Direct and indirect effects of fucoidans as enhancers of immunity against viral infections: main factors affecting its effectiveness

It is imperative to know how the physical and biological properties affect the survival of pathological organisms, in that way allowing not only to predict their pathological condition, as also the best strategy to prevent it. In parallel, hydrated biological matrices are widely distributed in nature, and understanding the complexity and functionality of such systems has been improving greatly in recent years, particularly considering their potential action over the physical and biological conditions of the former organisms. Therefore, it is of great interest to understand the best way to model and study polymer-based systems, such as those represented by hydrocolloids. Besides selecting the best hydrocolloid for a given purpose, as well as the most suitable source under a specific set of circumstances, defining the optimal operational conditions and best chemical and structural features, represent determinant factors (1). To validate this assumption, different studies employing fucoidan as a potential antiviral were compared. Considering the analysed reports, it was possible to conclude that the antiviral activity of fucoidan depends mainly on the degree of sulfation, molecular weight, natural sources from which it is obtained, purity, monosaccharide structure and extraction methodology (2,3). In either case, fucoidan can be highlighted as promising candidate as a starting material for new natural-based antiviral drug design, meeting some of the current consumers’ demands.

References

• Emmanuel Ofosu Mensah, Osman Nabayire Kanwugu, Pritam Kumar Panda, Parise Adadi. (2023). Marine fucoidans: Structural, extraction, biological activities and their applications in the food industry. Food Hydrocolloids, 142, 108784.
• Mehdi Alboofetileh, Masoud Rezaei Mehdi Tabarsa, Massimo Rittà, Manuela Donalisio, Francesco Mariatti, Sangguan You, David Lembo, Giancarlo Cravotto G. (2019). Effect of different non-conventional extraction methods on the antibacterial and antiviral activity of fucoidans extracted from Nizamuddinia zanardinii. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 124, 131-137.
• Nagarajan Shanthi, Ponnan Arumugam, Marudhamuthu Murugan, Muthiyal Prabakaran Sudhakar, Kulanthaiyesu Arunkumar. (2021). Extraction of fucoidan from Turbinaria decurrens and the synthesis of fucoidan-coated AgNPs for anticoagulant application. ACS Omega, 46, 30998-31008.

Acnowledgements

Cláudia S.G.P. Pereira thanks Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, Portugal) for her PhD grant (2021.09490.BD).