Seaweed Fights Parasites, Bacteria

LONDONSeaweed extracts may offer beneficial effects on immune health via trypanocidal, leishmanicidal and antimycobacterial activities, which fight off parasites and bacteria, according to British researchers (Phytother Res. June17, 2010). Crude extracts of 21 brown algae collected from the south coast of England and the west coast of Ireland were screened for in vitro trypanocidal, leishmanicidal and antimycobacterial activities. Mammalian stages of a small set of parasitic protozoaTrypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, T. cruzi and Leishmania donovani, and the tubercle bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis were used as test organisms. The extracts were also evaluated for selectivity by testing on a mammalian cell line (L6 cells).

Only four extracts were moderately active against T. cruzi, whereas all algal extracts showed significant activity against T. brucei rhodesiense, with Halidrys siliquosa and Bifurcaria bifurcata being the most potent. All algal extracts also displayed leishmanicidal (tropical diseases) activity, with H. siliquosa and B. bifurcata again being the most active. When tested against M. tuberculosis, only the B. bifurcata extract was found to have some anti-tubercular potential. Only three seaweed extractsH. siliquosa, B. bifurcata and Cystoseira tamariscifolia showed some cytotoxicity.