In Vitro Evaluation of Antioxidant Potential of the Invasive Seagrass Halophila stipulacea

Abstract

Marine organisms with fast growth rates and great biological adaptive capacity might have biotechnological interests, since ecological competitiveness might rely on enhanced physiological or biochemical processes’ capability promoting protection, defense, or repair intracellular damages. The invasive seagrass Halophila stipulacea, a non-indigenous species widespread in the Mediterranean Sea, belongs to this category. This is the premise to investigate the biotechnological interest of this species. In this study, we investigated the antioxidant activity in vitro, both in scavenging reactive oxygen species and in repairing damages from oxidative stress on the fibroblast human cell line WI-38. Together with the biochemical analysis, the antioxidant activity was characterized by the study of the expression of oxidative stress gene in WI-38 cells in presence or absence of the H. stipulacea extract. Concomitantly, the pigment pool of the extracts, as well as their macromolecular composition was characterized. This study was done separately on mature and young leaves. Results indicated that mature leaves exerted a great activity in scavenging reactive oxygen species and repairing damages from oxidative stress in the WI-38 cell line. This activity was paralleled to an enhanced carotenoids content in the mature leaf extracts and a higher carbohydrate contribution to organic matter. Our results suggest a potential of the old leaves of H. stipulacea as oxidative stress damage protecting or repair agents in fibroblast cell lines. This study paves the way to transmute the invasive H. stipulacea environmental threat in goods for human health.

Antioxidant, antimicrobial and analgesic activities of the invasive seagrass Halophila stipulacea leaf and stem extracts

“…The DPPH scavenging effect for EL extract was greatly increased at the concentration of 1 mg/mL (83 %) compared with the concentration of 0.03 mg/mL (48%). This activity is much higher than results reported from other seagrasses (Kannan et al 2012;Jeyapragash et al 2016) and likely similar than those reported for Halophila stipulacea and Halophila ovalis (Yuvaraj et al 2012;Sansone et al 2021).…”

A Comprehensive Update on the Bioactive Compounds from Seagrasses

“…Old leaf extracts of H. stipulacea induced a 3.9-fold up-regulation of the CYBB gene and the down-regulation of EPHX2 (19-fold), EPX (2-fold), MBL2 (11.6-fold), MPO (6.9-fold), and SPINK1 (10-fold) genes in WI-38 cells treated with 10 mM of H 2 O 2 . It is indicated that the oxidative stress response was not activated when cells were treated with H. stipulacea [ 41 ]. Moreover, WI-38 cells pre-treated with old leaf extracts of H. stipulacea before an injury with 10 mM of H 2 O 2 exhibited an up-regulation of genes involved in the antioxidant cell response, such as glutathione peroxidase 5/GPX5 (2.3-fold), keratin 1/KRT1 (2.2-fold), lactoperoxidase/LPO (2.6-fold), metallothionein 3/MT3 (2.0-fold), NADPH oxidase 5/NOX5 (2.8-fold), and thyroid peroxidase/TPO (2.3-fold) [ 41 ].…”

“…It is indicated that the oxidative stress response was not activated when cells were treated with H. stipulacea [ 41 ]. Moreover, WI-38 cells pre-treated with old leaf extracts of H. stipulacea before an injury with 10 mM of H 2 O 2 exhibited an up-regulation of genes involved in the antioxidant cell response, such as glutathione peroxidase 5/GPX5 (2.3-fold), keratin 1/KRT1 (2.2-fold), lactoperoxidase/LPO (2.6-fold), metallothionein 3/MT3 (2.0-fold), NADPH oxidase 5/NOX5 (2.8-fold), and thyroid peroxidase/TPO (2.3-fold) [ 41 ]. A recent comparative study between Z. marina and Z. notei ethyl acetate extracts displayed the antioxidant activity of both extracts ascribed in Z. marina fraction to rosmarinic acid.…”

New insight on antioxidants and anti-obesity properties of two seagrasses Thalassia hemprichii and Zostera marina: an integrated molecular docking simulation with in vitro study

“…10 However, seagrass has a lot of potential such as its high level of antioxidants. 11 Apart from the potential waste and bioactive effects on the life of marine organisms, seagrass has several nutritional and pharmacological benefits that are sometimes overlooked. Seagrass is an important natural biological source of metabolites with diverse bioactivity.…”