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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

A Fish-feeding Laboratory Bioassay to Assess the Antipredatory Activity of Secondary Metabolites from the Tissues of Marine Organisms
Published on: January 11, 2015
Anticoagulants from marine algae
1School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Portsmouth Polytechnic, UK.
Abstract:
Anticoagulant properties were first described in extracts from marine algae over 50 years ago. Currently over 60 species, representing the three major divisions of marine algae, have been reported to have such properties. The major active components are a variety of sulphated polysaccharides, some of which characterize as proteoglycans. These sulphated polysaccharides/proteoglycans exert antithrombin properties, primarily mediated by heparin cofactor II (HCII). However antithrombin III (ATIII) mediated anticoagulant activities, as well as an element of direct antithrombin activity, have also been observed.
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