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The consumption of seaweeds has increased in recent years. However, their adverse and beneficial effects have scarcely been studied. Two extracts from the brown seaweed Fucus vesiculosus containing 28.8% polyphenols or 18% polyphenols plus 0.0012% fucoxanthin have been obtained and studied to determine their toxicity in mice and rats and also their antioxidant activity. Both extracts were shown to lack any relevant toxic effects in an acute toxicity test following a 4 week daily treatment in rats. The extracts exhibited antioxidant activity in noncellular systems and in activated RAW 264.7 macrophages, as well as in ex vivo assays in plasma and erythrocytes, after the 4 week treatment in rats. Our ex vivo results indicated that compounds from extract 2 may be more easily absorbed and that the antioxidants in their parent or metabolized form are more active. These findings support the view that the daily consumption of F. vesiculosus extract 2 (Healsea) would have potential benefits to humans.

1 Red wine intake is associated with a low risk of cardiovascular disease. This e ect has been partly attributed to the action of polyphenolic compounds, which decrease the oxidation of plasma low density lipoproteins. Moreover, nitric oxide ( . NO) is a vasodilator and polyphenolic compounds induce endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation in vitro. 2 Here we studied whether a diet rich in dealcoholated red wine (DRW) increases acetylcholineinduced vasorelaxation and whether ingestion of DRW-, quercetin-or catechin-rich diets modi®es the . NO-cyclic guanosine-3',5'-monophosphate (cyclic GMP) pathway and superoxide anion (O 2 .7 ) release in aorta in a resting state in rats fed semi-puri®ed diets containing either 35% (v w 71 ) DRW, 0.3% (w w 71 ) quercetin or 0.3% (w w 71 ) catechin for 10 days. 3 . NO-mediated vasorelaxation induced by acetylcholine was greater in rats fed the DRW-rich diet than in those that received the control diet. 4 Expression of endothelial . NO synthase (eNOS) was similar in the four dietary groups. The aortic rings of rats fed either the DRW-, quercetin-, or catechin-rich diets showed higher NOS activity, . NO production and cyclic GMP content than those of rats fed the control diet. No changes were observed in O 2 .7 production. 5 In summary, diets rich in either DRW, quercetin or catechin induced endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation in rat aorta in a resting state through the enhancement of . NO production, without modifying O 2 .7 generation, thus the bioavailability of . NO was increased. The increase in the . NOcyclic GMP pathway explains the bene®cial e ect of¯avonoids at vascular level. British Journal of Pharmacology (2002) 135, 910 ± 916

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We found evidence for the role of the HIF-1alpha/NO system in fatty liver preservation, especially when IGL-1 solution is used.