Caenorhabditis elegans as in vivo model to assess the FUCOIDAN bioactivity preventing Helicobacter pylori infection

Nowadays, Helicobacter pylori is the unique biological carcinogenic agent. The search for antimicrobial alternatives to antibiotics against this pathogen has been categorized as priority due to the drastic failure associated to currently applied antibiotic therapy. The present research work assess the bioactive antimicrobial capability of fucoidan (“Generally Recognized as Safe” approval – European Comission December 2017)1 from different species of Phaeophyceae algae (Fucus vesiculosus, Undaria pinnnatifida, Macrocystis pyrifera) against this pathogen. All studied fucoidans showed bacteriostatic and bactericidal effect at the studied concentrations [5-100] µg/ml, and exposure time [0-7] days. The most effective anti-H. pylori fucoidan was validated in Caernohabditis elegans as in vivo model. C. elegans feed was supplemented with Undaria pinnatifida fucoidan [0-100] µg/ml revealing a significant improvement of lifespan, lowering H. pylori concentration at digestive tract, and increasing egg-laying pattern. New research lines proposing this compound as active agent in nutraceutical and preventive novel therapies should be opened