Aquamin Impacts Inflammation

CORK, IrelandAquamin, a  marine-based mineral product supplied by GTC Nutrition, may help modulate immune response by inhibiting inflammatory factors, which is helpful in brain health, and may also improve bone formation by increaseing mineralization of osteoblasts, according to a series of research studies published online ahead of print in Phytotherapy Research.

In the most recent study, published online Oct. 28, researchers looked at Aquamin's ability to inhibit the inflammatory factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-B) activation by reducing the phosphorylation and degradation of its upstream inhibitor IB. They found inhibiting NF-B activation results in significantly reduced cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) gene expression following treatment of macrophage cells with lipopolysaccharide.

This research followed study results published earlier showing Aquamin can target inflammation in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated, glial-enriched primary cultures of rat cortex. The scientists reported Aquamin prevented lipopolysaccharide-induced secretion of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFa) and interleukin-1beta (IL-1b) from cortical glia, which indicates a potential role in limiting thepotentially  damaging effects of excessive inflammation in the brain.  

Prior research showed Aquamin, which is derived from the red algae Lithothamnion corallioide and is rich in a number of trace minerals including calcium, magnesium,  enhances the mineralization of osteblast cells in vitro.  Researchers used Hoescht DNA and AlamarBlue assays to assess cell number and metabolic activity, respectively, in addition to using an alkaline phosphatase assay to measure osteogenic differentiation and von Kossa and alizarin red staining to determine mineralization. They found Aquamin promoted increased mineralization in the osteoblast cell culture, suggesting an important role in promoting bone formation and addressing bone diseases such as osteoporosis.