Osteoporosis has been reported as a hidden death factor in aged people. So far, prevention and treatment therapies for osteoporosis only slow down the progress but do not treat the disease. Fucoidan has been recognized its roles in anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-coagulant and antiviral activities. To date, low molecular weight (LMW) fucoidan role in bone loss disease has been not determined yet. Therefore, this study aims to figure out potential effects of LMW fucoidan in osteoporosis in vitro and in vivo. LMW fucoidan was extracted from fresh Sargassum hemiphyllum showing a significant increase in 7F2 cell viability to 150.33 ± 6.50 % relative to normal fucoidan (130.12 ± 5.74 %). The expression of level BMP-2, ALP, osteocalcin significantly increased with 2.28 ± 0.06, 2.18 ± 0.12 and 2.06 ± 0.07 fold, respectively. The RT-PCR assay showed that LMW fucoidan increased mRNA expression of BMP-2, ALP, osteocalcin, COL I, BSP and osteonectin. Furthermore, the bone density and bone ash weight were considerably boosted by the oral administration of280 mg/kg LMW fucoidan and 100 mg/kg calcium carbonate in C57BL/6J female aged mice. The present finding indicated that LMW fucoidan triggered osteogenic differentiation in vitro, and had an anabolic effect on bone mineralization in vivo. Dietary intake of LMW fucoidan from S. hemiphyllum suggested playing a role in the enhancement of bone loss with increasing age.

Sargassum hemiphyllum is a common plant found on the coasts of Taiwan; it has been used as an anti-inflammatory agent in traditional herbal medicine. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of S. hemiphyllum sulfated polysaccharide (SHSP) using two different mouse models. In both arachidonic acid-induced ear inflammatory gavage and paint models, SHSP decreased ear swelling and erythema. In addition, SHSP decreased the production of myeloperoxidase, nitric oxide, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α in a dose-dependent manner. Histological examination results showed that SHSP reduced the area of neutrophilic infiltration in inflamed ears. The anti-inflammatory activity of SHSP has already been demonstrated in vitro. In this study, SHSP extracted from the same species of brown seaweed exhibited anti-inflammatory activity in both oral and topical applications in vivo. Therefore, SHSP may play a role in the treatment of inflammatory diseases.

Diabetes is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases globally. In this study, major polyphenols (17.35 ± 0.93-36.66 ± 2.01 mg/g) and minor fucoxanthin (non detected 15.12 ± 0.09 mg/g) were isolated from water, ethanol, and acetone extracts (WES, EES, and AES, respectively) of Sargassum hemiphyllum. Inhibition of α-amylase, α-glucosidase, sucrose, and maltase activities and stimulation of insulin secretion was greater with AES than with WES or EES and correlated with polyphenol and fucoxanthin concentrations in extracts. Moreover, 250 μg/ml EES and AES significantly increased insulin secretion in the presence of 25 mg/ml glibenclamide to higher levels than those obtained with 50 mg/ml glibenclamide. None of the extracts exhibited cytotoxicity, exacerbated the side effects of glibenclamide, or inhibited glibenclamide-induced insulin secretion. These results suggested that the S. hemiphyllum extracts WES, EES, and AES could be used as pharmaceuticals and functional foods to reduce dosages of synthetic diabetes drugs.

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