Context: Macroalgae are known to exhibit secondary metabolites with interesting bioactive properties, including antibacterial, antioxidant, antitumor, and anti-UV effects. Indonesia is endowed with abundance of macroalgae, yet information regarding their pharmaceutical properties remains largely unexplored.
Objective: This study evaluates the antitumor and cytoprotective effects of Indonesian selected seaweeds Acanthophora spicifera (ASE), Acanthophora muscoides (AME), Sargassum polycystum (SPE), and Sargassum crassifolium (SCE) crude ethanol extracts.
Materials and Methods: Preliminary phytochemical screening was to determine chemical constituents in macroalgae ethanol extracts. Cytotoxicity and antiproliferative activity of macroalgae extracts were evaluated with MTT assay from 5 to 200 µg/mL concentration in Human cervical cancer (HeLa) and Human Umbilical Vein Endothelium (HUVEC) cells for 72h. UV absorbing capabilities of macroalgae extracts were determined with UV-VIS (240-340nm). Cytoprotective effects were evaluated by fluorescence microscopy observation of cells irradiated with UV-B for 3 min.
Results: AME appeared to exhibit most diverse chemical constituents. Only ASE and AME demonstrated moderate cytotoxicity (ASE-IC50 = 190 ± 24 µg/mL; AME-IC50 = 180 ± 14 µg/mL) against HeLa cells in 72h incubation. Furthermore, cytotoxicity effects of all macroalgae extracts could not be detected in HUVEC cells at tested concentrations. In addition, SPE and SCE potentially reduced nuclear DNA damage induced by UV-B radiation.
Discussion and conclusion: Current results shows Indonesian macroalgae possesses a broad range of possible therapeutic applications. Therefore, further advanced studies relating to isolation of specific bioactive compounds and molecular mechanisms would be reasonable to fully utilize macroalgae potential uses in pharmaceutical industries.
Key words: Antiproliferative, Cancer, Cytotoxicity, Indonesia, Macroalgae, Ultraviolet
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