The Red Seaweed Grateloupia turuturu Prevents Epidermal Dysplasia in HPV16-Transgenic Mice

Abstract

The role of dietary profiles in promoting or reducing the risk of multiple types of cancer is increasingly clear, driving the search for balanced foods and nutraceuticals. The red seaweed Grateloupia turuturu has been used as human food showing a balanced nutritional profile. This study aims to test in vivo chemopreventive effects of G. turuturu against cutaneous pre-malignant lesions in transgenic mice for the human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16). Forty-four female HPV+/− or HPV−/− mice received a standard diet or were supplemented with 10% G. turuturu for 22 consecutive days. Cutaneous lesions (ear and chest skin) were identified histologically. Complementarily, the weights and histology of internal organs as well as blood biochemical and DNA integrity parameters were also assessed. G. turuturu consistently reduced the incidence of epidermal dysplasia induced by HPV16 on both cutaneous sites. Moreover, biochemical, DNA integrity and histological analyses confirmed G. turuturu edibility as no signs of toxicity were found. Dietary supplementation with G. turuturu is an effective and safe chemopreventive strategy in this model.

Optimization of R-Phycoerythrin Extraction by Ultrasound-Assisted Enzymatic Hydrolysis: A Comprehensive Study on the Wet Seaweed Grateloupia turuturu

“…However, this available biomass remains underexploited in spite of its content in compounds of interest. Some studies have already demonstrated that G. turuturu could have a great potential of exploitation in aquaculture, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and cosmeceutical industries [5,[7][8][9][10]. Indeed, it could be a source of nutritional compounds for humans and animals, with up to approximately 60% of total dietary fibres [11], 27% dw of total proteins [12], including all the essential amino acids for 38% of total amino acids [13], and around 5% of total lipids [14], among which the presence of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) which are mainly represented by eicosapentaenoic acid (ω3 PUFA) [15].…”