0 Glyconutrients

Purpose To analyze the association between glucosamine (GlcN) use and the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) using claims data from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). Methods A retrospective, population-based study was conducted with NHIRD data from a 14-year period (2000–2013). Chi-squared and Student’s t-tests were used to evaluate differences between the study and comparison cohorts for categorical and continuous variables, respectively. Risk factors for disease development were examined by the adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) with 95% confidence interval. Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed to compare the cumulative risk of AMD between the two cohorts. Results In total, 1,344 patients with GlcN treatment were enrolled in the study cohort and 5,376 patients without GlcN use were enrolled in the comparison cohort. The incidence rate of AMD was lower with GlcN use (3.65%) than without GlcN use (5.26%) (P = 0.014). GlcN use was associated with a lower risk of developing AMD among patients with hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke, other neurological disorders, or degenerative arthritis. Although the incidence of wet type AMD did not significantly differ (P = 0.91), the incidence of dry type AMD was lower in patients with GlcN use (2.9%) than those without GlcN use (4.84%) (P = 0.003). Kaplan-Meier analysis similarly revealed a lower rate of dry type AMD in patients with GlcN use compared to those without GlcN use (log-rank P = 0.004). Conclusions GlcN treatment can decrease the risk of developing dry type AMD. Further prospective controlled studies are needed to determine the effectiveness of GlcN treatment in patients with AMD and the associated mechanism.

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What's New? In this prospective study, the authors asked whether regular use of glucosamine and chondroitin supplements might reduce the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). They found that the combinati...

Glucosamine is widely used by patients with osteoarthritis (OA) to provide symptomatic relief and to delay disease progression. However, clinical stud…

Chitosan, fucoidan, and polyvinyl alcohol are categorized as polymers with biomedical applications. Ampicillin, on the other hand, is considered as an important antibiotic that has shown effectivity in both gram-positive and gram-negative micro-organisms. The aforementioned polymers possess unique p …

The marine acid polysaccharide fucoidan has attracted attention from both the food and pharmaceutical industries due to its promising therapeutic effects. Fucoidan is a polysaccharide that mainly consists of L-fucose and sulphate groups. Its excellent biological function is attributed to its unique …

Our previous study has suggested that the crude polysaccharide obtained from Laminaria japonica by acid assisted extraction (LP-A) have significant bile acid-binding capacity, which probably ascribed to its specific structure characterization. The relationship between structure characterization and bile acid-binding capacity of the purified LP-A fractions are still unknown. This paper conducted a comparison study on the structure characterization and bile acid-binding capacity of three LP-A fractions (LP-A4, LP-A6, and LP-A8). The results indicated that LP-A4, LP-A6, and LP-A8, characterized as mannoglucan, fucomannoglucan, and fucogalactan, had significantly different structure characterization. Furthermore, the bile acid-binding capacity of LP-A8 was obviously higher than the other fractions, which may be attributed to its highly branched structure, abundant sulfate, fucose, and galactose in chemical composition and denser interconnected macromolecule network in molecular morphology. This study provides scientific evidence for the potential utilization of LP-A8 as an attractive functional food supplement candidate for the hyperlipidemia population.

Fucoidan is a sulphated polysaccharide isolated from brown seaweeds. It has attracted a lot of attention due to its multiple physiological and biological properties. The most dominant polysaccharides...

A proprietary preparation of the Japanese seaweed Tasmanian Undaria pinnatifida has inhibitory effects in various Herpes infections.

Background Fucoidan is derived from seaweed widely used in Japanese cuisine, but little is known about its influence on glucose metabolism. To obtain …

Fucoidan is composed of l-fucose, sulfate groups and one or more small proportions of d-xylose, d-mannose, d-galactose, l-rhamnose, arabinose, glucose…

Cancer survivors are highly motivated to seek information about the use of dietary supplements and complementary nutritional therapies to improve their quality of life. Fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide extracted from brown marine alga, exhibits a wide range of bioactivities, including anticancer activity. As natural killer (NK) cells serve an important role in defenses against tumor cells, the present study examined the effects of fucoidan extracted from Cladosiphon Okamuranus on NK cell activity in cancer survivors. A prospective, open‑label clinical study was conducted on cancer survivors treated with fucoidan via oral administration; 11 cancer survivors with a performance status of 0 or 1 participated and consumed 3 g of fucoidan for 6 months. No significant changes were observed in the mean activities of NK cells in total subjects following the ingestion of fucoidan. An analysis of each sex revealed that NK cell activity was significantly increased by the ingestion of fucoidan in male, yet not female subjects. Serum fucoidan levels were markedly increased following the ingestion of fucoidan and the peak levels ranged between 30 and 198 ng/ml. Tumor markers remained within the reference range during the trial period in subjects, in whom primary tumors were eradicated by treatment. The basal values of tumor markers were elevated in three cases; tumor markers were increased in two cases and decreased in one by the ingestion of fucoidan. These findings suggest that fucoidan enhances the activation of NK cells in male cancer survivors.

Brown seaweed is a common food for Asians, and the bioactive ingredient fucoxanthin exerts anti-apoptotic activities in several cell types. Renal tubu…

Brown seaweed is a common food for Asians, and the bioactive ingredient fucoxanthin exerts anti-apoptotic activities in several cell types. Renal tubu…

Fucoidan is a water-soluble, negatively charged, biologically active polysaccharide found in great abundance in brown marine algae. However, the inhib…

Background. Conventional anticancer therapies still cause difficulties with selective eradication and accompanying side effects that reduce patients’ quality of...

Fucoidan is a polysaccharide, which is derived from brown algae and some marine invertebrates, consisting mainly of L-fucose and sulfate ester groups [1]. Fucoidan is particularly found in the cell wall of marine brown algae. This polysaccharide is named as fucoidin when it is derived from the first marine brown algae. Kylin gave Fucoidin in 1913. However, this name has been changed to fucoidan according to IUPAC rules [2]. Fucoidan related different studies have performed in the literature [1,2]. It has different bioactivities such as anticoagulant, anti-thrombotic, antiinflammatory, antitumoral, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-hepatopathy, anti-uropathy, anti-inflammatory. These activities depend on the source of fucoidan samples taken from different species [1,2]. In addition, fucoidan is non-toxic or any adverse effects on the healthy tissues so that it can be used safety. There are many forms of fucoidan but the simplest molecular structure of fucoidan is obtained from Fucus vesiculosus consists mainly of 44.1% fucose, 26.3% sulphate and 31.1% ash and a small proportion of aminoglucose [3,4].

This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of fucoidan in ameliorating hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced oxidative stress to porcine intestinal epithelial cell line (IPEC-1). The cell viability test was initially performed to screen out appropriate concentrations of H2O2 and fucoidan. After that, cells were exposed to H2O2 in the presence or absence of pre-incubation with fucoidan. Hydrogen peroxide increased the apoptotic and necrotic rate, boosted reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and disturbed the transcriptional expression of genes associated with antioxidant defense and apoptosis in IPEC-1 cells. Pre-incubation with fucoidan inhibited the increases in necrosis and ROS accumulation induced by H2O2. Consistently, in the H2O2-treated IPEC-1 cells, fucoidan normalized the content of reduced glutathione as well as the mRNA abundance of NAD(P)H quinone dehydrogenase 1 and superoxide dismutase 1 while it prevented the overproduction of malondialdehyde. Moreover, H2O2 stimulated the translocation of nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor-2 to the nucleus of IPEC-1 cells, but this increase was further promoted by fucoidan pre-treatment. The results suggest that fucoidan is effective in protecting IPEC-1 cells against oxidative damage induced by H2O2, which may help in developing appropriate strategies for maintaining the intestinal health of young piglets.

Atherosclerosis (AS) is the key cause of many cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The inflammatory response and lipid metabolism disorders co…