Insights on the anti-inflammatory and antitumor activities of extracts from the marine green alga Codium decorticatum

The Codium genus has been shown to be an important source of marine bioactive compounds for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical applications. The present study was conducted to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of the n-hexane (Extr 1), dichloromethane (Extr 2) and acetone/methanol (Extr 3) extracts of the green alga Codium decorticatum, as well as their antitumor effects on several cancer cell lines. In order to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of the extracts of C. decorticatum on the production of the pro-inflammatory proteins, we have undertaken analyses of LPS- and TNF-α-stimulated endothelial cells treated with extracts using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Real-time PCR (qPCR) was used to modulate the mRNA expression of inflammatory genes. For the antitumor activity, in vitro cytotoxicity was determined by MTT assay and apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry. Our results revealed that the Extr 2 and Extr 3 dramatically inhibited the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-8 (IL-8) in LPS- and TNF-α-stimulated endothelial cells. We also demonstrated that Extr 2 suppressed the LPS-induced mRNA expression of E-selectin and IL-8. Furthermore, Extr 2 showed cytotoxic activity against the HeLa cell line (IC50 = 37.22 μg/mL), by inducing apoptosis at highest concentrations. The present data suggest that the seaweed C. decorticatum has the anti-inflammatory properties in endothelial cells, together with the anticancer effect on cervix cancer cells, which may have a potential therapeutic use for inflammatory diseases and cancer. Although, its application as nutraceuticals and functional food could be also considered.