Shar Mariam Mohamed
International Medical University, Malaysia
Title: Fortune from the red Carrageenan: A discovery for photoprotection
Biography
Biography: Shar Mariam Mohamed
Abstract
Photo protection against ultraviolet radiation is a major concern worldwide and the best protection agent has yet to be found. Carrageenan is a polysaccharide extracted from the red seaweed mostly of the genera Chondrus, Eucheuma, Gigartina and Iridae is used as a gelling and thickening agent in the food industry, medicines and as an excipient in cosmetics. Considerably, carrageenan is believed to have prospective photo protective properties. In the current study the cytotoxicity, photo protection and Rat Sarcoma (RAS)-Rapidly Accelerated Fibrosarcoma (RAF) gene mutation of iota, kappa carrageenan and their synergism with vitamin E was evaluated against UVB induced immortalized normal human keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells. MTT results for cytotoxicity and photo protection indicated that carrageenan was not toxic to cells if used in concentration lower that 200 µg/ml with CD50 values of 80 and 90 µg/ml for iota and its synergism with vitamin E and 132 and 155 µg/ml for kappa and its combination with vitamin E respectively. Cells pre-treated with carrageenan exhibited significantly (p<0.05) higher cell viability compared to the cells without treatment by 3.53-27.73% after 100 mJ/cm² and 11.08-45.17% after 300 mJ/cm² UVB fluence. The incident of RAS mutation using the RAS-RAF pathway somatic mutation assay was lower in cells treated with carrageenan compared to those without. Collectively results suggest the potential use of carrageenan as a photo protective agent. An added value of carrageenan rather than being only an excipient could be deduced from this study which is worthwhile for further exploration on its other mechanisms that promises photo protection.