Marin algae in pharmaceutical industry

Marin algae in pharmaceutical industry
Shima Mokhtari Garakani,^1,* Soha Mokhtari Garakani,²
Introduction: The bioactivity of Seaweed gives them a major role in the pharmaceutical section. They can be used as a prototype of new medicines by producing low and high molecular weight bioactive metabolites. Their synthesized bioactive compounds contain pigments (carotenoids, xanthophylls, chlorophyll and terpenoids), vitamins, saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, amino acids and antioxidants (polyphenols, alkaloids and halogenated compounds) and polysaccharides (agar, carrageenan, proteoglycans, alginate, laminaran, rhamnan sulfate, galactosyl glycerol and fucoidan).Many of these compounds were detected to have anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and various pharmaceutically-relevant activities that can treat cancer, diabetes, arthritis, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and other diseases.
Methods: Antimicrobial activity Seaweeds are known for their antimicrobial activity against different pathogens such as bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses. An example of marine flora that can produce an antibacterial agent that acts against shrimp pathogenic is Sargassum latifolium. While different brown, green and red algae such as Caulerpa sertularioides, species have an antiLeishmanial activity against Leishmania protozoa.In another study Sargassum oligocystum displayed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 14990), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), and E. coli (ATCC 25922) when extracted in hot water rather than alcoholic extract. Another study shows that Sargassum oligocystum have remarkable antitumor activity against K562 and Daudi cell lines at concentrations 500 and 400 µg/ml of the algal extract. Different studies on brown algae genus Cystoseira showed that different species present different bioactivities against microbial community.
Results: Antioxidants Plant-originated secondary metabolites, such as antioxidant compounds, help in scavenging the accumulated free radicals in the human body that may result in DNA and cell damage. There is a positive correlation between the increase in algae phenolic content and antioxidant properties, because phenolic compounds act as electron donors and help in balancing the reactions created by free radicals in the body. Studies showed that different species of green, brown and red algae studied such as Laurencia snyderia, Acanthophora nayadiformis, Sargassum tenerrimum, and green algae Chaetomorpha Genus showed antioxidant activity. Several studies presented the fact that Sargassum sp. has the highest antioxidant activity compared to other tested algae. All Sargassum sp. and some other species like Canistrocarpus cervicornis and Cladophora sp., showed high antioxidant activity and they were rich in polyphenolic compounds. Furthermore, almost all the tested seaweeds contained hydroquinone, which is known as a skin whitening agent. A study showed that bioactivities among seaweeds and enzymes used for extraction were different. As an example, Sargassum boveanumViscozymes and Sargassum boveanum-Alcalase showed high antioxidant activity, while most of the seaweeds extracted by Flavourzyme showed antimicrobial activity and therefore concluded that each seaweed species needs a specific enzyme to increase the yield of bioactive compounds. Cytotoxic compounds Studies show that specific compounds in marine algae such as fucoidans, laminarians, and terpenoids have cytotoxic traits against cancer cells by inhibiting their proliferation. Due to some recent research, cytotoxic activity against cancer and tumor cell lines, as well as immunomodulatory activity, has become one of the most important specificities of algae. The bioactive compounds in algal extracts were used in in treating toxic cells in human body such as cancer cells by following three different scenarios. They can cause necrosis (cell lysis), apoptosis (a genetically controlled form of cell death), and decrease in cell viability by stopping the division of actively growing cells. The latest research in this field are mainly focusing on elucidating the specific compounds that present such bioactivities. Also studying the synergistic effect of different bioactive compounds within algal extracts has attracted the interest of the scientific community, since the interactions between these substances increase the bioactive capacity. The cytotoxicity of these algal extracts activates an estrogen receptor-independent mechanism in breast cancer cells, which promote cell proliferation and tumor progression. The differences in the activity results between both studies may be a consequence of different solvents used for extraction, season and time of collection, and also different methods used.
Conclusion: Marin algae is an almost untapped pool consist of many compounds which have anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, algicidal, anti-viral, anti-protozoan and various pharmaceutically-relevant activities that can treat cancer, diabetes, arthritis, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and other diseases.
Keywords: Marin algae, Antimicrobial activity, Antioxidants, Cytotoxic compounds