Are the Traditional Medical Uses of Muricidae Molluscs Substantiated by Their Pharmacological Properties and Bioactive Compounds?

Abstract

Marine molluscs from the family Muricidae hold great potential for development as a source of therapeutically useful compounds. Traditionally known for the production of the ancient dye Tyrian purple, these molluscs also form the basis of some rare traditional medicines that have been used for thousands of years. Whilst these traditional and alternative medicines have not been chemically analysed or tested for efficacy in controlled clinical trials, a significant amount of independent research has documented the biological activity of extracts and compounds from these snails. In particular, Muricidae produce a suite of brominated indoles with anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and steroidogenic activity, as well as choline esters with muscle-relaxing and pain relieving properties. These compounds could explain some of the traditional uses in wound healing, stomach pain and menstrual problems. However, the principle source of bioactive compounds is from the hypobranchial gland, whilst the shell and operculum are the main source used in most traditional remedies. Thus further research is required to understand this discrepancy and to optimise a quality controlled natural medicine from Muricidae.

The first complete mitochondrial genome of Murex from Murex trapa (Neogastropoda: Muricidae)

“…As predators of barnacles, bivalves and other invertebrates, muricids play an ecologically important role in maintaining marine benthic ecosystem (Barco et al 2010;Zou et al 2011). Moreover, some muricids including Murex trapa are economically important as valuable ingredients of traditional medicines and valuable nutrition of delicious seafood (Benkendorff et al 2015;Sung et al 2016). However, the taxonomy and phylogeny of the Muricidae have been in a state of confusion due to the morphological convergence and plasticity (Zou et al 2011).…”

Marine Mollusks: Food with Benefits

“…Inhibition of PGE2, TNFα, nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB), and NO was successfully achieved in latest experimental works when egg mass and hypobranchial glands of Dicathais orbita (Australian Muricidae) were applied in combination with Tyrian purple's brominated indole precursors (Ahmad et al., ). Similarly, the potency of 6‐bromoisatin (oxidation product), a biologically available multifunctional chemical agent of paramount importance, has been effectively and safely demonstrated in animal models with regard to avoidance of colon cancer (Benkendorff et al., ; Esmaeelian, Abbott, Le Leu, & Benkendorff, ). This bioactive agent was recently also found to be effective in the prevention of acute lung inflammation when tested in a mouse model (Ahmad et al., ).…”

“…Likewise, a wide array of ailments, inflammation included, have been found showing promising response to indole anticancer drug leads (Gul & Hamann, ). Muricids propagative material and hypobranchial glands, though, are rich in the availability of such indole precursors (Benkendorff et al., ), the parts often utilized in customary anti‐inflammatory medication either contain only scarce amounts of these substances (flesh and operculum) or are not yet investigated for their presence (shells) (Ahmad et al., ). An optimization in muricids natural medication for the inclusion of such substances, hence, may be suggested.…”

Bioactive Peptides from Marine Molluscs – A Review

“…Furthermore, they provide a wide range of human resources including: the use of the shells for improvising mixed aggregates for building construction [15,17] and the production of dyes especially from molluscs such as the Muricid whelk, Trunculariopsis trunculus [1]. Molluscs have also been used in a variety of traditional natural remedies [18,19,20] although the active ingredients are typically unknown, this is due to the fact that, very few scientific studies had been undertaken to evaluate and verify the health benefits of the molluscs [18,21].…”