• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.303-311
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• 1986

This work was designed as basic studies on the development of diet for the treatment of obesity. The effect of alginic acid which is the major component of brown algae was investigated by comparing with agar, cellulose, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), chitin, and lignin as dietary fibers. These dietary fibers ($10\%$) supplemented to basic diet were fed ad libitum to Sprague Dawley rat for 4 weeks, and the inhibitory effects on obesity were evaluated by measuring body weight gain and feed efficiency, the content of glucose and cholesterol in serum, lipase activity in serum, lipid content in liver, adipose tissue around epididymis and ovarium, and Lee index etc. Among the inhibitory effect of these dietary fibers on obesity, lignin was the most effective (p<0.001), followed by Na-alginate (p<0.01) for body weight gain, but lignin was the most effective, followed by CMC, and followed by Na-alginate for feed efficiency (p<0.001). In the inhibitory effects on lipid accumulation in liver and adipose tissue around epididymis and ovarium, lignin and Na-alginate group among these dietary fibers were more effective than others, but there was no significant difference between male and female. The inhibitory effect on obesity evaluated by Lee index was effective in the order of Na-alginate>lignin>CMC>chitin>cellulose (p<0.001). The decreasing effects of lipid content in liver by dietary fibers were found in the order of agar>CMC>cellulose>Na-alginate>chitin>lignin (p<0.001). Glucose content in serum was significantly decreased in cases of CMC, lignin and Na-alginate, whereas a slight difference was found in chitin, but cholesterol content in serum was decreased for all dietary fibers examined except cellulose group. The increasing effect of lipase activity in plasma was found in cases of Na-alginate and chitin, while cellulose, CMC and lignin groups were decreased.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.62-67
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• 2015

Myelophycus simplex Papenfuss is distributed over the northern Pacific and southern coast of Korea, and is a member of the brown algae family. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of M. simplex methanol extract on adipocyte differentiation and adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Treatment with M. simplex methanol extract significantly suppressed terminal differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes in a dose-dependent manner, as confirmed by a decrease in lipid droplet content observed by Oil Red O staining. Also, the M. simplex methanol extract significantly suppressed the triglyceride content of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment with 300 and $500{\mu}g/ml$ of M. simplex methanol extract caused a 42% and 76% reduction in lipid droplet content, respectively. In order to understand the anti-adipogenic effects of M. simplex methanol extract, the changes in the expression of several adipogenic transcription factors, including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) ${\gamma}$-cytidine-cytidine-adenosine-adenosine-thymidine (CCAAT)/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) ${\alpha}$ and ${\beta}$, were investigated using immunoblotting. M. simplex suppressed the expression of $PPAR{\gamma}$, $C/EBP{\alpha}$, and $C/EBP{\beta}$ proteins compared with control. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that M. simplex methanol extract inhibits adipocyte differentiation and thus may have applications as a potential source for an anti-obesity functional food agent.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1437-1444
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• 2017

Sargassum macrocarpum is a widely distributed marine brown algae found in the North Pacific. The objective of this study was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of an ethanol extract of S. macrocarpum (EESM). First, we investigated the anti-inflammatory activities of EESM in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. EESM treatment suppressed nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$) production and inhibited the expressions of the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) at the mRNA and protein levels. In addition, the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis $factor-{\alpha}$ ($TNF-{\alpha}$) and interleukin-1 beta ($IL-1{\beta}$), was decreased in a dose dependent manner. Investigation of the signaling pathways of nuclear factor kappa B ($NF-{\kappa}B$), phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt, and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) revealed suppression of $NF-{\kappa}B$ translocation from the cytosol to nucleus by EESM treatment. The phosphorylation of the Akt and ERK proteins was also inhibited by EESM treatment. EESM treatment also stimulated the expression of the heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) enzyme and its upstream transcription factor, nuclear factor-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2). These results suggest that EESM has anti-inflammatory activity and could have potential uses in the field of nutraceuticals.