Protective Activity of Fucoidan and Alginic Acid against Free Radical-Induced Oxidative Stress under in Vitro and Cellular System

We investigated radical scavenging effects and protective activities of fucoidan and alginic acid, active polysaccharide components from brown seaweeds, against peroxyl radical-induced oxidative stress under in vitro and cellular system. Fucoidan exerted strong radical scavenging effects against nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide anion (O₂?). On the other hand, alginic acid did not show inhibitory activity against NO and relatively weak O₂? scavenging effect. Additionally, alginic acid exhibited higher hydroxyl scavenging activity than fucoidan. Both fucoidan and alginic acid significantly enhanced cell viability against oxidative stress induced by 2,2’-azobis(2-amidinopro-pane)dihydrochloride (AAPH). At 1000 ㎍/mL concentration of fucoidan and alginic acid, the viability was increased from 16.4% to 85.9% and 67.7%, respectively. In addition, fucoidan and alginic acid ameliorated the lipid peroxidation in LLC-PK1 cell induced by AAPH in a dose-dependent manner. In particular, fucoidan showed stronger inhibitory effect than alginic acid in the cellular system. The present study suggests that fucoidan and alginic acid may be promising antioxidants against oxidative stress induced by free radicals.