Fucoidan Extracted from Hijiki Protects Brain Microvessel Endothelial Cells Against Diesel Exhaust Particle Exposure-Induced Disruption.

Abstract

This study was performed to evaluate the protective effects of fucoidan against the decreased function of primary cultured bovine brain microvessel endothelial cells (BBMECs) after exposure to diesel exhaust particles (DEPs). BBMECs were extracted from bovine brains and cultured until confluent. To evaluate the function of BBMECs, we performed a permeability test using cell-by-cell equipment and by Western blot analysis for zonular occludens-1 (ZO-1), which is a tight junction protein of BMECs, and evaluated oxidative stress in BBMECs using the DCFH-DA assay and the CUPRAC-BCS assay. The increased oxidative stress in BBMECs following DEP exposure was suppressed by fucoidan. In addition, permeability of BBMECs induced by DEP exposure was decreased by fucoidan treatment. Our results showed that fucoidan protects against BBMEC disruption induced by DEP exposure. This study provides evidence that fucoidan might protect the central nervous system (CNS) against DEP exposure.