Abstract
Gracilaria manilaensis is a red seaweed found in some regions of Peninsula Malaysia. In vitro studies have demonstrated that G. manilaensis has neuritogenic, neuroprotective, anticancer, antioxidant, and antimicrobial properties, suggesting that it could be developed into health supplement. However, the effects of oral consumption of G. manilaensis have not yet been evaluated in vivo. The present study evaluated the safety of sub-acute oral consumption of G. manilaensis ethanolic extract. 10, 50, 100, 250, and 500 mg kg-1 G. manilaensis ethanolic extracts and distilled water (control) were administered to adult female Sprague-Dawley rats (n=3 per group) by oral gavage for 28 days. Our results showed that the G. manilaensis ethanolic extract did not induce abnormal behaviour, body weight changes, or affect the mortality rate between treatment and control groups. There were no abnormal haematological and biochemical findings, except that 500 mg kg-1 G. manilaensis ethanolic extract may affect renal function, as urea levels and urea/creatinine ratio were lower when compared to other treatment groups. Gross necropsy did not reveal any abnormalities in the vital organs in all groups. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in the percentage relative weight of organs between treatment and control groups. In conclusion, the findings showed that daily oral consumption of G. manilaensis ethanolic extracts at 250 mg kg-1 or lower for 28 days was safe. The findings from this study provide a basis for future studies to investigate the in vivo health promoting effects of G. manilaensis.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The data generated from this study are available upon request.
References
Andriani Y, Syamsumir DF, Yee TC, Harisson FS, Herng GM, Abdullah SA, Orosco CA, Ali AM, Latip J, Kikuzaki H, Mohamada H (2016) Biological activities of isolated compounds from three edible Malaysian red seaweeds, Gracilaria changii, G. manilaensis and Gracilaria sp. Nat Prod Commun 11:1117–1120
Ariede MB, Candido TM, Jacome ALM, Velasco MVR, de Carvalho JCM, Baby AR (2017) Cosmetic attributes of algae - A review. Algal Res 25:483–487
Chapman K, Sewell F, Allais L, Delongeas JL, Donald E, Festag M, Kervyn S, Ockert D, Nogues V, Palmer H, Popovic M, Roosen W, Schoenmakers A, Somers K, Stark C, Stei P, Robinson S (2013) A global pharmaceutical company initiative: An evidence-based approach to define the upper limit of body weight loss in short term toxicity studies. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 67:27–38
Close B, Banister K, Baumans V, Bernoth EM, Bromage N, Bunyan J, Erhardt W, Flecknell P, Gregory N, Hackbarth H, Morton D, Warwick C (1997) Recommendations for euthanasia of experimental animals: Part 2. DGXT of the European Commission. Lab Anim 31:1–32
Dillehay TD, Ramírez C, Pino M, Collins MB, Rossen J (1979) Pino-Navarro JD (2008) Monte Verde: Seaweed, food, medicine, and the peopling of South America. Science 320:784–786
Fentener van Vlissingen JM, Borrens M, Girod A, Lelovas P, Morrison F, Torres YS (2015) The reporting of clinical signs in laboratory animals: FELASA Working Group Report. Lab Anim 49:267–283
Lim P-E, Phang S-M (2004) Gracilaria species (Gracilariales, Rhodophyta) of Malaysia including two new records. Malays J Sci 23:71–80
OECD (2008) OECD Guidelines for the testing of chemicals: Repeated dose 28-day oral toxicity study in rodents. OECD Guidelines for the Testing of Chemicals, Section 4, OECD Publishing, Paris,
OECD (2000) Guidance document on the recognition, assessment, and use of clinical signs as humane endpoints for experimental animals used in safety evaluation. OECD Series on Testing and Assessment, No. 19, OECD Publishing, Paris
Olson H, Betton G, Robinson D, Thomas K, Monro A, Kolaja G, Lilly P, Sanders J, Sipes G, Bracken W, Dorato M, Van Deun K, Smith P, Berger B, Heller A (2000) Concordance of the toxicity of pharmaceuticals in humans and in animals. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 32:56–67
Pang JR, Goh VMJ, Tan CY, Phang S-M, Wong K-H, Yow Y-Y (2018) Neuritogenic and in vitro antioxidant activities of Malaysian Gracilaria manilaensis Yamamoto & Trono. J Appl Phycol 30:3253–3260
Pang JR, How SW, Wong KH, Lim S-H, Phang S-M, Yow Y-Y (2022) Cholinesterase inhibitory activities of neuroprotective fraction derived from red alga Gracilaria manilaensis. Fish Aquatic Sci 25:49–63
Phang SM, Yeong HY, Lim PE (2019) The seaweed resources of Malaysia. Bot Mar 62:265–273
Thiyagarasaiyar K, Goh B-H, Jeon Y-J, Yow Y-Y (2020) Algae metabolites in cosmeceutical: An overview of current applications and challenges. Mar Drugs 18:323
Wells ML, Potin P, Craigie JS, Raven JA, Merchant SS, Helliwell KE, Smith AG, Camire ME, Brawley SH (2017) Algae as nutritional and functional food sources: revisiting our understanding. J Appl Phycol 29:949–982
Yow YY, Lim PE, Phang SM (2011) Genetic diversity of Gracilaria changii (Gracilariaceae, Rhodophyta) from west coast, Peninsular Malaysia based on mitochondrial cox1 gene analysis. J Appl Phycol 23:219–226
Acknowledgements
This work is supported by grants from the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme FRGS/1/2019/STG05/SYUC/02/1 from the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, and the Jeffery Cheah Foundation Scholarship from Sunway University.
Funding
This work is supported by grants from the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme FRGS/1/2019/STG05/SYUC/02/1 from the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, and the Jeffery Cheah Foundation Scholarship from Sunway University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
K.Y.N., Y.Y.Y., K.H.W. and L.W.L. contributed to conception and design of the study. K.Y.N. contributed to acquisition and analysis of data, and drafting manuscript. Y.Y.Y., K.H.W., L.W.L., S.H.L., S.M.P. and R.S. contributed to verify data, review and approve manuscript. Y.Y.Y. contributed to funding acquisition and project administration.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Nyiew, KY., Wong, KH., Lim, LW. et al. Safety profile of subacute oral administration of ethanolic extract of Gracilaria manilaensis Yamamoto & Trono. J Appl Phycol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-024-03218-w
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-024-03218-w