ET-743, aplidin and
bryostatin-1 isolated from Mussels and tunicates cultivated in Mediterranean
and Black Sea have been found to possess antitumor activity. Carotenoid fucoxantin
from edible brown algae also act as sources of antitumor drugs derivatives. The
consumption of brown macrophytes is linked to decrease in the risk of cancer
development [9]. Polysaccharide extracted from Sargassum confusum inhibits sarcomas180 xenograft in mice, by
promoting thymocytes and splenocytes [10]. Acidic sulphated polysaccharides
obtained from the seaweed Ulva rigida
used as an experimental immunostimulant, induced a more than two-fold increase
in the expression of several chemokines (chemokine (C motif) ligand 1,
chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 12, chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 22 and
chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 14 (Cxcl14)) and the expression of IL6 signal
transducer and IL12 receptor beta 1 [11]. Extracts of Caulerpa prolifera prevents (AFB(1))-initiated hepatotoxicity in
female Sprague-Dawley rats by promoting significant increase in serum alpha
fetoprotein, carcinoembryonic antigen, tumor necrosis factor alpha, nitric
oxide, interleukin-1alpha, procollagen III and lipid peroxidation level in the
liver and also a significant decrease in food intake, body weight, serum
leptin, the activities of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and DNA
and RNA concentrations in the liver [12].