Fucoidan 4880827 221602202 2008-06-25T06:45:26Z Rjwilmsi 203434 gen fixes + format *date= in cite news/web/paper templates - full explanation [[User:Rjwilmsi#My_correction_of_dates_in_templates|here]] using [[Project:AutoWikiBrowser|AWB]] '''Fucoidan''' is a [[sulfate]]d [[polysaccharide]] ([[molecular weight|MW]]: average 20,000) found mainly in various species of brown [[seaweed]] such as [[kombu]], [[limu]] moui, [[bladderwrack]], [[wakame]], [[mozuku]], and [[hijiki]] (variant forms of fucoidan have also been found in animal species, including the [[sea cucumber]]). Substantial [[pharmaceutical]] research has been done on fucoidan, focusing primarily on two distinct forms: '''F-fucoidan''', which is >95% composed of sulfated [[ester]]s of [[fucose]], and '''U-fucoidan''', which is approximately 20% [[glucuronic acid]]. As a consequence of this research, U-fucoidan and F-fucoidan are now being marketed as a [[nutraceutical]], a supposed "miracle drug", and a [[food supplement]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.takara-bio.com/news_e/1999/07/15.htm|title = Discovered that the polysaccharide F-fucoidan contained in the seaweed ''kombu'' can induce the production of HGF (Hepatocyte Growth Factor) ''in vivo'' experiment |publisher=Biotechnology Research Laboratories of Takara |date=1999-07-15 }}</ref> Researchers began studying fucoidan around 1970, and since that time fucoidan has been cited in approximately 700 studies published in the [[National Library of Medicine]]'s database. The overall findings of this large body of research, coupled with anecdotal evidence provided by a long history of use of fucoidan-bearing seaweed in areas such as Japan, Hawaii and Tonga, indicate that fucoidan demonstrates great potential as a safe nutritional answer for a wide variety of health complaints.<ref>Elkins, Rita, ''Limu Moui, prize Sea Plant of the South Pacific,'' Woodland Publishing, 2001</ref> Fucoidan is found in the sea plant called [[Limu]] Moui. A study <ref>{{cite journal|pmid=15609279 {{doi|10.1002/ajh.20182}}|journal = American Journal of Hematology|date=2005 Jan|volume=78|issue=1|pages=7–14|title=Fucoidan induces apoptosis of human HS-sultan cells accompanied by activation of caspase-3 and down-regulation of ERK pathways|author=Aisa Y; Miyakawa Y; Nakazato T; Shibata H; Saito K; Ikeda Y; Kizaki M|doi=10.1002/ajh.20182}}</ref> released in 2005 by Japanese researchers have indicated that F-fucoidan can induce [[apoptosis]] in human [[lymphoma]] [[cell line]]s; as well, French researchers showed in 2002 <ref>{{cite journal|journal=Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology|year=2002|volume=22|pages=1604||doi=10.1161/01.ATV.0000032034.91020.0A|url=http://atvb.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/22/10/1604|format=PDF|title=Low Molecular Weight Fucoidan Prevents Neointimal Hyperplasia in Rabbit Iliac Artery In-Stent Restenosis Model |author=Jean-François Deux; Anne Meddahi-Pellé; Alain F. Le Blanche; Laurent J. Feldman; Sylvia Colliec-Jouault; Françoise Brée; Frank Boudghène; Jean-Baptiste Michel; Didier Letourneur }}</ref> that F-fucoidan can inhibit [[hyperplasia]] in [[rabbit]]s. A study at the Statens Serum Institute, in Copenhagen, showed that, after pre-treatment with Fucoidan, deaths of rats infected with meningitis increased. 21 out of 45 rats that had been given Fucoidan and then treated after infection with an antibiotic died; as compared with 5 deaths out of 29 for those had not been given Fucoidan and had been treated with only the antibiotic.<ref>Pretreatment with Fucoidan Promotes Lethal Infection in a Rat Model of Experimental Pneumococcal Meningitis. BRANDT C, LUNDGREN JD, LUND SP, FRIMODT-MOLLER N, CHRISTENSEN T, BENFIELD T, ESPERSEN F, HOUGAARD D, OSTERGAARD C; Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (43rd: 2003: Chicago, Ill.).</ref> ==References== <references/> ==External links== * [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=pubmed Pubmed Search] National Library of Medicine's Database. (Type in Fucoidan into search box, to narrow search add a "/"and a disease or condition. e.g.: fucoidan/cancer, fucoidan/diabetes) Fucoidan sources - please do not link multi-level or other links to sell, it is against Wikipedia rules. Category:Dietary supplements]] [[Category:Polysaccharides]] [[ko:후코이단]] [[ja:フコイダン]]