Oral Fucoidan Improves Muscle Size and Strength in Mice
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Fucoidan is a sulfated polysaccharide found in a range of brown algae species. Growing evidence supports the long-term supplementation of fucoidan as an ergogenic aid to improve skeletal muscle performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of fucoidan on the skeletal muscle of mice. Male BL/6 mice (N = 8-10) were administered a novel fucoidan blend (FUC, 400 mg/kg/day) or vehicle (CON) for 4 weeks. Treatment and control experimental groups were further separated into exercise (CON+EX, FUC+EX) or no-exercise (CON, FUC) groups, where exercised groups performed 30 min of treadmill training three times per week. At the completion of the 4-week treatment period, there was a significant increase in cross-sectional area (CSA) of muscle fibers in fucoidan-treated extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and soleus fibers, which was accompanied by a significant increase in tibialis anterior (TA) muscle force production in fucoidan-treated groups. There were no significant changes in grip strength or treadmill time to fatigue, nor was there an effect of fucoidan or exercise on mass of TA, EDL, or soleus muscles. In gastrocnemius muscles, there was no change in mRNA expression of mitochondrial biogenesis markers PGC-1α and Nrf-2 in any experimental groups; however, there was a significant effect of fucoidan supplementation on myosin heavy chain (MHC)-2x, but not MHC-2a, mRNA expression. Overall, fucoidan increased muscle size and strength after 4 weeks of supplementation in both exercised and no-exercised mice suggesting an important influence of fucoidan on skeletal muscle physiology.
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Oral administration of fucoidan for 4 weeks improves cross-sectional area of extensor digitorum longus fibers and soleus fibers and enhances the expression of MHC in gastrocnemius muscles in C57BL/6 mice.
“Oral administration of fucoidan for 4 weeks improves cross-sectional area of extensor digitorum longus fibers and soleus fibers and enhances the expression of MHC in gastrocnemius muscles muscle in C57BL/6 mice [130].”
From Nutraceuticals in the Prevention and Treatment of the Muscle Atrophy (2021) · cites this paper as [130]
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- Authors
- McBean, S. E., Church, J. E., Thompson, B. K., Taylor, C. J., Fitton, J. H., Stringer, D. N., Karpiniec, S. S., Park, A. Y., & Poel, C.
- Affiliations
- La Trobe University (AU)
- Marinova Cambridge Australia
- Corresponding author
- Poel, Chris
- Venue
- Physiological Reports
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2021-02
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- e14730-e14730
- ISSN
- 2051-817X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7851433
- OpenAlex
- W3126704532
- Cited by
- 19
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 0.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Physiological Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Muscle Physiology and Disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rehabilitation › Exercise and Physiological Responses
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Seaweed-derived Bioactive Compounds
- Keywords
- fucoidan, sulfated polysaccharides, brown algae, skeletal muscle, muscle size, muscle strength, ergogenic aids, exercise training, cross-sectional area, muscle force production, myosin heavy chain isoforms, PGC-1α, Nrf2, mitochondrial biogenesis, gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior, soleus muscle, extensor digitorum longus, dietary supplementation
- MeSH terms
- Skeletal Muscle Enlargement, Administration, Oral, Animals, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mitochondria, Muscle, Muscle Contraction, Physical Endurance, Polysaccharides, Time Factors, Muscle, Skeletal, Mitochondrial Proteins, Anabolic Agents, Mice, Muscle Strength
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