Fucoxanthin

Fucoxanthin is a carotenoid found in most types of brown seaweed which has been found to have some very interesting effects in laboratory and clinical studies.  Of primary interest to women with PCOS are its abilities to reduce body weight and fat mass, improve insulin sensitivity and significantly reduce the amount of fatty disease in the liver.  Women with PCOS are at a significantly greater risk than the general population for obesity, insulin resistance leading to diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Fucoxanthin is stored in the fatty tissues of the body, where it induces fat loss by speeding up the metabolism and restricting the growth of new fat tissue.  It does this through two mechanisms: inhibiting cell differentiation and proliferation and by making white fat act more like brown fat through increasing the activity of Uncoupling Protein 1 (UCP1), which uncouples a step in mitochondrial respiration thus indirectly increasing the metabolic rate.  Brown fat is more metabolically active than white fat, but as humans age the amount of brown fat decreases.  Brown fat is most abundant in newborn infants, where it serves to keep the infant warm by thermogenesis.  As humans grow older and develop the ability to keep themselves warm through movement and artificially through clothing, the levels of brown fat significantly reduce.  The activity of UCP1 is one of the key factors which differentiate white fat from brown fat.

Fucoxanthin has a molecular structure quite similar to vitamin A and its precursor, beta-carotene as well as bearing some similarities to the potent antioxidant astaxanthin which is derived from krill oil.  It is classed as a xanthophyll, but does not have vitamin-like activity in the human body.

As fucoxanthin is a fat-soluble nutrient, it is absorbed better when taken with other fatty acids, such as with a meal containing fats.  In studies of rats, medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) were shown to improve absorption.  Coconut, olive, macadamia and avocado are all excellent sources of MCTs.

Positive results have been shown in studies using between 2.4 mg and 8 mg of fucoxanthin per day.  Fucoxanthin takes up to 4 months to accumulate sufficiently in the fat cells and begin working.  Once this has been achieved, however, study participants were found to:

• Reduce the amount of fat in the liver by around 11%

 

More Information:

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Asai A, et al. Biotransformation of fucoxanthinol into amarouciaxanthin A in mice and HepG2 cells: formation and cytotoxicity of fucoxanthin metabolites. Drug Metab Dispos. (2004)

Asai A, Yonekura L, Nagao A. Low bioavailability of dietary epoxyxanthophylls in humans. Br J Nutr. (2008)

Beppu F, et al. In vitro and in vivo evaluation of mutagenicity of fucoxanthin (FX) and its metabolite fucoxanthinol (FXOH). J Toxicol Sci. (2009)

Beppu F, et al. Single and repeated oral dose toxicity study of fucoxanthin (FX), a marine carotenoid, in mice. J Toxicol Sci. (2009)

Boss O, Farmer SR. Recruitment of brown adipose tissue as a therapy for obesity-associated diseases. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). (2012)

Das SK, et al. Fucoxanthin induces apoptosis in osteoclast-like cells differentiated from RAW264.7 cells. J Agric Food Chem. (2010)

Das SK, Hashimoto T, Kanazawa K. Growth inhibition of human hepatic carcinoma HepG2 cells by fucoxanthin is associated with down-regulation of cyclin D. Biochim Biophys Acta. (2008)

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Garama D, Bremer P, Carne A. Extraction and analysis of carotenoids from the New Zealand sea urchin Evechinus chloroticus gonads. Acta Biochim Pol. (2012)

 

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Hashimoto T, et al. Pharmacokinetics of fucoxanthinol in human plasma after the oral administration of kombu extract. Br J Nutr. (2012)

 

Hashimoto T, et al. The distribution and accumulation of fucoxanthin and its metabolites after oral administration in mice. Br J Nutr. (2009)

 

Heo SJ, Jeon YJ. Protective effect of fucoxanthin isolated from Sargassum siliquastrum on UV-B induced cell damage. J Photochem Photobiol B. (2009)

Heo SJ, et al. Anti-inflammatory effect of fucoxanthin derivatives isolated from Sargassum siliquastrum in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage. Food Chem Toxicol. (2012)

Hosokawa M, et al. Fucoxanthin regulates adipocytokine mRNA expression in white adipose tissue of diabetic/obese KK-Ay mice. Arch Biochem Biophys. (2010)

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Kang SI, et al. Petalonia binghamiae extract and its constituent fucoxanthin ameliorate high-fat diet-induced obesity by activating AMP-activated protein kinase. J Agric Food Chem. (2012)

Kawashima T. A marine carotenoid, fucoxanthin, induces regulatory T cells and inhibits Th17 cell differentiation in vitro. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. (2011)

Kim KN, et al. Fucoxanthin inhibits the inflammatory response by suppressing the activation of NF-?B and MAPKs in lipopolysaccharide-induced RAW 264.7 macrophages. Eur J Pharmacol. (2010)

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Koyama T. Extracts of marine algae show inhibitory activity against osteoclast differentiation. Adv Food Nutr Res. (2011)

Lai CS, et al. Xanthigen suppresses preadipocyte differentiation and adipogenesis through down-regulation of PPAR? and C/EBPs and modulation of SIRT-1, AMPK, and FoxO pathways. J Agric Food Chem. (2012)

Lee JY, et al. Hexane fraction from Laminaria japonica exerts anti-inflammatory effects on lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages via inhibiting NF-kappaB pathway. Eur J Nutr. (2012)

Maeda H, et al. Fucoxanthin from edible seaweed, Undaria pinnatifida, shows antiobesity effect through UCP1 expression in white adipose tissues. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. (2005)

Maeda H, et al. Effect of medium-chain triacylglycerols on anti-obesity effect of fucoxanthin. J Oleo Sci. (2007)

Park HJ, et al. Beneficial effects of Undaria pinnatifida ethanol extract on diet-induced-insulin resistance in C57BL/6J mice. Food Chem Toxicol. (2011)

Ravi Kumar S, Narayan B, Vallikannan B. Fucoxanthin restrains oxidative stress induced by retinol deficiency through modulation of Na(+)K(+)-ATPase {corrected} and antioxidant enzyme activities in rats. Eur J Nutr. (2008)

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Tsukui T, et al. Fucoxanthin and fucoxanthinol enhance the amount of docosahexaenoic acid in the liver of KKAy obese/diabetic mice. J Agric Food Chem. (2007)

 

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Yonekura L, et al. Keto-carotenoids are the major metabolites of dietary lutein and fucoxanthin in mouse tissues. J Nutr. (2010)

Suppressive Effects of Amarouciaxanthin A on 3T3-L1 Adipocyte Differentiation through Down-regulation of PPAR? and C/EBP? mRNA Expression

 

Cytoprotective effect of fucoxanthin isolated from brown algae Sargassum siliquastrum against H2O2-induced cell damage

Custom Search Fucoxanthin is a carotenoid found in most types of brown seaweed which has been found to have some very interesting effects in laboratory and clinical studies.  Of primary...