Abstract
In the last decades, the discovery of metabolites from marine resources showing biological activity has increased significantly. Among marine resources, seaweed is a valuable source of structurally diverse bioactive compounds. The cell walls of marine algae are rich in sulfated polysaccharides, including carrageenan in red algae, ulvan in green algae and fucoidan in brown algae. Sulfated polysaccharides have been increasingly studied over the years in the pharmaceutical field, given their potential usefulness in applications such as the design of drug delivery systems. The purpose of this review is to discuss potential applications of these polymers in drug delivery systems, with a focus on carrageenan, ulvan and fucoidan. General information regarding structure, extraction process and physicochemical properties is presented, along with a brief reference to reported biological activities. For each material, specific applications under the scope of drug delivery are described, addressing in privileged manner particulate carriers, as well as hydrogels and beads. A final section approaches the application of sulfated polysaccharides in targeted drug delivery, focusing with particular interest the capacity for macrophage targeting.
Highlights
Marine environment and the associated wide diversity of organisms offer a rich source of valuable materials
Drugs 2016, 14, 42 sulfated polysaccharides found in marine algae include carrageenan from red algae, ulvan isolated from green algae and fucoidan from brown algae [3]
In terms of chemical structure, this polygalactan is classified into various types, including but not limited to κ, λ, ι, μ, θ, β- and ν-carrageenans, all containing 15%–40% ester sulfate with the exception of β-carrageenan, which is devoid of sulfate content [1,26]
Summary
Marine environment and the associated wide diversity of organisms offer a rich source of valuable materials. Mar. Drugs 2016, 14, 42 sulfated polysaccharides found in marine algae include carrageenan from red algae, ulvan isolated from green algae and fucoidan from brown algae [3]. Various studies have revealed that from marine algae exhibit a variety of biological activities [4,5,6], potentiating their use in pharmaceutical sulfated polysaccharides isolated from marine algae exhibit a variety of biological activities [4,5,6], applications.their These polymers have been increasingly over the years thisincreasingly context, given their potentiating use in pharmaceutical applications.studied. Figure over the years in this context, given their potential usefulness in applications that mainly involve the depictsof the number of publications retrieved on ISI of Knowledge with the keywords “name of design drug delivery systems.
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