Intestinal Absorption of Fucoidan Extracted from the Brown Seaweed, Cladosiphon okamuranus

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the absorption of fucoidan through the intestinal tract. Fucoidan (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 mg/mL) was added to Transwell inserts containing Caco-2 cells. The transport of fucoidan across Caco-2 cells increased in a dose-dependent manner up to 1.0 mg/mL. It reached a maximum after 1 h and then rapidly decreased. In another experiment, rats were fed standard chow containing 2% fucoidan for one or two weeks. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that fucoidan accumulated in jejunal epithelial cells, mononuclear cells in the jejunal lamina propria and sinusoidal non-parenchymal cells in the liver. Since we previously speculated that nitrosamine may enhance the intestinal absorption of fucoidan, its absorption was estimated in rats administered N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl) nitrosamine (BBN) in their drinking water. Rats were fed 0.2% fucoidan chow (BBN + 0.2% fucoidan rats), 2% fucoidan chow (BBN + 2% fucoidan rats) and standard chow for eight weeks. The uptake of fucoidan through the intestinal tract seemed to be low, but was measurable by our ELISA method. Fucoidan-positive cells were abundant in the small intestinal mucosa of BBN + 2% fucoidan rats. Most fucoidan-positive cells also stained positive for ED1, suggesting that fucoidan was incorporated into intestinal macrophages. The uptake of fucoidan by Kupffer cells was observed in the livers of BBN + 2% fucoidan rats. In conclusion, the absorption of fucoidan through the small intestine was demonstrated both in vivo and in vitro.

Detection of Fucoidan in Urine after Oral Intake of Traditional Japanese Seaweed, <i>Okinawa mozuku</i> (<i>Cladosiphon okamuranus</i> Tokida)

“…The uptake of fucoidan through the intestinal tract seemed to be low, but was measurable by our ELISA method (18). The transport of fucoidan across Caco-2 cells was demonstrated in a dose-dependent manner (21,22) and reached a maximum after 1 h, followed by a rapid decrease. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that fucoidan accumulated in jejunal macrophages and hepatic Kupffer cells in fucoidan-treated rats (22).…”

“…The transport of fucoidan across Caco-2 cells was demonstrated in a dose-dependent manner (21,22) and reached a maximum after 1 h, followed by a rapid decrease. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that fucoidan accumulated in jejunal macrophages and hepatic Kupffer cells in fucoidan-treated rats (22). The molecular weight of fucoidan detected in serum was similar to that of the ingested fucoidan.…”

“…It has been long believed that fucoidan, with a high molecular weight, is hardly absorbed in the human digestive system due to a lack of digestive enzymes for fucoidan. Intestinal absorption of fucoidan from Okinawa mozuku has been demonstrated in humans and rats (18,19); however, it is unclear whether fucoidan in mozuku can be absorbed after digestion of mozuku.…”

Investigation of the transport and absorption of Angelica sinensis polysaccharide through gastrointestinal tract both in vitro and in vivo

“…There have been reported that certain polysaccharides could be transported across the intestinal epithelium. For example, Nagamine et al reported that high molecular weight fucoidan was absorbed through intestinal epithelial cells both in vivo and in vitro (Nagamine et al, 2014). Zuo et al proposed that squid ink polysaccharide could be permeated through the Caco-2 cells monolayer and P app was 1.44 Â 10 À6 cm/s (Zuo et al, 2016).…”

Absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination (ADME) and toxicity profile of marine sulfated polysaccharides used in bionanotechnology

“…Biodistribution studies for 20 days after injection of anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR) encapsulated in fucoidan-coated gold nanorods revealed the highest accumulation of gold in liver and spleen followed by heart, lungs, kidney and tumors. Fucoidan can thus be said to exhibit preferential accumulation in liver and low levels in systemic circulation (Atashrazm et al, 2015;Nagamine et al, 2015;Manivasagan et al, 2017). Rapid clearance of ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles coated with 99m Tc labeled fucoidan (USPIO-FUCO) was recorded with half-life of 9 min for rapid component when administered intravenously by a single injection in male Wistar rats.…”