Antitumor activity of sulfated polysaccharides of Chondrus armatus alga of the Sea of Japan

κ- and λ-Carrageenans from Marine Alga Chondrus armatus Exhibit Anticancer In Vitro Activity in Human Gastrointestinal Cancers Models

“…In the study by Ariffin et al, ultrasound degradation of λ-carrageenan and comprising different molecular weight carrageenans on cancer cell proliferation rate showed the growth of the antitumor activity with decreasing molecular size the effect of λ-carrageenan and it's comprising different molecular weight carageenans represented inverse proportion between proliferation rates and their molecular size. Therefore, low molecular weight carrageenans convey an impression of more promising anticancer agents than high molecular weight [23,24,34]. This is in agreement with results observed in our study, that low molecular weight carrageenans of 0.2-22.5 kDa for κoand 0.6-69.4 kDa for λo-carrageenan had a significant cytotoxic effect.…”

“…Some studies predict that the antiproliferative activity of oligocarrageenans increases with a decrease in their molecular weight [17,24]. Cytotoxic effect of high-molecular carrageenans was demonstrated on cancer lines such as HOS, Caco -2, HepG2 and LM2 with IC 50 greater than 1000 µg/mL [19,[31][32][33], on other hand oligocarageenans exhibited the same effect at much lower IC 50 ranging from 200 to 640 µg/mL.…”

“…Carrageenans from Hypnea musciformis inhibited LM2 and SH-SY5Y cell lines [18,19], and those from Kappaphycus alvarezii had the same effect on Caco-2 and HepG2 [20]. The wide range of biological activities of Chondrus armatus carrageenans have been studied, including immunomodulatory [21] and anti-inflammatory properties [22]; moreover, there is strong evidence determining the antitumor potential of Chondrus armatus carrageenans [23,24]. However, the detailed mechanisms of carrageenan suppressive activity on tumor cells remain unexplained.…”

Immunological effects of Chondrus armatus carrageenans and their low molecular weight degradation products

“…Its pro‐inflammatory potential is associated with the activation of the TLR4 pathway and translation of the NFkB 10,19,20 ; however, the later point of view is being challenged by some authors 13,21 . As immunosuppressing agents, carrageenans were shown to be able to suppress cytotoxic T‐cell response, 22 induce production of anti‐inflammatory cytokine expression (such as IL‐10), 14,19,23,24 inhibit neutrophil activation, inhibit neutrophil enzyme activity, 15,25,26 hold phagocyte‐specific cytotoxicity, 9,27 and demonstrate anti‐metabolitic/anti‐proliferative activity towards a variety of cells 6,17,28,29 . Nevertheless, no carrageenan can be considered a purely pro‐ or anti‐inflammatory agents, which is why, when it comes to immunological studies, they are viewed as immunomodulating substances.…”

“…13,21 As immunosuppressing agents, carrageenans were shown to be able to suppress cytotoxic T-cell response, 22 induce production of anti-inflammatory cytokine expression (such as IL-10), 14,19,23,24 inhibit neutrophil activation, inhibit neutrophil enzyme activity, 15,25,26 hold phagocyte-specific cytotoxicity, 9,27 and demonstrate anti-metabolitic/anti-proliferative activity towards a variety of cells. 6,17,28,29 Nevertheless, no carrageenan can be considered a purely pro-or anti-inflammatory agents, which is why, when it comes to immunological studies, they are viewed as immunomodulating substances. On the other hand, molecular structure and weight dependent efficacy of these activities underlines the need for a more in-depth study of each individual carrageenan.…”