In Vitro Studies Reveal Antiurolithic Effect of Antioxidant Sulfated Polysaccharides from the Green Seaweed Caulerpa cupressoides var flabellata.

Dayanne Lopes Gomes,Leandro Silva Costa,Hugo Alexandre Oliveira Rocha,Rafael Barros Gomes Camara,Lucas Alighieri Neves Costa Batista,Moacir Fernandes Queiroz,Mariana Santana Santos Pereira Costa,Jailma Almeida-Lima,Pablo Castro Santos,Karoline Rachel Teodosio Melo

doi:10.3390/md17060326

Abstract

Urolithiasis affects approximately 10% of the world population and is strongly associated with calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystals. Currently, there is no efficient compound that can be used to prevent this disease. However, seaweeds’ sulfated polysaccharides (SPs) can change the CaOx crystals surface’s charge and thus modify the crystallization dynamics, due to the interaction of the negative charges of these polymers with the crystal surface during their synthesis. We observed that the SPs of Caulerpa cupressoides modified the morphology, size and surface charge of CaOx crystals. Thus, these crystals became similar to those found in healthy persons. In the presence of SPs, dihydrate CaOx crystals showed rounded or dumbbell morphology. Infrared analysis, fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry (FITC-conjugated SPs) and atomic composition analysis (EDS) allowed us to propose the mode of action between the Caulerpa’s SPs and the CaOx crystals. This study is the first step in understanding the interactions between SPs, which are promising molecules for the treatment of urolithiasis, and CaOx crystals, which are the main cause of kidney stones.

Highlights

Urinary lithiasis or urolithiasis is a pathophysiological condition resulting from the formation of kidney stones
The objectives of the present study were to obtain sulfated polysaccharides (SPs) from C. cupressoides (CCB-F0.3, CCB-F0.5, CCB-F1.0 and CCB-F2.0), evaluate their effect on crystallization of calcium oxalate (CaOx) in vitro, and elucidate the different morphological characteristics of the formed CaOx crystals to propose a model of interaction between the populations of SPs obtained with the CaOx crystals
In a previous study [23,24], our group extracted four populations of sulfated polysaccharides from the C. cupressoides seaweed. These populations were named as CCB-F0.3, CCB-F0.5, CCB-F1.0, and CCB-F2.0

Summary

Introduction

Urinary lithiasis or urolithiasis is a pathophysiological condition resulting from the formation of kidney stones. The incidence of urinary lithiasis in the world is increasing rapidly. Prevalence doubled from approximately 6% to 11% among men and 4% to 7% among women [1]. One of the major problems with urolithiasis is the risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD), a serious form of CKD [2]. This disease has a high social and economic. Mar. Drugs 2019, 17, 326; doi:10.3390/md17060326 www.mdpi.com/journal/marinedrugs

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