Pharmacokinetics of fucoxanthinol in human plasma after the oral administration of kombu extract

Abstract

Dietary fucoxanthin has been reported to exert several physiological functions, and fucoxanthinol is considered to be the primary active metabolite of fucoxanthin. However, there is no information about the pharmacokinetics of fucoxanthinol in human subjects. In the present study, eighteen human volunteers were orally administered kombu extract containing 31 mg fucoxanthin, and their peripheral blood was collected 5 min before and 0·5, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 24 h after the treatment. Plasma fucoxanthinol concentrations were measured by HPLC, and the pharmacokinetics of fucoxanthinol were as follows: maximum concentration, 44·2 nmol/l; time at maximum concentration, 4 h; terminal half-time, 7·0 h; area under the curve (AUC) for 1 -24 h, 578·7 nmol/l £ h; AUC (1) , 663·7 nmol/l £ h. In addition to fucoxanthinol, we also attempted to detect amarouciaxanthin A, a hepatic metabolite of fucoxanthinol, using HPLC, but it was not present in the volunteers' plasma. On the other hand, a peak that was suspected to represent the cis-isomer of fucoxanthinol was found in the HPLC chromatogram. By comparing the present results with those of a previous study using mice, we found that the bioavailability and metabolism of fucoxanthinol differ between human subjects and mice.

Anticancer effects of fucoxanthin and fucoxanthinol on colorectal cancer cell lines and colorectal cancer tissues

“…It has been reported that fucoxanthinol and another metabolite of fucoxanthin, amarouciaxanthin A, are accumulated in a number of tissues, such as the liver, adipose tissue and large intestine of mice (15,16). Furthermore, fucoxanthinol has been detected in the serum of human subjects following ingestion of brown seaweed lipids (17).…”

Antitumor and Cancer-preventative Function of Fucoxanthin: A Marine Carotenoid

“…In humans, dietary fucoxanthin is mainly metabolized to fucoxanthinol, the deacetylated form of fucoxanthin (4,5), and which is considered to be an active form of fucoxanthin. The chemical structure of fucoxanthin and fucoxanthinol is shown in Figure 1.…”

Lysoglyceroglycolipids Improve the Intestinal Absorption of Micellar Fucoxanthin by Caco-2 Cells

“…After ingestion of kombu extract containing 31 mg fucoxanthin , the human plasma concentration of fucoxanthinol was 44.2 nM 4 , but it was lower than those of β-carotene 3 , lutein 3 , and β-carotene 5,6-epoxide 5 . Although the mechanism underlying the low bioavailability of fucoxanthin has not yet been clarified, it could be caused by the steps following the solubilization.…”