Evaluating the cholesterol lowering and cytotoxicity of zaragozic acid, a novel therapeutic agent isolated from Coprophilous fungi

Coprophilous fungi were screened for the production of zaragozic acid. Out of the nineisolates obtained three isolates showed acid production during secondary screening followed by itspurification using organic solvents. The presence of zaragozic acid was confirmed by antimonytrichloride test (SbCl3) and its max at 190 and 249nm. Further the concentration of zaragozic acid wasdetermined by titrometric analysis, all the six isolates produced 75-80 mg L of acid .Cell titer 96 AQueous one solution reagent from Promege, USA was used to check the cytotoxicity of zaragozic acid.It was found that dosage up to 40 μl of cells did not prove toxic to the cells. The zaragozic acid was thenchecked for its cholesterol reduction activity. The cholesterol lowering effect of zaragozic acid oncholesterol synthesis was confirmed, 0.8 μg of cholesterol per gm of tissue was reduced by using 30 μlof zaragozic acid.