5.6 Environmental Implications
107
from studies carried out at laboratory scale (Sinurat et al. 2015). When the precise
values are not provided in the particular study, estimates are used based on typical
values.
5.7 Applications of Fucoidan
Fucoidans have been identified with a range of bioactive properties which give them
potential applicability in food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and biomedical industries.
Presently, clinical applications of fucoidans are limited as they are yet to be approved
by regulatory organizations such as FDA for such use. Part of the reason for this
is that fucoidans vary significantly from batch to batch, and this variation affects
the bioactivity significantly. For instance, while several fucoidan-producing species
demonstrate ability to inhibit cancer cell adhesion to platelets (Cumashi et al. 2007),
which in turn inhibits their ability to metastasize, other fucoidan-producing species
like the Cladosiphon okamuranus do not demonstrate this property, in fact fucoidans
extracted from the latter showed increased tumor growth (Azuma et al. 2012). Therefore, approving fucoidans, in general, for specific applications could mean approving
forms of fucoidans which might not be suitable for the same applications and vary
significantly in effectiveness and safety. There needs to be set standards for extraction, characterization and processing of fucoidans which guides their approval for
therapeutic applications. Furthermore, although there are many studies pointing to
the bioactive properties of fucoidan which makes it suitable for many applications
such as anticancer agent, the exact mechanism of much of these bioactivities is
yet unknown. Nonetheless, fucoidan’s broad range of bioactivities open up great
potentials for this biopolymer to be of significant and economic impact.
5.7.1 Biomaterials in Biomedicine and Tissue Engineering
Fucoidans either in the neat form or as a composite with other materials such as
chitosan, alginates, hydroxyapatite and polycaprolactone have been tested in various
biomedical applications. Fucoidan–polycaprolactone composites have been used as
macroporous sutures which in cellular mineralization, similarly fucoidan–chitosan–
alginate and fucoidan–hydroxyapatite composites aid in cellular mineralization (Lee
et al. 2012; Venkatesan et al. 2014; Jeong et al. 2013). Scaffold formed from fucoidan
is able to inhibit the activities of osteoclasts (Kim et al. 2014a, b), while promoting
the activities of osteoblast cells (Park et al. 2012; Pereira et al. 2014) such that the
breakdown of new cells forming in the scaffold is prevented while new cell growth
is promoted, therefore leading to faster tissue repair. Fucoidan-based scaffolds also
promote growth and cell differentiation of mesenchymal cells based on results from
studies in vitro (Han et al. 2015) and in vivo using laboratory mice (Huang and Liu
107
from studies carried out at laboratory scale (Sinurat et al. 2015). When the precise
values are not provided in the particular study, estimates are used based on typical
values.
5.7 Applications of Fucoidan
Fucoidans have been identified with a range of bioactive properties which give them
potential applicability in food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and biomedical industries.
Presently, clinical applications of fucoidans are limited as they are yet to be approved
by regulatory organizations such as FDA for such use. Part of the reason for this
is that fucoidans vary significantly from batch to batch, and this variation affects
the bioactivity significantly. For instance, while several fucoidan-producing species
demonstrate ability to inhibit cancer cell adhesion to platelets (Cumashi et al. 2007),
which in turn inhibits their ability to metastasize, other fucoidan-producing species
like the Cladosiphon okamuranus do not demonstrate this property, in fact fucoidans
extracted from the latter showed increased tumor growth (Azuma et al. 2012). Therefore, approving fucoidans, in general, for specific applications could mean approving
forms of fucoidans which might not be suitable for the same applications and vary
significantly in effectiveness and safety. There needs to be set standards for extraction, characterization and processing of fucoidans which guides their approval for
therapeutic applications. Furthermore, although there are many studies pointing to
the bioactive properties of fucoidan which makes it suitable for many applications
such as anticancer agent, the exact mechanism of much of these bioactivities is
yet unknown. Nonetheless, fucoidan’s broad range of bioactivities open up great
potentials for this biopolymer to be of significant and economic impact.
5.7.1 Biomaterials in Biomedicine and Tissue Engineering
Fucoidans either in the neat form or as a composite with other materials such as
chitosan, alginates, hydroxyapatite and polycaprolactone have been tested in various
biomedical applications. Fucoidan–polycaprolactone composites have been used as
macroporous sutures which in cellular mineralization, similarly fucoidan–chitosan–
alginate and fucoidan–hydroxyapatite composites aid in cellular mineralization (Lee
et al. 2012; Venkatesan et al. 2014; Jeong et al. 2013). Scaffold formed from fucoidan
is able to inhibit the activities of osteoclasts (Kim et al. 2014a, b), while promoting
the activities of osteoblast cells (Park et al. 2012; Pereira et al. 2014) such that the
breakdown of new cells forming in the scaffold is prevented while new cell growth
is promoted, therefore leading to faster tissue repair. Fucoidan-based scaffolds also
promote growth and cell differentiation of mesenchymal cells based on results from
studies in vitro (Han et al. 2015) and in vivo using laboratory mice (Huang and Liu