LIPID COMPOSITION AND MEMBRANOPROTECTIVE ACTION OF EXTRACT FROM MARINE GREEN ALGAE ULVA LACTUCA (L.)

Abstract

The object of the present study was a water-alcohol extract obtained from the dried thallus of the marine green alga Ulva lactuca (L.) (syn.: Ulva fenestrate P. et R.) – ulva lettuce. Glycolipids (40.6%) and neutral lipids (34%) prevailed in the lipid fraction of the extract; phospholipids contained 13.4% of the total lipids. The content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) was 50% of the total amount of fatty acids, among which PUFA of the n-3 family predominated (37.43%). On the model of toxic hepatitis induced by the introduction of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) (50% solution in olive oil, subcutaneously 2 ml/kg for 4 days), we study the effect of the lipid fraction of U. lactuca extract and the commercial reference preparation Essentiale® on the physiological and biochemical characteristics of erythrocytes and lipid composition of erythrocyte membranes in rats. The introduction of the lipid fraction from the ulva (dose 80 mg of total lipids per kg of body weight) to the animals intragastrically for 7 days after withdrawal of CCl4 exerted a protective effect, which was manifested in the restoration of the erythrocyte size characteristics (average volume and diameter), their osmotic resistance to hemolysis, levels of malondialdehyde and reduced glutathione, as well as maintaining of the ratio of phospholipid fractions. Under the damaging effects of CCl4, the lipid fraction from the green alga U. lactuca was not inferior to the effectiveness of reference preparation Essentiale® in restoring of the physiological characteristics of erythrocytes and the phospholipid composition of its membranes.