SEAWEED EXTRACTS AS A POTENTIAL TOOL FOR THE ATTENUATION OF OXIDATIVE DAMAGE IN OBESITY-RELATED PATHOLOGIES

Recent studies suggest that seaweed extracts are a significant source of bioactive compounds comparable to the dietary phytochemicals such as onion and tea extracts. The exploration of natural antioxidants that attenuate oxidative damage is important for developing strategies to treat obesity-related pathologies. The objective of this study was to screen the effects of seaweed extracts of 49 species on adipocyte differentiation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production during the adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, and to investigate their total phenol contents and 2,2-dipheny1-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activities. Our results show that high total phenol contents were observed in the extracts of EckIonia cava (see Table 1 for taxonomic authors) (681.1 +/- 16.0 fig gallic acid equivalents [GAF] . g(-1)), Dictyopteris undulata (641.3 +/- 70.7 mu g GAE . g(-1)), and Laurencia intermedia (560.9 +/- 48.1 mu g GAE . g(-1)). In addition, DPPH radical scavenging activities were markedly higher in Sargassum macrocarpum (60.2%), Polysiphonia morrowii (55.0%), and Ishige okamurae (52.9%) than those of other seaweed extracts (P < 0.05). Moreover, treatment with several seaweed extracts including D. undulata, Sargassum micracanthum, Chondi-us ocellatus, Gelidium amansii, Gracilaria verrucosa, and Grateloupia lanceolata significantly inhibited 'adipocyte differentiation and ROS production during differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Furthermore, the production of ROS was positively correlated with lipid accumulation (R(2) = 0.8149). According to these preliminary results, some of the seaweed extracts can inhibit ROS generation, which may protect against oxidative stress that is linked to obesity. Further studies are required to determine the molecular mechanism between the verified seaweeds and ROS, and the resulting effects on obesity.