article · Thalassas An International Journal of Marine Sciences
Ulvan, a sulfated polysaccharide extracted from the green macroalga Ulva lactuca, was analysed for its chemical composition and biological properties. Extraction yielded 26.53 percent dry weight of polysaccharides containing uronic acid alongside neutral sugars such as glucose, rhamnose, galactose, fructose, and melibiose. In laboratory evaluations, the extract demonstrated cytotoxic effects against prostate cancer and lung carcinoma cell lines, showing greater potency against lung cancer cells. It also exhibited antiviral activity against hepatitis A virus strain HAV-10, though it displayed no effect against adenovirus. Furthermore, the substance demonstrated antibacterial activity against multiple pathogenic bacterial strains, including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, while showing only limited antioxidant capacity.
Natural marine compounds offer alternative avenues for discovering therapeutic agents. Finding naturally occurring substances that inhibit bacterial pathogens, specific viruses, and cancer cell growth in laboratory settings helps identify candidates for further medical and pharmaceutical research, particularly as resistance to conventional antimicrobial treatments continues to present challenges.
This research is at an early laboratory testing stage, relying entirely on in vitro assays. If validated through further pre-clinical development, ulvan could interest pharmaceutical or biotechnical developers targeting antibacterial formulations, antiviral treatments for hepatitis A, or cancer therapies. Significant further testing, formulation, and in vivo trials would be required before any commercial or clinical application is feasible.
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Abstract Marine macroalgae contain a variety of bioactive substances that have many different uses. Ulvan, a sulfated hetero-polysaccharide isolated from Ulva lactuca , has been described and investigated for its antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial, and cytotoxic action against the cell lines PC-3 and A-549. The yield of polysaccharides was 26.53 ± 0.32. (Algal dry weight) with 2.23% uronic acid. According to HPLC estimates, the polysaccharide isolated from Ulva lactuca contains the neutral sugars glucose, rhamnose and galactose, as well as fructose, and melibiose. The FT-IR spectrum of ulvan revealed bands at 1227.73 cm − 1 and 1333.97 cm − 1 , respectively, indicative of sulfate esters and uronic acids. This study came to the conclusion that Ulva lactuca ulvan (ULU) contains beneficial elements that can stop the development of cancer cells. The lowest viability of PC-3 cells, which occur at the highest concentration of ULU (500 µg/ml), was 17.58% with an IC 50 of 237.02 ± 6.84 µg/ml, while the lowest viability of lung carcinoma cells was 13.91% with an IC 50 of 124.38 ± 4.78 µg/ml. This indicates that the cytotoxicity against the prostate cancer cell line was lower than that against the lung carcinoma cell line. Although ULU has no activity against adenovirus, it had antiviral efficacy against HAV-10. ULU has been shown to have antibacterial efficacy against pathogenic bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus ATCC25923 Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29,212, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027, Klebsiella pneumonia ATCC 13,883, Pseudomonas fluorescent ATCC13525 and Streptococcus agaloctiae ATCC13813. The polysaccharide, meanwhile, has limited antioxidant action.
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DOI: 10.1007/s41208-023-00584-z
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