Marine polyphenols: Structure, Biology and Potential Clinical Applications

A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2019) | Viewed by 8471

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neurosciences and Sensory Organs, Medical School, University of Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 11, I-70124 Bari, Italy
Interests: immunonutrition; polyphenols and probiotics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polyphenols are components of many plants, being mostly distributed in fruits, vegetables and cereals. These compounds possess anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties, and, for this reason, they have been used in inflammatory animal models or in clinical trials. Despite intensive investigation on terrestrial polyphenols, marine polyhenols have been less explored. While algae are commonly consumed in Asia as a food, in Western countries their use is very scarce. Therefore, consumption of polyphenols from marina algae could provide health benefits to obese people, whose numbers have increased tremendously in Europe and America. Moreover, their dietary use can also be extended to patients with chronic inflammatory disease, even including bowel disease. Therefore, these compounds or their structural analogs have the potential to be used as nutraceuticals in different clinical settings.

On these bases, the aims of the proposed Special Issue will be to illustrate marine polyphenols from three different points of view: (1) Description of the chemical structures of marine flavonoids and their comparison with terrestrial polyphenols, e.g., flavonoids from green tea, red grape, berry, cocoa, etc.; (2) description of their effects on in vitro models with special reference to the immune response; and (3) the effects of marine polyphenols on in vivo models or in clinical trials in terms of their anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative capacities.

This Special Issue will be structured in a way to encompass both biological and clinical applications of marine polyphenols and should attract many readers. It may also promote knowledge of these natural products, even among people from geographic areas where polyphenols are assumed through fruits, vegetables and cereals. Given this, new studies based on the comparison between terrestrial and marine polyphenols in terms of their structure and clinical application may be generated, thus giving new impetus to this field of research.

Prof. Emilio Jirillo
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

23 pages, 1292 KiB  
Article
Optimization of Phlorotannins Extraction from Fucus vesiculosus and Evaluation of Their Potential to Prevent Metabolic Disorders
by Marcelo D. Catarino, Artur M. S. Silva, Nuno Mateus and Susana M. Cardoso
Mar. Drugs 2019, 17(3), 162; https://doi.org/10.3390/md17030162 - 8 Mar 2019
Cited by 110 | Viewed by 7720
Abstract
Phlorotannins are phloroglucinol-based phenolic compounds, occurring particularly in brown macroalgae, that have been recognized for their promising bioactive properties. In this study, the extraction of phlorotannins from Fucus vesiculosus was evaluated with particular emphasis on the influential parameters, including the solvent concentration, solvent-solid [...] Read more.
Phlorotannins are phloroglucinol-based phenolic compounds, occurring particularly in brown macroalgae, that have been recognized for their promising bioactive properties. In this study, the extraction of phlorotannins from Fucus vesiculosus was evaluated with particular emphasis on the influential parameters, including the solvent concentration, solvent-solid ratio, extraction temperature and extraction time, using a single-factor design followed by a Box-Behnken design. The maximum total phlorotannin content, determined using the 2,4-dimethoxybenzaldehyde (DMBA) method, corresponded to 2.92 ± 0.05 mg of phloroglucinol equivalents/g dry seaweed (mg PGE/g DS), and was achieved for extracts carried out with acetone 67% (v/v), a solvent-solid ratio of 70 mL/g and temperature at 25 °C. This crude extract, together with a semi-purified phlorotannin fraction, were further evaluated for their anti-enzymatic capacity against α-glucosidase, α-amylase and pancreatic lipase, both showing promising inhibitory effects, particularly against α-glucosidase for which a greater inhibitory effect was observed compared to the pharmaceutical drug acarbose (IC50 = 4.5 ± 0.8 and 0.82 ± 0.3 μg/mL, respectively, against 206.6 ± 25.1 μg/mL). Additionally, the ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS) analysis carried out on the ethyl acetate fraction revealed the presence of fucols, fucophlorethols, fuhalols and several other phlorotannin derivatives. Moreover, possible new phlorotannin compounds, including fucofurodiphlorethol, fucofurotriphlorethol and fucofuropentaphlorethol, have been tentatively identified in this extract. Overall, this study provides evidence that F. vesiculosus phlorotannin-rich extracts hold potential for the management of the activity of α-glucosidase, α-amylase and pancreatic lipase, which are well known to be linked to metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity. Full article
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