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Ulva lactuca: A potential seaweed for tumor treatment and immune stimulation

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Abstract

This is the first report on the antitumor and immunostimulating activities ofUlva lactuca. Using the WSM (water-soluble fraction of a methanol extract fromUlva lactuca), a concentration of 140 g/mL was found to inhibit 50% of the human leukemia cell line U937 in growth, while splenocyte growth was stimulated up to a concentration of 100 μg/mL. In addition, NO production by a macrophage cell line (RAW 264.7) and alkaline phosphatase activity in mouse splenocytes were both stimulated with 10 μg/mL of WSM. Dose-dependent patterns were observed on all three cell-lines. Accordingly, the current results indicate thatUlva lactuca may be useful as a natural antitumor and immunostimulating agent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Silla University, 617-736, Busan, Korea

    Dong-Geun Lee, Jin-Ok Lee, Sang-Hyun Lee, Bae-Jin Ha, Jong-Myung Ha & Jae-Hwa Lee

  2. Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Cheju National University, 690-756, Cheju, Korea

    Jin-Won Hyun & Kyong-Ah Kang

  3. Department of Food Science and Technology, Kyungsung University, 600-736, Busan, Korea

    Eun Yeol Lee

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  1. Dong-Geun Lee
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  2. Jin-Won Hyun
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  4. Jin-Ok Lee
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  5. Sang-Hyun Lee
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  8. Eun Yeol Lee
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  9. Jae-Hwa Lee
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Correspondence to Jae-Hwa Lee.

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Lee, DG., Hyun, JW., Kang, KA. et al. Ulva lactuca: A potential seaweed for tumor treatment and immune stimulation. Biotechnol. Bioprocess Eng. 9, 236–238 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02942299

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02942299

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