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Bioactive Marine Macroalgae for Mitigating Health Risks Associated with Particulate Matter and Microplastics: A Review
Summary
Researchers review experimental evidence showing that bioactive compounds from marine macroalgae — including fucoidans, phlorotannins, fucoxanthin, and porphyra-derived amino acids — can counteract oxidative stress, inflammation, and metabolic disruption caused by exposure to particulate matter and micro- or nanoplastics.
Recently, particulate matter (PM) and micro-/nanoplastics (MP/NP) have emerged as significant environmental risk factors that disrupt molecular homeostasis in the human body. These pollutants have been revealed to accelerate diseases and the aging process by causing oxidative damage, inflammation, cellular aging, and metabolic abnormalities, going beyond being mere sources of environmental pollution. There is a great deal of interest in researching the physiological and molecular effects of these pollutants, identifying effective interventions that can mitigate their toxicity, and exploring associated protective mechanisms. For this reason, numerous experimental studies have been performed to unearth potentially active natural products that could mitigate the toxic effects or dysfunctions caused by exposure to and accumulation of these pollutants. Among various natural biological sources, marine macroalgae has attracted increasing interest as a considerable alternative source of bioactive compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that counteract the potential health risks posed by PM and MP/ NP. Algal bioactive compounds, including sulfated polysaccharides (fucoidan, alginic acid, and κ-carrageenan), polyphenols (phlorotannin), carotenoids (fucoxanthin), steroids (fucosterol), mycosporine-like amino acids (porphyra 334), exhibited the protective advantages against PM or MP/NP-induced damage. This study reviews the current approaches to using marine macroalgae and explores their potential effectiveness against PM and MP/NP in experimental models.