The Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Algae-Derived Lipid Extracts on Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-Stimulated Human THP-1 Macrophages

Marine Drugs

Ruairi C. Robertson⁴  Freddy Guihéneuf³  Bojlul Bahar²  Matthias Schmid³  Dagmar B. Stengel³  Gerald F. Fitzgerald¹  R. Paul Ross⁵  Catherine Stanton⁴ 

[1] School of Microbiology, University College Cork, Co. Cork, Ireland; E-Mail:;School of Agriculture and Food Science, Institute of Food & Health, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland; E-Mail:;Botany and Plant Science, School of Natural Sciences, Ryan Institute for Environmental, Marine and Energy Research, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland; E-Mails:;Biosciences Department, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland; E-Mail:;APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Co. Cork, Ireland; E-Mail:

关键词: microalgae;    macroalgae;    THP-1;    inflammation;    lipids;    n-3 PUFA;    polyunsaturated fatty acids;    macrophages;    chlorophyll a;    bioactive pigments;   

DOI  :  10.3390/md13085402

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Algae contain a number of anti-inflammatory bioactive compounds such as omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) and chlorophyll a, hence as dietary ingredients, their extracts may be effective in chronic inflammation-linked metabolic diseases such as cardiovascular disease. In this study, anti-inflammatory potential of lipid extracts from three red seaweeds (Porphyra dioica, Palmaria palmata and Chondrus crispus) and one microalga (Pavlova lutheri) were assessed in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated human THP-1 macrophages. Extracts contained 34%–42% total fatty acids as n-3 PUFA and 5%–7% crude extract as pigments, including chlorophyll a, β-carotene and fucoxanthin. Pretreatment of the THP-1 cells with lipid extract from P. palmata inhibited production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-6 (p < 0.05) and IL-8 (p < 0.05) while that of P. lutheri inhibited IL-6 (p < 0.01) production. Quantitative gene expression analysis of a panel of 92 genes linked to inflammatory signaling pathway revealed down-regulation of the expression of 14 pro-inflammatory genes (TLR1, TLR2, TLR4, TLR8, TRAF5, TRAF6, TNFSF18, IL6R, IL23, CCR1, CCR4, CCL17, STAT3, MAP3K1) by the lipid extracts. The lipid extracts effectively inhibited the LPS-induced pro-inflammatory signaling pathways mediated via toll-like receptors, chemokines and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) signaling molecules. These results suggest that lipid extracts from P. lutheri, P. palmata, P. dioica and C. crispus can inhibit LPS-induced inflammatory pathways in human macrophages. Therefore, algal lipid extracts should be further explored as anti-inflammatory ingredients for chronic inflammation-linked metabolic diseases.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.