BIOLOGIYA MORYA, 2016, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 465-470

Antioxidant and stress-protective properties of an extract from the green alga Ulva lactuca Linnaeus, 1753

© 2016 S. E. Fomenko¹, N. F. Kushnerova¹, V. G. Sprygin¹, T. V. Momot^{2, 3}

¹V.I. Il’ichev Pacific Oceanological Institute, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690041;
²Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok 690950;
³A.V. Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690041

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Effects of an extract from the green alga Ulva lactuca and the commercial preparation Essentiale®, used as a reference, on the weight indexes of viscera and the biochemical markers of liver have been studied in a model of acute stress in rats. The acute stress was simulated by suspending animals in the upright position by their neck dorsal skin fold for 24 hours. Administration of the U. lactuca extract to rats, exposed to the extreme stress, resulted in a pronounced preventive action, which was manifested as supporting of the weight index of their viscera, lipid metabolism, the antioxidant defense system of liver, and a reduction of lipid peroxidation. The extract from U. lactuca has proven to be no less effective in protecting the liver metabolic reactions under an acute stress than the commercial preparation Essentiale®. The pronounced protective properties of the U. lactuca extract are explained by the combined effects of phospholipids of marine origin, n-3 PUFAs, and antioxidant polyphenols comprising it.

Key words: stress, liver, lipids, antioxidant activity, Ulva lactuca extract, Essentiale®.