Marine compounds and their antiviral activities

Abstract

Available treatments for many infectious diseases are limited. In particular, diseases caused by viral pathogens have demonstrated the need for new medicines, due to the increasing appearance of resistance to these available treatments. Thousands of novel compounds have been isolated from various marine organisms and tested for pharmacological properties, many of which are commercially available. The screening of natural products derived from marine species for antiviral activity has yielded a considerable number of active crude aqueous and organic solvent extracts. Today, over 40 compounds are commercially available in pharmacological markets, including alternative antiviral medicines or those being tested as potential antiviral drugs. Many more are being tested as potential antiviral drugs at the preclinical and clinical stages. The growing interest in marine-derived antiviral compounds, along with the development of new technology in marine cultures and extraction, will significantly expedite the current exploration of the marine environment for compounds with significant pharmacological applications, which will continue to be a promising strategy and new trend for modern medicine.

Anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic potentials of marine sponge Sigmadocia pumila

“…The anti-inflammatory activity of avarol and avarone (sesquiterpenoid derivatives) of marine metabolites showed inhibition in mice, with effects comparable to those of indomethacin [12], both marine metabolites showed a potency higher than that of mepacrine experimental. It is possible that benzamidines and cinnamaldehyde compunds seen in the sponge S. pumila extracts have the ability to produce anti-inflammatory effects by regulating the action of COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes with modulation of gene expression, such as NF-κB [13]. Similarly, a novel anti-inflammatory sterol, clathriol B from Values are expressed as mean ± SEM (n = 4).…”

Antiviral drug discovery: broad-spectrum drugs from nature

“…Two recent reviews describe the biological activities, including antiviral properties, of several compounds isolated from marine organisms 265,266 . Here we refer briefly to compounds with BSAs derived from marine sponges (reviewed in 239 ), and to squalamine, a compound isolated from the dogfish shark 85 .…”

Asteltoxins with Antiviral Activities from the Marine Sponge-Derived Fungus Aspergillus sp. SCSIO XWS02F40

“…So far, only two classes of antiviral drugs, which include amantadine and the neuraminidase inhibitors, are currently used as anti-influenza therapeutic drugs, but both of them have some adverse side effects in humans as well as the resistance of the virus towards this drug [4,5]. Hence, a concerted effort is aimed at discovering new antiviral agents to treat and eradicate these infectious agents [6,7].…”

“…Marine sponge-derived fungus tends to produce structurally unique and biologically active natural products which have been documented in recent years; however, only a handful of reports have described new metabolites which have antiviral activities [7,8]. To further the scope of this particular research theme, a fungus, Aspergillus sp.…”