Accumulating evidence has revealed that fucoidan exhibits anti-tumor activities by arresting cell cycle and inducing apoptosis in many types of cancer cells including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Exploring its effect on microRNA expression, we found that fucoidan markedly upregulated miR-29b of human HCC cells. The induction of miR-29b was accompanied with suppression of its downstream targe...

Phosphomannan polysaccharides and fucoidan, a polymer of fucose 4-sulfate, have been demonstrated to inhibit adhesion of lymphocytes to tissue sections that contain high endothelial venules (Stoolman, L. M., T. S. Tenforde, and S. D. Rosen, 1984, J. Cell Biol., 99:1535-1540). We have investigated the potential cell surface carbohydrate receptors involved by quantitating adhesion of rat cervical...

Seaweed-derived heparin-like substances such as fucoidan have been extensively studied in vitro as potential blood anticoagulants. However, there have been no human studies investigating the anticoagulant activity of fucoidan when administered orally. This pilot clinical trial was aimed to assess the safety and clinical effects of fucoidan ingestion on hemostasis as well as study its in-vitro a...

UVB reduces type I procollagen levels and increases matrix metalloproteinases-1 (MMP-1) levels in human skin and plays a major role in the process of photoaging. We previously reported that fucoidan inhibits UVB-induced MMP-1 expression at the protein and mRNA levels in human skin fibroblasts (HS68). Yet, the effects of fucoidan on UVB-induced MMP-1 promoter activity and type I procollagen have...

Fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide present in marine brown seaweed, has been demonstrated to inhibit in vivo and in vitro growth of cells. The present study was conducted in HT‑29 human colon cancer cells cultured at a high density, and examined the potential underlying mechanisms by which fucoidan exerts its anti‑proliferative effects, which remain poorly understood. Fucoidan treatment of hig...

Fucoidans constitute a large family of sulfated polysaccharides with several biochemical properties. A commercial fucoidan from brown algae, containing low molecular weight polysaccharidic species constituted of l-fucose, uronic acids and sulfate groups, was simply treated here with calcium acetate solution. This treatment led to a purified fraction with a yield of 45%. The physicochemical char...

Toxicological evaluation of fucoidan extracted from Laminaria japonica in Wistar rats. Food Chem Toxicol. 2005 Mar;43(3):421-6. However, there is no detailed report investigating the toxicity of fucoidan. In this study, the acute and subchronic (6 months) toxicity of varying levels of fucoidan extracted from Laminaria japonica was investigated in Wistar rats after oral administration. The resul...

AIM To evaluate the effects of fucoidan, a complex sulfated polysaccharide extract from marine seaweed, on hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA load both in vitro and in vivo. METHODS HCV-1b replicon-expressing cells were cultured in the presence of fucoidan obtained from Cladosiphon okamuranus Tokida cultivated in Okinawa, Japan, and quantified the level of HCV replication. In an open-label uncontrol...

Fucoidan is an active constituent found in brown seaweeds, which have potential neuroprotection. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of fucoidan on the maintenance of neuropathic pain induced by L5 spinal nerve ligation (SNL) and the underlying mechanism related to the spinal neuroimmune responses. Animals were randomized into 5 groups: sham-operation with vehicle and SNL with ve...

It is well known that ultraviolet B irradiation leads to dermal inflammation. In this study, we found that Mekabu fucoidan suppressed edema, decreased the thickness of the prickle cell layer, and decreased matrix metalloproteinase 1 in the skin of mice irradiated with ultraviolet B. Moreover, we found that the mean level of interferon gamma of Mekabu fucoidan-treated, ultraviolet B-irradiated m...