The marine environment is an exceptional reservoir of bioactive natural products having potential biomedical applications, many of which differ from those of terrestrial organisms in both chemical structures and peculiarities of biological actions.1) Several marine natural products have become the source of potentially novel chemical leads for the ongoing global search of therapeutic agents for the treatment of multiple disease categories. Majority of marine natural products and their derivatives are produced by invertebrates such as sponges, soft corals, tunicates, mollusks or bryozoans and currently in advanced preclinical evaluation.Many compounds were reported from marine sources, having anti-inflammatory activity. Amomg them manoalide, a sesterterpene isolated from the sponge Luffariella variabilis 2) found to have a selective anti-inflammatory profile.3)The pseudopterosins 4,5) are a family of natural products produced by sea whips in Florida and the Bahamas, also show anti-inflammatory activity. These compounds are extremely potent chemicals in reducing swellings and skin irritations and accelerating wound healing.3) A sesterterpene, palaulol, from the sponge Fascaplysinopsis sp., 6) a sesquiterpene furan from the coelenterate, Sinularia sp. 7) and the ceramide isolated from the tunicate Cystodytes cf. dellechiajei 8) are some other anti-inflammatory agents.Since non-steroidal compounds and sphingosine 8) derivatives were reported to have significant anti-inflammatory activity, and some of them have even entered into the clinical trial, the new sphingosine derivative (1) and the cembrenoid diterpene (2) obtained from soft corals of Sinularia crassa TIXIER-DURIVAULT and Lobophytum species respectively were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activity. It was already reported that this diterpene has cytotoxic 9) and anti-HIV 10) activities. But so far no anti-inflammatory activity was reported. This is the first report of sphingosine derivative having anti-inflammatory activity from soft corals. MATERIALS AND METHODS Collection of Soft CoralsThe soft corals Sinularia crassa TIXIER-DURIVAULT and Lobophytum sp., were collected in March 1993, on the coasts of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands [Kalipur (Diglipur) and Natkal Islands 93°02ЈE, 13°20ЈN] by hand picking at 1 m depth in the inter-tidal rocky region. The animals were collected in plastic net bags and brought to the shore, washed with fresh water, cut into thin slices and preserved in ethanol in plastic carboy. The large specimens with clear morphological features were separately preserved in ethanol in small plastic container for identification purpose. The organisms were brought to the laboratory for processing.Identification The soft corals were identified as Sinularia crassa TIXIER-DURIVAULT and Lobophytum sp., through Visakhapatnam-530 003, Andhra Pradesh, India: and c Pharmacology Division, GITAM Dental College; Visakhapatnam-530 045, Andhra Pradesh, India. Received February 7, 2005; accepted April 15, 2005 The aim of this study is to determ...

Three new water soluble ternary metal complexes, [Co(metf)(en)2]Cl2(1), [Ni(metf)(en)2]Cl2(2), and [Cu(metf)(en)2]Cl2(3), (Metf = metformin, en = ethylenediamine), were synthesized and characterized, and pharmacodynamic evaluation was reported. From the spectral analysis, octahedral geometry was proposed to all the three metal complexes. The Kinetic parameters have been determined by thermogravimetric data using Coats‐Redfern method. The stability of the complexes was obtained from their molecular orbital structures from which the quantum chemical parameters were calculated using the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)‐lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energies. The DNA binding studies of these complexes were explored by absorption, emission, and viscosity. Groove mode of surface binding of these complexes with DNA was explained by viscosity studies. Nuclease activity exhibited by these complexes on pUC19 DNA was experimented by agarose gel electrophoresis. Discovery Studio 2.1 software was used for docking studies of these complexes into B‐DNA sequence, 5′(D*AP*CP*CP*GP*AP*CP*GP*TP*CP*GP*GP*T)‐3′ retrieved from protein data bank (PDB ID: 423D). The maximum score is seen for complex 1. The antihyperglycemic activity of these complexes was studied in streptozotocin (STZ)‐diabetic rats. The substantial increase in the antihyperglycemic activity of the complexes is seen when compared with pure drug. The maximum antihyperglycemic activity is recorded for complex 1.

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