Neuroprotective effect of fucoidan from Turbinaria decurrens in MPTP intoxicated Parkinsonic mice

• Fucoidan is a sulfated polysaccharide, with a wide pharmacological activity without any side effects. It is the main ingredient in the food supplements.
• Brown algae are the only source for the isolation of the fucoidan than any other terrestrial or marine source.
• Fucoidan inhibit A-beta accumulation within microglia through multiple scavenger receptors which release the proinflammatory proteins, such as TNF-alpha, or nitric oxide.
• Higher protein expression levels of TH and DAT was observed in fucoidan T. decurrens administred group.

Fucoidan is one of the dominant sulfated polysaccharide which was extracted from the brown seaweed Turbinaria decurrens. In the behavioral study mice treated with fucoidan showed better response than the MPTP treated mice. Antioxidants and dopamine level has been increased in the fucoidan treated mice when compared to MPTP induced mice. In Immunohistochemistry, the increase of TH positive cells in the fucoidan treated group is correlated with the TH protein levels in substantia nigra and corpus striatum. The increase is greater than the content of dopamine and DOPAC, which may be explained that the dopaminergic terminals are more sensitive to MPTP toxicity and therefore are more severely damaged than the dopaminergic cell bodies. In immunoblotting TH and DAT was used, both the antibodies expression in MPTP was reduced and reversed in other groups. From the results it was conformed that the fucoidan has a neuroprotective effect without any side effects.

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