Mar. Drugs 2013, 11, 2722-2740; doi:10.3390/md11082722 OPEN ACCESS marine drugs ISSN 1660-3397 www.mdpi.com/journal/marinedrugs Article Evaluation of Anti-Nociceptive and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of a Heterofucan from Dictyota menstrualis Ivan Rui Lopes Albuquerque 1,2, Sara Lima Cordeiro 1, Dayanne Lopes Gomes 1, Juliana Luporini Dreyfuss 3, Luciana Guimarães Alves Filgueira 1, Edda Lisboa Leite 1, Helena Bonciani Nader 3 and Hugo Alexandre Oliveira Rocha 1,2,* 1 Laboratory of Biotechnology of Natural Polymers (BIOPOL), Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal-RN 59078-970, Brazil; E-Mails:
[email protected] (I.R.L.A.);
[email protected] (S.L.C.);
[email protected] (D.L.G.);
[email protected] (L.G.A.F.);
[email protected] (E.L.L.) 2 Graduate Program in Health Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal-RN 59078-970, Brazil 3 Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo-SP 04044-020, Brazil; E-Mails:
[email protected] (J.L.D.);
[email protected] (H.B.N.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +55-84-32153416 (ext. 207); Fax: +55-84-32119208. Received: 3 May 2013; in revised form: 4 June 2013 / Accepted: 17 June 2013 / Published: 2 August 2013 Abstract: Fucan is a term that defines a family of homo- and hetero-polysaccharides containing sulfated L-fucose in its structure. In this work, a heterofucan (F2.0v) from the seaweed, Dictyota menstrualis, was evaluated as an antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory agent.