Fucoidan

Fucoidan is a sulfated polysaccharide (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 esters 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 and food supplement. [] that F-fucoidan can inhibit hyperplasia in rabbits.

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. [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.).]

However, health services have realized that this product is highly toxic and many countries have banned it (USA is currently negotiating).

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