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Immunomodulatory effects and antimicrobial activity of heterofucans from Sargassum filipendula

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Abstract

Parasitic diseases are a human health problem mainly in low-income areas. The drugs available for the treatment of these diseases are far from satisfactory due to high costs, toxicity, and drug resistance. Sulfated polysaccharides are a complex group of bioactive polymers and can be obtained from seaweeds. The heterofucans from Sargassum filipendula (SF) present strong antiproliferative and antioxidant activities. However, their immunomodulatory and antimicrobial capacity have not been evaluated until now. In this study, five sulfated fucose-rich fractions were isolated (named SF0.5V, SF0.7V, SF1.0V, SF1.5V, and SF2.0V). The chemical composition showed slight differences among polysaccharides and, consequently, biological activity of these polymers. Three fractions (SF0.5V, SF0.7V, and SF1.0V) showed a strong immunomodulatory activity enhancing the release of nitric oxide (NO) by murine macrophages (RAW 264.7), though only SF0.5V was able to induce interleukin-6 (IL-6) and TNF-α release from RAW cells. The sugar to sulfate ratio was not correlated with these activities. Meanwhile, the contents of xylose (P = 0.98 for NO; P = 0.98 for IL-6; P = 0.96 for TNF-α) and glucuronic acid (P = 0.91 for NO; P = 0.9190 for IL-6; P = 0.79 for TNF-α) were strongly positively correlated. SF0.7V and SF1.0V inhibited biofilm formation by Klebsiella pneumoniae (4.2 and 6.8%, respectively), whereas SF0.5V showed inhibitory effect (~50%) on biofilm formation by Staphylococcus epidermidis. Furthermore, SF0.7V and SF1.0V showed high inhibition capacity on the survival of the protozoan Trichomonas vaginalis. The sugar to sulfate ratio was positively correlated (P = 0.60) with this activity. The results demonstrate the spectrum of action of these sulfated polysaccharides obtained from SF and show their potential as immunomodulatory and microbicidal agents.

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Acknowledgments

Research was supported by Ministério de Ciência, Tecnologia e Informação (MCTI), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq), Brazil. Hugo A O Rocha, L. S Costa, and Tiana Tasca are CNPq fellowship-honored researchers. Cinthia Telles had a Ph.D. scholarship from CAPES and Gabriel Fidelis has a Ph.D. scholarship from CAPES. Leonardo Nobre has a postdoctoral fellowship from CAPES. This research was submitted to the Graduate Program in Health Science at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte as part of the D. Sc. thesis of C.B.S.T.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Bioquímica, Laboratório de Biotecnologia de Polímeros Naturais (BIOPOL), Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte-RN, 59078-970, Brazil

    Cinthia Beatrice Silva Telles, Gabriel Pereira Fidelis, Katia Castanho Scortecci, Rafael Barros Gomes Camara, Leonardo Thiago Duarte Barreto Nobre, Leandro Silva Costa & Hugo Alexandre Oliveira Rocha

  2. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte-RN, 59078-970, Brazil

    Cinthia Beatrice Silva Telles & Hugo Alexandre Oliveira Rocha

  3. Instituto de Medicina Tropical do Rio Grande do Norte, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Rio Grande do Norte-RN, 59078-970, Brazil

    Carolina Mendes-Aguiar

  4. Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 2752, Porto Alegre, RS, 90610-000, Brazil

    Amanda Piccoli Frasson & Tiana Tasca

  5. Departamento de Ciências Biomédicas, Faculdade de Ciência da Saude, Universidade de Estado do Rio Grande do Norte (UERN), Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte-RN, 59610-210, Brazil

    Wogelsanger Oliveira Pereira

  6. Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN), Ceará-Mirim, Rio Grande do Norte-RN, 59580-000, Brazil

    Leandro Silva Costa

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  1. Cinthia Beatrice Silva Telles
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  2. Carolina Mendes-Aguiar
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  3. Gabriel Pereira Fidelis
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  6. Katia Castanho Scortecci
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  7. Rafael Barros Gomes Camara
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  9. Leandro Silva Costa
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  10. Tiana Tasca
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  11. Hugo Alexandre Oliveira Rocha
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Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: C.B.S.T, T.T., L.S.C., and H.A.O.R. Performed the experiments: C.B.S.T., G.P.F., C.M.A., and A.P.F. Analyzed the data: C.B.S.T. and H.A.O.R. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: L.S.C., T.T., W.O.P, L.S.C., and H.A.O.R. Wrote the paper: C.B.S.T., T.T., L.S.C., L.T.D.B.N., and H.A.O.R.

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Correspondence to Hugo Alexandre Oliveira Rocha.

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Telles, C.B.S., Mendes-Aguiar, C., Fidelis, G.P. et al. Immunomodulatory effects and antimicrobial activity of heterofucans from Sargassum filipendula . J Appl Phycol 30, 569–578 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-017-1218-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-017-1218-z

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