Comparative in vitro Assessment of Antioxidant Activities of Low-Etherified Pectin from the Eelgrass Zostera marina and Antioxidative Medicines

Abstract

The problems of chemical regulation of oxidizing stress and the search for biologically active substances with antioxidant activity are the focus of attention of researchers in different fields of experimental biology and biomedicine [11,15,16]. In physiological conditions, the oxidation-reduction processes, which cover the energy need of cells and support oxygen utilization in tissues, are controlled by regulatory systems maintaining balanced interactions between the reactions that generate the products of oxidation and antioxidizing factors. Disturbances in this interaction, accompanied with activation of free radical processes and accumulation of products of lipid peroxidation, are considered as a universal mechanism of biological membrane damage [10,20] that is the basis of some pathological processes [9,12].Investigations of the relations between oxidizing stress and the development of many diseases revealed that the endogenous antioxidative system does not provide sufficient protection for cells and tissues against the damaging effects of free radicals. Therefore, the search for new agents of inhibition of prooxidative processes and the activation of antioxidation reactions is rather warranted [8,21].Among numerous natural compounds of high biological activity, zosterin polysaccharide, which was named after the source if its isolation, the eelgrass Zostera marina , a member of the family Zosteracea, has attracted particular attention. Zosterin is a pectin with an extremely low degree of etherification [17]. Experimental studies on zosterin pectin have revealed its pharmacological effects, such as the hypocholesteremic, entherosorption, antibacterial, antiviral, antitumoral, antiulcer, and immunomodulating effects [4]. Some of these effects are accompanied by a decrease in the concentration of the products of lipid peroxidation and normalization of the parameters of the endogenous antioxidative system in the blood and liver of experimental animals [3, 5]. These data presume the available antioxidative effects of the studied polysaccharide.The objective of this study was to reveal the antioxidative activities of low-etherified pectin from the eelgrass Z. marina and compare its activities with those of drugs used in medicine as antioxidants. MATERIAL AND METHODSThe eelgrass Zostera marina was sampled from clean water areas of Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan. The pectin was isolated using techniques that included acid hydrolysis of raw material, extraction with ammonium oxalate, and sedimentation of pectin with ethanol [18]. The content of galacturonic acid in the pectin was determined applying the colorimetric hydroxydiphenyl method [7]. The etherification was determined by the titrimetric technique [1]. The characteristic viscosity was determined in a mixed solution of 0.05 M sodium chloride and 0.005 M sodium oxalate at a temperature of 25.0 ° C and pH of 6.0 with an Ubbelohde viscosimeter [14]. The physical and chemical parameters of the isolated polysaccharide assay were as follows: galacturonic acid con...

Antioxidant activity of seagrasses of the Mandapam coast, India

“…This activity was believed to help in preventing a number of diseases through free-radical scavenging activity (Anggadiredja et al, 1997;Ruberto et al, 2001). Similarly, some earlier reports reveal that seagrasses especially their polyphenols have the antioxidant activity (Hasina et al, 2003;Kolenchenko et al, 2005;Gokce et al, 2008;Sureda et al, 2008;Ragupathi Raja Kannan et al, 2010b, 2010c. It is also reported that the presence of condensed tannins in seagrasses may act as deterrents against herbivore feeding as well as against fungal and bacterial invasion (McMillan, 1984).…”

“…Ragupathi Raja Kannan Rengasamy 1 , Arumugam Rajasekaran 1 , Grignon-Dubois Micheline 2 , and Anantharaman Perumal 1 (Premanathan et al, 1992;Rowley et al, 2002), antiprotozoal (Orhan et al, 2006), antiinflammatory (Hua et al, 2006), and antidiabetic (Gokce et al, 2008) activities. More recently, reports have revealed that seagrasses are rich sources of antioxidant compounds (Hasina et al, 2003;Kolenchenko et al, 2005;Gokce et al, 2008;Sureda et al, 2008;Ragupathi Raja Kannan et al, 2010b, 2010c.…”

Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activity of Zostera marina L. Extract

“…Harrison and Chan (1980) reported that methanol extracts of Zostera marina inhibit the growth of various invading microalgae (diatoms and flagellates) and a bacterium (Staphylococcus aureus). Antioxidant activity for the polysaccharide zosterine isolated from Z. marina has been examined by the activation of free radical peroxide oxidation in mice (Khasina et al 2003) and the activity was compared with two antioxidant drugs (Kolenchenko et al 2005). Stirk et al (2007) found that the amount of bioactive chemicals in seaweeds is changed seasonally and regionally due to fluctuation of environmental conditions.…”

A comparative evaluation of biological activities and bioactive compounds of the seagrasses Zostera marina and Zostera noltei from southern Portugal

“…Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, Alexandrium catenella, a dinoflagellate responsible for the occurrence of harmful algal blooms (Laabir et al 2013). Z. marina leaf extracts have antioxidant and antibiotic activities (Kim et al, 2004;Kolenchenko et al 2005;Choi et al 2009), while organic extracts of Z. noltei collected in the Central Mediterranean area had strong antifungal activity against Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger (Ballesteros et al 1992). Some bioactive compounds have been isolated from Z. marina, such as apigenin-7-O-b-D-glucoside and chrysoeriol (Kim et al 2004).…”

“…Some bioactive compounds have been isolated from Z. marina, such as apigenin-7-O-b-D-glucoside and chrysoeriol (Kim et al 2004). Rosmarinic (RA) and zosteric acids have been detected in both Zostera species (Kolenchenko et al 2005;Achamlale et al 2009; Grignon-Dubois & Rezzonico 2012). The Zostera genus exhibits a high chemical plasticity and displays different phenolic profiles for different geographic areas (Grignon-Dubois & Rezzonico 2012).…”