Abstract
Polysaccharides of edible algae attracted extensive interest due to their numerous biological activities. Sargassum latifolium (Turner) C. Agardh, belongs to Sargassaceae, is a brown algae in red sea shores in Egypt. This work is a novel attempt to explore the cancer chemopreventive activity of different fractions of water-soluble polysaccharide extract derived from S. latifolium. Estimation of cancer chemopreventive activity, specifically anti-initiation, including the modulation of carcinogen metabolism and the antioxidant capacity, revealed that E1 and E4 were potent anti-initiators, where they lead not only to an inhibition in the carcinogen activator cytochrome P450 1A (IC50 2.54 and 10.30 mu g/ml, respectively), but also to an induction in the carcinogen detoxification enzymes glutathione-S-transferases (144% and 225% of the control, respectively). E1 and E4 inhibited 59% and 63% of the induced-DNA damage, as measured by comet assay. Similarly both Ell and E4 possessed potential anti-promoting properties as indicated by their anti-inflammatory activity. E1 and E4 enhanced the macrophage proliferation; however they dramatically inhibited the stimulated NO (30.7% and 59.3%), TNF-alpha (38.2% and 54.9) and COX-2 (20% and 18%), respectively. E3 showed a selective cytotoxicity against lymphoblastic leukemia (1301 cells), while other fraction extracts had no cytotoxic effect against all tested cell lines. E3 led to a major disturbance in cell cycle including arrest in both S-phases in 1301 cells. This disturbance was associated with an induced-cell death due to apoptosis, but not necrosis. In conclusion, E1 and E4 are promising cancer chemopreventive fractions, since they had tumor anti-initiating activity via their protective modulation of carcinogen metabolism, and tumor anti-promoting activity via their anti-inflammatory activity, while E3 can be considered as a promising anti-cancer agent against leukemia. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.