Immunomodulatory properties of polysaccharides from Baltic Sea macroalgae

Ulrikh E.V.; Novozhilov O.A.; Agafonova S.V.; Zemlyakova E.S.; Klyuchko N.Yu.; Obregón-La Rosa A.J.; Kachanova A.V.; Fedorova O.S. · Siberian Journal of Life Sciences and Agriculture (2026) · DOI: 10.12731/2658-6649-2026-18-1-1385

Resumen

Background. The physiological properties of biologically active polysaccharides in macroalgae are extremely diverse. Macroalgae polysaccharides have valuable anti-inflammatory and immunomodulating properties. Purpose. To study the immunomodulating ability of the polysaccharides of macroalgae of the Baltic Sea – Fucus vesiculosus и Furcellaria lumbrifera. Materials and methods. Samples of algae Furcellaria lumbricalis and Fucus vesiculosus were collected on the coast of the Baltic Sea in the period from April 01 to April 30, 2025 (Curonian Bay, Kaliningrad region, Russia), air-dried, finished drying at 40°C in a desiccator, and crushed. The extraction was performed using dilute mineral acids, an alkali, and water. After extraction was complete, the hot solution was filtered under vacuum through gauze. Then, ice-cold isopropyl alcohol was added to the liquid phase of the extract to precipitate the polysaccharides, which were subsequently dried in a desiccator. The anti-inflammatory properties of endo-and exopolysaccharides were determined using a solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method with a Mindray MR-96A ELISA analyzer. The anti-inflammatory properties were evaluated using the cytokines IL-1β and TNF-α. Twenty microliters of supernatant and 80 μL of RPMI-1640 nutrient medium were used per well for each sample to determine IL-1β content. To determine TNF-α content, 100 microliters of supernatant were used per well for each sample. The Statistica 7.0 application program package (StatSoft, USA) was used for statistical processing of the data. Results. Polysaccharides Fucus-G, Fucus-M, Fucus-D, and Fucus-B, which were isolated from the macroalgae F. vesiculosus, were found to inhibit the production of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β compared to the negative control. The IL-1β content decreased to 350.74±14.49, 402.69±14.22, 402.12±21.48, and 401.78±19.82 pg/mL, respectively, for F. vesiculosus. The highest amount of cytokines for F. vesiculosus was produced by Fucus-A, Fucus-E and Fucus-B polysaccharide samples (420.36±21.01, 414.69±20.80 and 415.78±19.95 pg/mL, respectively). For the macroalgae F. lumbrifera, the polysaccharide samples Furcus-G, Furcus-E, Furcus-M, Furcus-B and Furcus-B inhibited cytokine production (402.26±19.77, 403.03±21.14, 409.65±20.95, 402.65±20.61 and 401.33±19.82 pg/mL, respectively). It was found that Furz-A and Furz-D polysaccharide samples for F. lumbrifera macroinvertebrates produced the highest amount of IL-1β cytokines (419.37±20.59 and 421.47±19.82 pg/mL, respectively). It was shown that the studied samples of polysaccharides were characterized by the absence of statistically significant inhibitory or stimulating effect on the production of cytokine TNF-α in the reaction medium by monoclears after their addition at a concentration of 20 μg/ml. It was found that in the presence of Fukus-A and Fukus-E, Furz-A and Furz-E samples the content of cytokine TNF-α was the highest and amounted to 36.87±1.89, 32.81±1.94, 35.19±0.15 and 32.51±1.91 pg/mL, respectively. The content of TNF-α cytokine when using Fucus-M and Fucus-B polysaccharide samples practically did not change in comparison with the negative control. Conclusion. Thus, it is revealed that polysaccharide samples isolated from macroalgae exhibit an anti-inflammatory effect. These samples can be recommended as ingredients or pharmaceutical substances for the production of dietary supplements or immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory drugs.