Evaluation of antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory activities of methanol extract and its fractions from the Mediterranean sponge

This work progresses in the direction of identifying component(s) from the Mediterranean sponge, Spongia officinalis with pharmacological activities. In the present study we investigated the efficacy of methanol extract and its semi-purified fractions (F2, F3) from Spongia officinalis for their in vivo anti-inflammatory activity using the carrageenan-induced paw edema in rats and their in vitro antiproliferative effects by their potential cytotoxic activity using the MTT colorimetric method and clonogenic inhibition against three human cancer cell lines (A549, lung cell carcinoma, HCT15, colon cell carcinoma and MCF7, breast adenocarcinoma).The fractions F2 and F3 showed interesting anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative activities in a dose dependent manner.The present study indicates that the methanolic extrac and its fractions from Spongia officinalis are a significant source of compounds with the antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory activities, and this may be useful for developing potential chemopreventive substances.A variety of ingredients of traditional medicines and herbs are being widely investigated in several parts of the world to analyze their potential as therapeutic agents [1-3]. Since the few last decades, marine environment have been recognized to be a rich sources of bioactive metabolites with varied biological and pharmacological activities [4,5]. The most interesting phyla with respect to pharmacological active marine compounds include bacteria, fungi, algae, soft corals and gorgonians, sea hares and nudibranchs, bryozoans, tunicates and especially sponges [6]. Marine sponges have been considered as a gold mine during the past few decades with respect to the diversity of their secondary metabolites and continue to provide novel natural products with a remarkable chemical diversity. At present, there are a number of compounds from marine origin which are under investigation and/or are being developed as new pharmaceuticals on anticancer therap