Abstract
Fucoidan is a sulfated polysaccharide derived from brown seaweeds which mainly consist of L-fucose. In Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and China, peoples eat seaweeds willingly as nourishing health foods. We previously showed that the tumor formation by transplanted Sarcoma180 cells was suppressed in mice fed 2% fucoidan mix containing diets, and NK cell activity was enhanced in the fucoidan-fed mice. The results suggest that the activated NK cells participated in elimination of the tumor. However, in human, immune enhancing activities of fucoidan have hardly been proved. Therefore, we performed an open-label trial in this study. Five healthy volunteers (47 ± 6 years old, 2 male and 3 female) took 2.5 g fucoidan mix per day for 30 days. There were no abnormal observations in the values of WBC, RBC, platelet count and blood profile. On the other hand, NK cell activity was augmented by 1.42 times in the average at end of the trial than the initial value. The ratio of IFN-gamma-producing (Th1) cells also increased to 114% for the initial value by the day 30 by the fucoidan mix intake, whereas IL-4-producing (Th2) cells decreased to 77%. As a result, the rise of Th1/Th2 ratio by 1.46 times in the average was observed with 4 subjects among 5 examinees. Furthermore, CD8+ cells tended to expand with the all subjects. These results suggest that intake of fucoidan is effective to augment anti-tumor immunity in human.
- Copyright © 2012 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.
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