The efficacy and function of seaweed polysaccharides

Seaweed polysaccharides can regulate people's immune system because they can stimulate various immune functions. At the same time, they also have the effect of enhancing human health and improving maturity. At the same time, they can also play an anti-viral and anti-toxin role. They also have antioxidant effects, can phagocytize cells themselves and other cells, and can regulate various functions of the body. Therefore, their usual efficacy and value are very high.

Physiological function: Immunomodulatory effect ① Regulation of immune cells and cytokines. Seaweed polysaccharides can stimulate the differentiation, maturation and reproduction of various immune active cells (such as macrophages, T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, etc.), thereby restoring and strengthening the body's immune system. ②Effect on the complement system. Excessive complement activation will not only consume a large amount of complement components, resulting in a decrease in the body's anti-infection ability, but also produce a large amount of biologically active substances during the activation process, causing the body to have excessive inflammatory responses and cause damage to its own tissues and cells. Kelp water-soluble polysaccharides have a certain effect on complement bypass.

Most antiviral seaweed polysaccharides contain sulfate groups, and the antiviral effect is positively correlated with the 5042- content. The antiviral activity of natural sulfated polysaccharides is related to the size of their sulfate groups, their content, and their molecular weight. Seaweed polysaccharide calcium complex (CaSP) can selectively inhibit the replication and spread of viruses in host cells, and the formed calcium ion complexes and sulfate groups are necessary for the antiviral effect in host cells. CasP can inhibit the replication of a few enveloped viruses.

Excessive reactive oxygen free radicals can damage phagocytes themselves and other cells, tissues and biological macromolecules, while accelerated lipid peroxidation can cause damage and death of normal cells. Seaweed polysaccharides not only have the function of scavenging active oxygen, but also can significantly reduce the content of lipid peroxide (LPO), increase the activity of peroxidase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and have the function of scavenging excessive free radicals and resisting lipid peroxidation. Spirulina platensis polysaccharides can significantly enhance the body's ability to resist oxidation and free radical damage. Its mechanism may be to enhance the body's ability to scavenge free radicals by promoting the biosynthesis of SOD, GSH-Px (glutathione peroxidase) and GSH.

Anti-tumor studies have shown that seaweed polysaccharides have anti-tumor effects. At present, polysaccharides with anti-tumor effects have been extracted from kelp, sea lettuce, sea bass, spirulina, brown algae and other organisms. The tumor-suppressing effect of seaweed polysaccharides does not act directly on tumor cells, but is achieved by improving the biological body's defense ability against tumor cells and enhancing the function of the host's immune system. Seaweed polysaccharides from different sources and with different molecular weights have different tumor-suppressing activities. When high-purity U-fucoidan extracted from kelp and other brown algae is injected into artificially cultured myeloid leukemia cells and gastric cancer cells, the chromosomes in these two cells will be decomposed by their own enzymes, while normal cells will not be affected.

The cell wall of algae is mainly composed of a network structure of polysaccharides, proteins and fats. It has a certain negative charge, a large surface area and diamond properties. In addition, the cell membrane is a highly selective semipermeable membrane, and these structures determine that algae can enrich metal ions.