Anti-Hyperlipidemic Effect of Fucoidan Fractions Prepared from Iceland Brown Algae Ascophyllum nodosum in an Hyperlipidemic Mice Model

• Published in: Marine Drugs
• Main Authors: Yunhai He, Yutong Li, Peili Shen, Shangkun Li, Linsong Zhang, Qiukuan Wang, Dandan Ren, Shu Liu, Demeng Zhang, Hui Zhou
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2023
• Subjects: Ascophyllum nodosum; fucoidan; anti-hyperlipidemic; antioxidant enzyme; lipoprotein metabolism; gut flora; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; Iceland; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/md21090468; https://doaj.org/article/dc3571c11138445aa1d9271399116c09

Ascophyllum nodosum , a brown algae abundantly found along the North Atlantic coast, is recognized for its high polysaccharide content. In this study, we investigated the anti-hyperlipidemic effect of fucoidans derived from A. nodosum , aiming to provide information for their potential application in anti-hyperlipidemic therapies and to explore comprehensive utilization of this Iceland brown seaweed. The crude fucoidan prepared from A. nodosum was separated using a diethylethanolamine column, resulting in two fucoidan fractions, AFC-1 and AFC-2. Both fractions were predominantly composed of fucose and xylose. AFC-1 exhibited a higher sulfate content of 27.8% compared to AFC-2 with 17.0%. AFC-2 was primarily sulfated at the hydroxy group of C2, whereas AFC-1 was sulfated at both the hydroxy groups of C2 and C4. To evaluate the anti-hyperlipidemic effect, a hyperlipidemia mouse model was established by feeding mice a high-fat diet. The effects of AFC-1, AFC-2, and the crude extract were investigated, with the drug atorvastatin used as a positive comparison. Among the different fucoidan fractions and doses, the high dose of AFC-2 administration demonstrated the most significant anti-hyperlipidemic effect across various aspects, including physiological parameters, blood glucose levels, lipid profile, histological analysis, and the activities of oxidative stress-related enzymes and lipoprotein-metabolism-related enzymes ( p < 0.05 for the final body weight and p < 0.01 for the rest indicators, compared with the model group), and its effect is comparable to the atorvastatin administration. Furthermore, fucoidan administration resulted in a lower degree of loss in gut flora diversity compared to atorvastatin administration. These findings highlight the significant biomedical potential of fucoidans derived from A. nodosum as a promising therapeutic solution for hypolipidemia.