Antioxidative, Anticholinesterase and Anti-Neuroinflammatory Properties of Malaysian Brown and Green Seaweeds

Diminished antioxidant defense or increased
production of reactive oxygen species in the biological system can
result in oxidative stress which may lead to various
neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Microglial activation also contributes to the progression of AD by
producing several proinflammatory cytokines, nitric oxide (NO) and
prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). Oxidative stress and inflammation have
been reported to be possible pathophysiological mechanisms
underlying AD. In addition, the cholinergic hypothesis postulates that
memory impairment in patient with AD is also associated with the
deficit of cholinergic function in the brain. Although a number of
drugs have been approved for the treatment of AD, most of these
synthetic drugs have diverse side effects and yield relatively modest
benefits. Marine algae have great potential in pharmaceutical and
biomedical applications as they are valuable sources of bioactive
properties such as anticoagulation, antimicrobial, antioxidative,
anticancer and anti-inflammatory. Hence, this study aimed to provide
an overview of the properties of Malaysian seaweeds (Padina
australis, Sargassum polycystum and Caulerpa racemosa) in
inhibiting oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and cholinesterase
enzymes. These seaweeds significantly exhibited potent DPPH and
moderate superoxide anion radical scavenging ability (P<0.05).
Hexane and methanol extracts of S. polycystum exhibited the most
potent radical scavenging ability with IC50 values of
0.157±0.004mg/ml and 0.849±0.02mg/ml for DPPH and ABTS
assays, respectively. Hexane extract of C. racemosa gave the
strongest superoxide radical inhibitory effect (IC50 of
0.386±0.01mg/ml). Most seaweed extracts significantly inhibited the
production of cytokine (IL-6, IL-1 β, TNFα) and NO in a
concentration-dependent manner without causing significant
cytotoxicity to the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated microglia
cells (P<0.05). All extracts suppressed cytokine and NO level by
more than 50% at the concentration of 0.4mg/ml. In addition, C.
racemosa and S. polycystum also showed anti-acetylcholinesterase
activities with the IC50 values ranging from 0.086-0.115 mg/ml.
Moreover, C. racemosa and P. australis were also found to be active
against butyrylcholinesterase with IC50 values ranging from 0.118-
0.287 mg/ml.

• Siti Aisya Gany
• Swee Ching Tan
• Sook Yee Gan

• Anticholinesterase
• antioxidative
• neuroinflammation
• seaweeds.

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