Prospects for the Use of Marine Sulfated Fucose-Rich Polysaccharides in Treatment and Prevention of COVID-19 and Post-COVID-19 Syndrome

Abstract

Symptoms of the new coronavirus infection that appeared in 2019 (COVID-19) range from low fever and fatigue to acute pneumonia and multiple organ failure. The clinical picture of COVID-19 is heterogeneous and involves most physiological systems; therefore, drugs with a wide spectrum of mechanism of action are required. The choice of the treatment strategy for post-COVID-19 syndrome is still a challenge to be resolved. Polysaccharides with a high fucose content derived from seaweed and marine animals can form the basis for the subsequent development of promising agents for the treatment of COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 syndrome. This class of biopolymers is characterized by a variety of biological activities, including antiviral, antithrombotic, anticoagulant, hemo-stimulating, anti-inflammatory and immune-regulatory. Low molecular weight derivatives of these polysaccharides, as well as synthetic oligosaccharides with a sufficient amount and sulfation type may be considered as the most promising compounds due to their better bioavailability, which undoubtedly increases their therapeutic potential.

Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Fucan from Spatoglossum schröederi in a Murine Model of Generalized Inflammation Induced by Zymosan

“…As discussed before, systemic inflammatory response has a major role in the onset of tissue damage due to the capacity of recruitment and activation of leukocytes (mainly PMN) and the production of pro-inflammatory mediators responsible for immune-mediated aggression and organ dysfunction. Treatment with these compounds was proven to prevent damage in the lung and intestinal colon by inhibiting the inflammatory response during severe diseases, reducing leukocyte infiltration, pro-inflammatory cytokine production, tissue fibrosis, and relative clinical manifestation [59,76]. Fucans and sulfated polysaccharides from marine algae have also demonstrated hepatoprotective effects through antiinflammatory mechanisms in various liver injury models.…”

Polysaccharides and Lectins: A Natural Complementary Approach against the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

“…Sulfated fucans can also be isolated from other marine animals such as echinoderms [116], particularly from holothurians, sea cucumbers, which are a rich source of fucans and specific fucosylated chondroitin sulfates (FucCSs), disaccharide chains composed of alternating residues of N-acetylgalactosamine and glucuronic acid, with fucosyl branches linked to GlcA and/or GalNAc residues [117]. FucCSs extracted from different species of sea cucumbers (Isostichopus badionotus, Holothuria floridana, and Pentacta pygmaea) or sulfated fucans from sea cucumbers and the sea urchin (Lytechinus variegatus) generally exhibit a similar and (slightly) weaker inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV-2 Wuhan and Delta strains compared to heparin, but this antiviral activity could not be correlated with structural features such as the sulfation degree or monosaccharide composition [44].…”