Fucoidan as a functional food ingredient: Inhibitory mechanism against HTLV-1 infection, and its intestinal absorption

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K05865
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 38050:Food sciences-related
• Research Institution: Okinawa University
• Principal Investigator: Miyara Megumi 沖縄大学, 健康栄養学部, 教授 (50457686)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 福島 卓也 琉球大学, 医学部, 教授 (40336160)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: フコイダン / HTLV-1

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Fucoidan has been reported to have an inhibitory activity against HTLV-1 infection. We tried to elucidate the mechanism of the inhibitory acitivity by detecting the bond between fucoidan and HTLV-1 surface protein gp46 with SDS PAGE-Western blotting method, however, we could not recognize the band. The first aim of this study was not cleared, so that we could not perform the following experiments (a test of the inhibitory activity of HTLV-1 infection on clinical specimens, and the investigation of fucoidan-absorption with human intestinal organoid).

Free Research Field

食品科学関連、機能性食品

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

フコイダンによるHTLV-1感染抑制の作用機序や腸管吸収が明らかになれば、分子・細胞から個体レベルまで一貫した機能性研究になり、科学的裏付けのある機能性食品開発に繋がると考えていたが、学術的・社会的意義のある研究成果を上げることができなかった。