Microalgae: Therapeutic Potentials and Applications
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Fatemeh Khavari,1 Massoud Saidijam,2 Mohammad Taheri,3 Fatemeh Nouri,4,*
1. Student Research Committee, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
2. Research Center for Molecular Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
3. Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
4. Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
- Introduction: Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms. They are classified into two categories prokaryotes and eukaryotes. They can live in many different environments. these microorganisms are capable of producing different types of bioactive molecules such as carotenoids, polysaccharides, vitamins, lipids with their potential uses as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, anticancer, antimicrobial, antiviral, and anti-allergic agents; so they have very important applications in the biomedical and pharmaceutical industry. furthermore, microalgae have applications in cosmetic products, environmental biotechnology, animal feed. This study aims to review the therapeutic potentials and applications of microalgae in drug delivery and cosmetics.
- Methods: The bibliographic search was performed on PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Any language or date restrictions were not applied. Identified studies were screened by title, abstract, and full text. During the reviewed articles in 2020, if we identified a new article, we would include it in our study.
- Results: Microalgae, specifically Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, are suitable to use as vaccine transporter because they are safe and contain a single chloroplast that expressed proteins with high accumulation there. E7 oncoprotein for HPV vaccine is an example of these recombinant proteins.
Nowadays, most monoclonal antibodies are producing in the Chinese hamster ovary(CHO); also of high cost, there is the possibility of contamination with human pathogens. Microalgae have some benefits that can be used as alternative host cells. They are better than bacterial cells for post-translational modifications (PTMs) on human recombinant proteins and due to their high growth rate, convenient handling and simple culturing are superior to other eukaryotic hosts.
Several microalgae extracts have antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiprotozoal activities such as indoles, phenols, fatty acids, and volatile halogenated hydrocarbons.
A monogalactosyl diacylglyceride (MGDG) extracted from Coccomyxa sp. Cause some physical changes in HPV to envelop so this virus could not attach to host cell so MGDG has an antiviral effect.
Today, antibiotic resistance is an important challenge in the treatment of infectious diseases. As a result, searching for novel antibiotics is necessary. A mixture of fatty acids from Chlorella has inhibitory activity against bacteria. In addition, microalgae compounds showed antibiofilm activity which is important in infectious diseases. For example, extracts of two microalgae, C. vulgaris, and D. salina can inhibit biofilm formation and prevent Dental caries.
Some carbohydrates, lipids, and phycobiliproteins extracted from microalgae have shown antiproliferative and apoptotic effects in different cancers. Fucoidan is a sulfated polysaccharide extracted from different microalgae such as Fucus vesicles, which inhibit angiogenesis and metastasis by downregulating kinase activity and activation of caspase 3/7 in the human lymphoma cell line, melanoma, human colon cancer, breast cancer, lung carcinoma, and human promyeloid leukemia. Furthermore, Phycocyanin is a Phycobiliprotein extracted from some microalgae such as spirulina platensis which inhibit the growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma, lung, colon, and human leukemia cells.
Microalgae and COVID-19 treatment
Today coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is the most important health issue all over the world and there is an urgent need for finding effective treatments for this disease and preventing the death of hundreds of thousands of people.
Researches indicate Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) as a result of Cytokine Strom Syndrome (CSS) is one of the main causes of death in a patient with COVID-19. In CSS the immune system becomes hyperactive and causes acute lung injury (ALI). So natural compounds with anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory could help them.
Astaxanthin is a carotenoid with anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anti-oxidative, and some other therapeutic potential. Haematococcus pluvalis is a microalga that is the origin of natural astaxanthin. Studies show the use of this carotenoid in COVID-19 patients can alleviate cytokine storms and prevent ARDS and ALI. Carrageenan is a sulfated polysaccharide with the origin of microalgae that can inhibit virus attachment, transcription, and replication of the virus in the host cell.
Phycocyanin, a pigment from spirulina is an inhibitor of NADPH oxidase and has Anti-inflammatory activity. It seems microalgae specifically spirulina is a good candidate for adjuvant therapy of COVID-19 patients.
- Conclusion: Understanding the aspects of the biological features of the microalgae will help us to develop Drug and gene delivery systems.
- Keywords: Microalgae, Therapeutic effect, COVID-19, Drug delivery
