痛。PPS调节细胞因子和炎性介质的产生，也是一种抗肿瘤剂，促进间充质干细胞的增殖和分化，以及发育起源细胞系，这些细胞系在旨在影响退变性椎间盘（IVD）和OA软骨的修复策略中已被证明是有用的。PPS在IL-1存在或不存在的情况下刺激软骨细胞的蛋白聚糖合成，并刺激滑膜细胞的透明质酸产生。因此，PPS是一种具有潜在治疗应用于不同疾病过程的多功能组织保护分子。

Pentosan polysulfate (PPS), a small semi-synthetic highly sulfated heparan sulfate (HS)-like molecule, shares many of the interactive properties of HS. The aim of this review was to outline the potential of PPS as an interventional therapeutic protective agent in physiological processes affecting pathological tissues. PPS is a multifunctional molecule with diverse therapeutic actions against many disease processes. PPS has been used for decades in the treatment of interstitial cystitis and painful bowel disease, it has tissue-protective properties as a protease inhibitor in cartilage, tendon and IVD, and it has been used as a cell-directive component in bioscaffolds in tissue engineering applications. PPS regulates complement activation, coagulation, fibrinolysis and thrombocytopenia, and it promotes the synthesis of hyaluronan. Nerve growth factor production in osteocytes is inhibited by PPS, reducing bone pain in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis (OA/RA). PPS also removes fatty compounds from lipid-engorged subchondral blood vessels in OA/RA cartilage, reducing joint pain. PPS regulates cytokine and inflammatory mediator production and is also an anti-tumor agent that promotes the proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells and the development of progenitor cell lineages that have proven to be useful in strategies designed to effect repair of the degenerate intervertebral disc (IVD) and OA cartilage. PPS stimulates proteoglycan synthesis by chondrocytes in the presence or absence of interleukin (IL)-1, and stimulates hyaluronan production by synoviocytes. PPS is thus a multifunctional tissue-protective molecule of potential therapeutic application for a diverse range of disease processes.