The Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Algae-Derived Lipid Extracts on Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-Stimulated Human THP-1 Macrophages

Abstract

Algae contain a number of anti-inflammatory bioactive compounds such as omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) and chlorophyll a, hence as dietary ingredients, their extracts may be effective in chronic inflammation-linked metabolic diseases such as cardiovascular disease. In this study, anti-inflammatory potential of lipid extracts from three red seaweeds (Porphyra dioica, Palmaria palmata and Chondrus crispus) and one microalga (Pavlova lutheri) were assessed in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated human THP-1 macrophages. Extracts contained 34%–42% total fatty acids as n-3 PUFA and 5%–7% crude extract as pigments, including chlorophyll a, β-carotene and fucoxanthin. Pretreatment of the THP-1 cells with lipid extract from P. palmata inhibited production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-6 (p < 0.05) and IL-8 (p < 0.05) while that of P. lutheri inhibited IL-6 (p < 0.01) production. Quantitative gene expression analysis of a panel of 92 genes linked to inflammatory signaling pathway revealed down-regulation of the expression of 14 pro-inflammatory genes (TLR1, TLR2, TLR4, TLR8, TRAF5, TRAF6, TNFSF18, IL6R, IL23, CCR1, CCR4, CCL17, STAT3, MAP3K1) by the lipid extracts. The lipid extracts effectively inhibited the LPS-induced pro-inflammatory signaling pathways mediated via toll-like receptors, chemokines and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) signaling molecules. These results suggest that lipid extracts from P. lutheri, P. palmata, P. dioica and C. crispus can inhibit LPS-induced inflammatory pathways in human macrophages. Therefore, algal lipid extracts should be further explored as anti-inflammatory ingredients for chronic inflammation-linked metabolic diseases.

Valorization of Lipids from Gracilaria sp. through Lipidomics and Decoding of Antiproliferative and Anti-Inflammatory Activity

“…Glycolipids have already been identified for members of the Rhodophyta (red seaweeds), namely in the genus Gracilaria [21,30,40,41,42]. However, the majority of published works only identified a few species of glycolipids, either by using offline TLC–MS [30,40,42,43] or selected solvent extraction and MS analysis [15,20,29]. More recently, a detailed profile of Chondrus crispus was reported using LC–MS and MS/MS [26].…”

“…Polar lipids are nowadays recognized as an important reservoir of fatty acids with nutritional value, e.g., n -3 FAs [5,6], and they are also considered high-value novel lipids with beneficial health effects such as antitumoral [7,8], antiviral [8,9], antifungal [10], antibacterial [11], and anti-inflammatory [11,12], with potential applications in the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries [7,8,11]. However, in spite of their recognized potential, they are still scarcely studied [12,13,14,15]. Some studies reported that polar lipids isolated from seaweeds can promote growth-inhibiting effects on human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines (HepG2) [16] and thus can act as inhibitors of DNA polymerases with capability to inhibit tumor cell proliferation [17].…”

“…Some studies reported that polar lipids isolated from seaweeds can promote growth-inhibiting effects on human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines (HepG2) [16] and thus can act as inhibitors of DNA polymerases with capability to inhibit tumor cell proliferation [17]. Moreover, they have been associated with anti-inflammatory properties through the inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin IL-6 and IL-8 production [15] and/or by the inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production [18,19,20,21]. Lipid-based agents are therefore emerging molecules in therapeutics aimed to regulate inflammatory pathways or even impair downstream tumorigenic processes [22,23,24].…”

Gene Expression Profiling and Functional Characterization of Macrophages in Response to Circulatory Microparticles Produced during <b><i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i></b> Infection and Chagas Disease

“…Full details of the arrays were previously described [22]. Gene expression profiling for human cytokines/chemokines was performed by using an in-house PCR array that consisted of 89 genes [23].…”

Macrolactins from Marine-Derived Bacillus subtilis B5 Bacteria as Inhibitors of Inducible Nitric Oxide and Cytokines Expression

“…Natural products are alternatives to these drugs and offer hope for discovering bioactive lead compounds that may be developed into drugs for treatment of inflammatory disorders [12]. Plenty of unique marine natural products and their derivatives, such as sesquiterpenoid, polysaccharide, steroid/sterol and alkaloid, are found to manifest an anti-inflammatory action [13,14,15,16,17,18]. …”