Marine Functional Foods

A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine-Derived Ingredients for Drugs, Cosmeceuticals and Nutraceuticals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 7670

Special Issue Editors

College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, No.1299, SanSa Road, Qingdao 266000, China
Interests: functional food; proteins; peptides; gelatin
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Guest Editor
Yunnan Institute of Food Safety, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan, China
Interests: polysaccharides; peptide; natural products; function foods; Phenolic acids; antioxidant agents and mechanisms; structure-activity relationships
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,                

In recent years, bioactive substances generated from various marine organisms have attracted wide attention due to their diverse chemical structures and bioactivities, including antioxidant, immune-modulating, angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory, hypotensive, hypolipidemic, antiviral, cytotoxic, neurotoxic, anticoagulant, antifreeze, etc. Moreover, bioactive substances can serve as additional functional components used in functional foods, formula foods, nutraceuticals, and pharmaceuticals.

This Special Issue on “Marine Functional Foods” aims to collect papers on up-to-date information regarding the preparation, structural identification, activity and functional evaluation, and application of marine bioactive substances. Furthermore, we would like to make use of these bioactive substances to create functional foods and formula food with good flavor properties, ease of consumption, and nutritional/health benefits.

Dr. Hu Hou
Prof. Dr. Yongliang Zhuang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Marine Drugs is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • marine peptides
  • bioactive substances
  • biotechnological production
  • structure identification
  • structural modification
  • bioactivity and function
  • structure–function relationship
  • bioavailability
  • nutritional value
  • functional foods
  • application

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 6241 KiB  
Article
Chitotriose Enhanced Antitumor Activity of Doxorubicin through Egr1 Upregulation in MDA-MB-231 Cells
by Heng Li, Ke Ji, Peng Liu, Yan Geng, Jinsong Gong, Chao Zhang, Zhenzhong Ding, Zhenghong Xu and Jinsong Shi
Mar. Drugs 2024, 22(1), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/md22010026 - 29 Dec 2023
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Abstract
Dietary supplementation is proposed as a strategy to reduce the side effects of conventional chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Chitosan oligosaccharides (COS), a functional carbohydrate, have been identified to potentially inhibit cancer cell proliferation. However, a detailed investigation is required to fully [...] Read more.
Dietary supplementation is proposed as a strategy to reduce the side effects of conventional chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Chitosan oligosaccharides (COS), a functional carbohydrate, have been identified to potentially inhibit cancer cell proliferation. However, a detailed investigation is required to fully understand its exact influence, particularly in terms of COS composition. The antitumor activities of COS oligomers and its monomer of glucosamine, when combined with doxorubicin separately, were evaluated in MDA-MB-231 cells. Chitotriose was identified to have the most significant synergistic effect. Preincubation with chitotriose was observed to promote the entry of doxorubicin into the cell nuclei and induce morphological changes in the cells. Mechanism analysis at the transcriptional level revealed that the early growth response 1 (Egr1) gene was a key regulator in enhancing the suppressive effect. This gene was found to modulate the activity of its downstream gene, growth arrest, and DNA damage-inducible alpha (Gadd45a). The role of Egr1 was confirmed through a small interfering RNA test and function assay. These findings provide insight into the effect and underlying mechanism of chitotriose supplementation for TNBC therapy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Functional Foods)
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22 pages, 1890 KiB  
Article
Organic Synthesis of New Secosteroids from Fucosterol, Its Intestinal Absorption by Caco-2 Cells, and Simulation of the Biological Activities of Vitamin D
by Shiro Komba, Megumi Hase and Eiichi Kotake-Nara
Mar. Drugs 2023, 21(10), 540; https://doi.org/10.3390/md21100540 - 17 Oct 2023
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Abstract
We previously examined the cellular uptake of six types of vitamin D in human intestinal Caco-2 cells. Since vitamins D5–D7 were commercially unavailable, we synthesized these compounds organically before studying them. This process led us to understand that new secosteroids [...] Read more.
We previously examined the cellular uptake of six types of vitamin D in human intestinal Caco-2 cells. Since vitamins D5–D7 were commercially unavailable, we synthesized these compounds organically before studying them. This process led us to understand that new secosteroids could be generated as vitamin D candidates, depending on the sterol used as the starting material. We obtained two new secosteroids—compounds 3 and 4—from fucosterol in the current study. We investigated the intestinal absorption of these compounds using Caco-2 cells cultured in Transwells and compared the results with vitamin D3, a representative secosteroid. The intestinal absorption of compound 4 was comparable to that of vitamin D3. Compound 3 showed similar uptake levels but transported about half as much as vitamin D3. These compounds demonstrated intestinal absorption at the cellular level. Vitamin D is known for its diverse biological activities manifest after intestinal absorption. Using PASS online simulation, we estimated the biological activity of compound 3’s activated form. In several items indicated by PASS, compound 3 exhibited stronger biological activity than vitamins D2–D7 and was also predicted to have unique biological activities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Functional Foods)
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20 pages, 7049 KiB  
Article
Anti-Osteoarthritic Effects of Antarctic Krill Oil in Primary Chondrocytes and a Surgical Rat Model of Knee Osteoarthritis
by Sae-Kwang Ku, Jong-Kyu Kim, Yoon-Seok Chun and Chang-Hyun Song
Mar. Drugs 2023, 21(10), 513; https://doi.org/10.3390/md21100513 - 28 Sep 2023
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Abstract
Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by progressive cartilage destruction and synovitis; however, there are no approved disease-modifying OA drugs. Krill oil (KO) has been reported to possess anti-inflammatory properties and alleviate joint pain in knee OA, indicating its potential to target the inflammatory mechanism [...] Read more.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by progressive cartilage destruction and synovitis; however, there are no approved disease-modifying OA drugs. Krill oil (KO) has been reported to possess anti-inflammatory properties and alleviate joint pain in knee OA, indicating its potential to target the inflammatory mechanism of OA. Therefore, the anti-OA effects of KO were investigated in primary chondrocytes and a surgical rat model of knee OA. The oral administration of KO at 200 and 100 mg/kg for 8 weeks improved joint swelling and mobility in the animal model and led to increased bone mineral density and compressive strength in the cartilage. The oral KO doses upregulated chondrogenic genes (type 2 collagen, aggrecan, and Sox9), with inhibition of inflammation markers (5-lipoxygenase and prostaglandin E2) and extracellular matrix (ECM)-degrading enzymes (MMP-2 and MMP-9) in the cartilage and synovium. Consistently, KO treatments increased the viability of chondrocytes exposed to interleukin 1α, accompanied by the upregulation of the chondrogenic genes and the inhibition of the ECM-degrading enzymes. Furthermore, KO demonstrated inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide-induced chondrocyte inflammation. Histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses revealed that KO improved joint destruction and synovial inflammation, probably due to the anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and chondrogenic effects. These findings suggest the therapeutic potential of KO for knee OA. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Functional Foods)
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17 pages, 14900 KiB  
Article
Comparison of the Effect of Phospholipid Extracts from Salmon and Silver Carp Heads on High-Fat-Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome in C57BL/6J Mice
by Qi Wang, Rui Wang, Xiuju Zhao, Hongyan Lu, Peng Zhang, Xinjie Dong and Yuming Wang
Mar. Drugs 2023, 21(7), 409; https://doi.org/10.3390/md21070409 - 19 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1392
Abstract
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a global health problem, and EPA/DHA-enriched phospholipids (EPA/DHA-PLs) have been found to have positive effects on MetS improvement. Currently, research on EPA/DHA-PL mainly focuses on special and rare seafood, such as phospholipids derived from krill, sea cucumber, squid, and [...] Read more.
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a global health problem, and EPA/DHA-enriched phospholipids (EPA/DHA-PLs) have been found to have positive effects on MetS improvement. Currently, research on EPA/DHA-PL mainly focuses on special and rare seafood, such as phospholipids derived from krill, sea cucumber, squid, and fish roe. However, it has been recently demonstrated that abundant EPA/DHA-PL can also be found in bulk fish and its by-products. Nonetheless, there is still limited research on the biological activities of EPA/DHA-PL derived from these sources. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of phospholipid extracts from the heads of salmon and silver carp (S-PLE and SC-PLE) on the high-fat-diet-induced MetS in C57/BL mice. After an 8-week intervention, both SC-PLE and S-PLE had a significant ameliorating effect on MetS. Moreover, SC-PLE was more effective than S-PLE in reducing liver inflammation and fasting glucose. Both of the PL extracts were able to regulate the expression of key genes in lipid synthesis, fatty acid β-oxidation, and insulin signaling pathways. Compared with S-PLE, dietary SC-PLE had a greater influence on liver metabolomics. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that the differential metabolites of SC-PLE were mainly involved in arachidonic acid metabolism and glutathione metabolism. The results indicated that the different metabolic regulation methods of S-PLE and SC-PLE could be related to their variant molecular composition in EPA/DHA-PL. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Functional Foods)
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Review

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18 pages, 2582 KiB  
Review
The Structure, Functions and Potential Medicinal Effects of Chlorophylls Derived from Microalgae
by Danni Sun, Songlin Wu, Xiaohui Li, Baosheng Ge, Chengxu Zhou, Xiaojun Yan, Roger Ruan and Pengfei Cheng
Mar. Drugs 2024, 22(2), 65; https://doi.org/10.3390/md22020065 - 27 Jan 2024
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Abstract
Microalgae are considered to be natural producers of bioactive pigments, with the production of pigments from microalgae being a sustainable and economical strategy that promises to alleviate growing demand. Chlorophyll, as the main pigment of photosynthesis, has been widely studied, but its medicinal [...] Read more.
Microalgae are considered to be natural producers of bioactive pigments, with the production of pigments from microalgae being a sustainable and economical strategy that promises to alleviate growing demand. Chlorophyll, as the main pigment of photosynthesis, has been widely studied, but its medicinal applications as an antioxidant, antibacterial, and antitumor reagent are still poorly understood. Chlorophyll is the most important pigment in plants and algae, which not only provides food for organisms throughout the biosphere, but also plays an important role in a variety of human and man-made applications. The biological activity of chlorophyll is closely related to its chemical structure; its specific structure offers the possibility for its medicinal applications. This paper reviews the structural and functional roles of microalgal chlorophylls, commonly used extraction methods, and recent advances in medicine, to provide a theoretical basis for the standardization and commercial production and application of chlorophylls. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Functional Foods)
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