The scientific paper published in the framework of the CYANOBESITY project CIIMAR discover metabolites of marine cyanobacteria with potential for treatment of obesity and other diseases related to lipid metabolism.

 

In the study published on Marine Drugs entitled "Chlorophyll Derivatives from Marine Cyanobacteria with Lipid-Reducing Activities" show that two chlorophyll derivatives were identified in the marine cyanobacteria and showed to be able to reduce the neutral lipids, as in the case of triglycerides. One of these compounds, hydroxy-pheophytin a, is already known in the scientific community, while the other, hydroxy-pheofarnesin, has been shown to be a completely new compound.

 

This study was funded under the European project "CYANOBESITY - Cyanobacteria as a source of bioactive compounds with effects on obesity and morbidities associated with obesity", for 3 years, involving a consortium of 4 countries: Portugal, Sweden, Germany and Iceland. It is co-funded by the Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) under the ERA-NET Marine Biotechnology (ERA-MBT / 0001/2015).