Brown-Algae Polysaccharides as Active Constituents against Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Abstract

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a metabolic disorder characterized by lipid overloading in hepatocytes that can progress pathogenically and even end in hepatocellular carcinoma. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease pharmacological treatment is still limited by unwanted side effects, whereas the use of food components with therapeutic potential is advisable. The culinary use of marine algae is traditional for some populations and reviving worldwide, with promising health outcomes due to the large number of bioactive compounds found in seaweeds. The present review focuses on brown-algae polysaccharides, particularly fucoidan, alginate, and laminarin, and summarizes the experimental evidence of their potential effects against nonalcoholic fatty liver disease onset and progression. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrate that brown-algae polysaccharides exert beneficial actions on satiety feeling, caloric intake, fat absorption, and modulation of the gut microbiota, which could account for indirect effects on energy and lipid homeostasis, thus diminishing the fat overload in the liver. Specific effects against nonalcoholic fatty liver disease pathogenesis and worsening are also described and sustained by the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antisteatotic properties of brown-algae polysaccharides. Further studies are required to clarify the mechanism of action of brown-algae polysaccharides on liver cells, to determine the composition and bioavailability of brown-algae polysaccharides present in different algal sources and to probe the clinical availability of these compounds in the form of algal foods, food supplements, and regulated therapeutics.

Antioxidant and Antisteatotic Activities of a New Fucoidan Extracted from Ferula hermonis Roots Harvested on Lebanese Mountains

“…Apart from dietary and lifestyle interventions, there is still a lack of therapies for NAFLD, and research is addressed to discover new natural compounds able to counteract NAFLD onset and progression, possibly without the side effects of synthetic drugs. The literature about algae as nutritional and functional food sources, is extremely rich [ 33 ] and FUs from different seaweeds are the most extensively studied algal polysaccharides in relation to NAFLD, showing efficacy both in in vivo and in vitro experimental models, as we recently reviewed [ 34 ].…”

Intervention Study of Dictyophora Polysaccharides on Arsenic-Induced Liver Fibrosis in SD Rats

“…Research has established that the pectic polysaccharides of Momordica charantia could inhibit the oxidative stress of liver cells induced by sodium arsenite [ 10 ]. Besides, numerous studies have demonstrated that polysaccharides regulate immunity and protect the liver [ 11 , 12 ]. Hence, our study explored effective and side effect-free hepatoprotective regimens from natural active products to manage chronic As poisoning.…”

Optimization of Porphyran Extraction from Pyropia yezoensis by Response Surface Methodology and Its Lipid-Lowering Effects

“…PPYP derived from PYP was analyzed; it was a β-type sulfated hetero-rhamnogalactan-pyranose with medium molecular weight. Accumulating evidence demonstrates that bioactive polysaccharides inhibit diet-induced metabolic disease by inhibiting lipid accumulation, including NAFLD [41] and obesity [42]. We noted that high-caloric diets easily promoted lipid accumulation, and subsequently led to the development of metabolic diseases.…”