Anticancer Activity of Fucoidan from Sargassum hystrix Against Lung Cancer Cells

Abstract

Cancer is a disease that causes an increase in death cases in the world. Treatment of cancer is still being developed to obtain chemopreventive agents with minimal side effects. Fucoidan is a sulfated polysaccharide that has anticancer activity. This study aims to determine the characteristics and cytotoxic activity of fucoidan Sargassum hystrix against lung cancer cells (A549). Fucoidan extraction from S. hystrix used distilled water at 85ºC and purified by DEAE-cellulose column chromatography. Characterization of fucoidan was determined by analysis of total carbohydrates, sulfate content, uronic acid content, Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Fucoidan cytotoxic activity test against lung cancer cells (A549) used the MTT method. The results showed that the yield of fucoidan extraction from S. hystrix was 2.46 ± 0.10%. The crude fucoidan and purified fucoidan extracts of S. hystrix obtained carbohydrate content of 49.91±5.48% and 59.26±3.04%, respectively, with sulfate content of 11.06±0.59% and 16.51±1.45% and uronic acid content of 27.84±3.13% and 23.44±5.30%. FTIR analysis of crude fucoidan extract and purified fucoidan of S. hystrix indicated the presence of sulfate groups and monosaccharides that make up fucoidan. The purified fucoidan of S. hystrix analyzed by HPLC also contained fucose, xylose and galactose. Cytotoxicity test showed that crude fucoidan and purified fucoidan extracts of S. hystrix were able to inhibit the growth of lung cancer cells (A549) at a dose of 500 µg/mL and had IC50 values of 538.13 µg/mL and 353.16 µg/mL, respectively. These results indicate that S. hystrix fucoidan has anticancer activity and has the potential to be further developed in the treatment of cancer.