Journal of Environmental Biology

Anti-inflammatory activities of methanol extracts from various seaweed species

Mohammed N.A. Khan¹, Jae Suk Choi¹, Min Chul Lee², Eliya Kim³, Taek Jeong Nam¹, Hitoshi Fujii² and Yong Ki Hong^*1

¹Faculty of Food Science and Biotechnology, and Institute of Fisheries Sciences, Pukyong National University,
Namku, Busan - 608-737, Korea
²Department of Computer Science and Electronics, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Iizuka, Fukuoka - 820-8502, Japan
³Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, B.C., V9R 5K6, Canada

(Received: March 13, 2007; Revised received: November 29, 2007; Accepted: December 05, 2007)

Abstract: Thirty-seven species of common seaweeds from the coast of Korea were screened for anti-inflammatory activity. Methanol extracts of the seaweeds were tested against mouse ear edema and erythema induced by phorbol myristate acetate. At 40 mg ml–1 of extract, edema was strongly suppressed by the seaweeds Undaria pinnatifida and Ulva linza, with relative inhibition of 85 and 84%, respectively. These two seaweeds also showed the greatest suppression of erythema, with inhibition of 78 and 70%, respectively. IC50 values of U. pinnatifida were 10, 15, and 18 mg ml–1 when inflammation symptoms of edema, erythema, and blood flow, respectively, were measured. The IC50 of U. linza was 20, 26, and 31 mg ml–1 when edema, erythema, and blood flow, respectively, were measured. A linear correlation among inhibition rates of edema, erythema, and blood flow was observed with high confidence.

Key words: Anti-inflammation, Seaweed, Ulva linza, Undaria pinnatifida

PDF of full length paper is available with author (ykhong@pknu.ac.kr)

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