Polar Lipids of Marine Microalgae Nannochloropsis oceanica and Chlorococcum amblystomatis Mitigate the LPS-Induced Pro-Inflammatory Response in Macrophages
Open accessAbstract
Microalgae are recognized as a relevant source of bioactive compounds. Among these bioactive products, lipids, mainly glycolipids, have been shown to present immunomodulatory properties with the potential to mitigate chronic inflammation. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of polar lipids isolated from Nannochloropsis oceanica and Chlorococcum amblystomatis. Three fractions enriched in (1) digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG) and sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol (SQDG), (2) monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG), and (3) diacylglyceryl-trimethylhomoserine (DGTS) and phospholipids (PL) were obtained from the total lipid extracts (TE) of N. oceanica and C. amblystomatis, and their anti-inflammatory effect was assessed by analyzing their capacity to counteract nitric oxide (NO) production and transcription of pro-inflammatory genes Nos2, Ptgs2, Tnfa, and Il1b in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophages. For both microalgae, TE and Fractions 1 and 3 strongly inhibited NO production, although to different extents. A strong reduction in the LPS-induced transcription of Nos2, Ptgs2, Tnfa, and Il1b was observed for N. oceanica and C. amblystomatis lipids. The most active fractions were the DGTS-and-PL-enriched fraction from N. oceanica and the DGDG-and-SQDG-enriched fraction from C. amblystomatis. Our results reveal that microalgae lipids have strong anti-inflammatory capacity and may be explored as functional ingredients or nutraceuticals, offering a natural solution to tackle chronic inflammation-associated diseases.
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Lipid fractions from Nannochloropsis oceanica and Chlorococcum amblystomatis suppress nitric oxide production and inflammatory gene expression (TNF-α and IL-1β) in LPS-stimulated macrophages.
“Lipid fractions from Nannochloropsis oceanica and Chlorococcum amblystomatis markedly suppressed nitric oxide production and inflammatory gene expression (e.g., TNF-α and IL-1β) in LPS-stimulated macrophages [67].”
From Microalgae Bioactives for Functional Food Innovation and Health Promotion (2025) · cites this paper as [67]
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Microalgae Bioactives for Functional Food Innovation and Health Promotion
Guil-Guerrero, J. L., & Prates, J. A. M. (2025) · Foods · doi:10.3390/foods14122122 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
“Lipid fractions from Nannochloropsis oceanica and Chlorococcum amblystomatis markedly suppressed nitric oxide production and inflammatory gene expression (e.g., TNF-α and IL-1 β ) in LPS-stimulated macrophages [67].”
- Authors
- Conde, T., Neves, B., Couto, D., Melo, T., Lopes, D., Pais, R., Batista, J., Cardoso, H., Silva, J. L., Domingues, P., & Domingues, M. R.
- Affiliations
- Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (PT)
- University of Aveiro (PT)
- LAQV Requimte (PT)
- R&D Department, Allmicroalgae—Natural Products S.A., Rua 25 de Abril s/n, 2445-413 Pataias, Portugal
- Corresponding author
- Conde, Tiago
- Domingues, M. Rosário
- ORCID
- Venue
- Marine Drugs
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2023-12-06
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 629
- ISSN
- 1660-3397 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10745121
- OpenAlex
- W4389365873
- Cited by
- 25
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 3
- FWCI
- 5.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Marine Drugs (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- AlgaValor (POCI-01-0247-FEDER-035234, LISBOA-01-0247-FEDER-035234, ALG-01-0247-FEDER-035234, UIDP/50017/2020, UIDB/50017/2020, LA/P/0094/2020, UIDB/50006/2020, UIDB/04501/2020)
- CESAM (POCI-01-0247-FEDER-035234, LISBOA-01-0247-FEDER-035234, ALG-01-0247-FEDER-035234, UIDP/50017/2020, UIDB/50017/2020, LA/P/0094/2020, UIDB/50006/2020, UIDB/04501/2020)
- LAQV/REQUIMTE (POCI-01-0247-FEDER-035234, LISBOA-01-0247-FEDER-035234, ALG-01-0247-FEDER-035234, UIDP/50017/2020, UIDB/50017/2020, LA/P/0094/2020, UIDB/50006/2020, UIDB/04501/2020)
- iBiMED (POCI-01-0247-FEDER-035234, LISBOA-01-0247-FEDER-035234, ALG-01-0247-FEDER-035234, UIDP/50017/2020, UIDB/50017/2020, LA/P/0094/2020, UIDB/50006/2020, UIDB/04501/2020)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Seaweed-derived Bioactive Compounds
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Fatty Acid Research and Health
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Algal biology and biofuel production
- Keywords
- polar lipids, microalgae, Nannochloropsis oceanica, anti-inflammatory activity, macrophages, lipopolysaccharide, nitric oxide production, pro-inflammatory gene expression, digalactosyldiacylglycerol, sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol, monogalactosyldiacylglycerol, phospholipids, nutraceuticals, chronic inflammation
- MeSH terms
- Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Humans, Inflammation, Lipopolysaccharides, Macrophages, Cyclooxygenase 2, Stramenopiles, Microalgae
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