Marine Polysaccharides from Algae with Potential Biomedical Applications

Abstract

There is a current tendency towards bioactive natural products with applications in various industries, such as pharmaceutical, biomedical, cosmetics and food. This has put some emphasis in research on marine organisms, including macroalgae and microalgae, among others. Polysaccharides with marine origin constitute one type of these biochemical compounds that have already proved to have several important properties, such as anticoagulant and/or antithrombotic, immunomodulatory ability, antitumor and cancer preventive, antilipidaemic and hypoglycaemic, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, making them promising bioactive products and biomaterials with a wide range of applications. Their properties are mainly due to their structure and physicochemical characteristics, which depend on the organism they are produced by. In the biomedical field, the polysaccharides from algae can be used in controlled drug delivery, wound management, and regenerative medicine. This review will focus on the biomedical applications of marine polysaccharides from algae.

The Potential Use of Marine Microalgae and Cyanobacteria in Cosmetics and Thalassotherapy

“…Related to skin ageing supplements and cosmeceutics, extracts from Chlorella vulgaris have been reported to support collagen repair mechanisms [31], and Raposo et al [45] reported that sulfated PS (sPS) produced and secreted by marine microalgae had shown the capacity to prevent the accumulation and activity of free radicals and reactive chemical species. Therefore, sPS might act as protecting systems against these oxidative and radical stress agents.…”

“…The sPS from Porphyridium and Rhodella reticulate exhibited antioxidant activity that was dose-dependent. Methanolic extracts of exopolysaccharides (EPS) from A. platensis also exhibit a very high antioxidant capacity [45].…”

Биохимический Анализ Некоторых Морских Макроводорослей Побережья Коллама (Индия)

“…Доказано, что зеленые водоросли Ulva и Caulerpa вырабатывают полисахариды, обладающие важными медицинскими качествами (Wang et al, 2014). Содержащиеся в их талломах сульфатированные полисахариды, в т. ч. S-галактаны, прояв-ляют различные терапевтические свойства, включая антиокисли-тельные (de Jesus Raposo et al, 2015). Оценка углеводного состава изученных видов позволит определить их пищевой и терапевтический потенциал.…”

Marine Polysaccharides as Multifunctional Pharmaceutical Excipients

“…Marine polysaccharides can be employed as diluents/illers in the formulation of tablets (by all methods) to increase the mass of the solid dosage forms that hold a low concentration of therapeutic agent and thereby render the manufacturing process more reliable and reproducible [6]. For example, chitin and chitosan are used as a diluent or iller and as a binder in direct compression of tablet processing, as a disintegrant, and so on.…”