Quantitative NMR Analysis of Marine Macroalgae for AGE Inhibition by Methylglyoxal Scavenging

Reactive carbonyl species (RCS) induce a fundamental form of biological stress that has driven the evolution of diverse mechanisms for minimizing its impact on organismal health. The complications that accompany uncontrolled hyperglycemia exemplify the health implications when RCS stress exceeds the body's capacity to prevent the excessive formation of advanced glycation end-products. Presented here is a novel quantitative NMR (qNMR) technique for evaluating scavengers of the prominent sugar-derived carbonyl methylglyoxal (MGO). This tool was employed to screen the chemical diversity of marine macroalgae extracts, with a focus on species that have a history of consumption by the World's healthiest populations and are subject to global scale aquacultural production. <i>Fucus vesiculosus</i> demonstrated the highest capacity for inhibiting glycation and scavenging MGO. Additionally, the <i>Chondrus cripsus</i>, <i>Gracilaria vermiculophyla,</i> and <i>Gracilaria tikvahiae</i> extracts had a high capacity for scavenging MGO, representing the first report of this activity. This new qNMR methodology presented is highly applicable for screening extracts and compounds from diverse sources, and the results highlight the potential of macroalgae extracts to be employed as RCS and AGE targeting therapeutics and food additives.