title: Fucoidan as a Potential Therapeutic for Major Blinding Diseases--A Hypothesis.
abstract: Fucoidan is a heterogeneous group of sulfated polysaccharide with a high content of l-fucose, which can be extracted from brown algae and marine invertebrates. It has many beneficial biological activities that make fucoidan an interesting candidate for therapeutic application in a variety of diseases. Age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy are major causes for vision loss and blindness in the industrialized countries and increasingly in the developing world. Some of the characteristics found in certain fucoidans, such as its anti-oxidant activity, complement inhibition or interaction with the Vascular Endothelial Growth factor, which would be of high interest for a potential application of fucoidan in age-related macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy. However, the possible usage of fucoidan in ophthalmological diseases has received little attention so far. In this review, biological activities of fucoidan that could be of interest regarding these diseases will be discussed.
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center, University of Kiel, 24105 Kiel, Germany. aklettner@auge.uni-kiel.de.
authors: Alexa
authors: A
authors: Klettner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000378:metabolism; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000378:metabolism; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D000459:Phaeophyceae / Q000378:metabolism; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D011134:Polysaccharides; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; C007789:fucoidan
keywords: VEGF; age-related macular degeneration; complement; diabetic retinopathy; fucoidan; oxidative stress