Bioactive phenolic compounds from the Egyptian Red Sea seagrass Thalassodendron ciliatum.

Five flavonoids (rutin, asebotin, 3-hydroxyasebotin, quercetin-3-O-beta-D-xylopyranoside, and a racemic mixture of catechin) and caffeic acid were isolated and identified for the first time from seagrass, Thalassodendron ciliatum, collected from the Hurghada region in Egypt. The crude extract and the isolated pure compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against HCT-116, HEPG, MCF-7, and HeLa human cancer cell lines, for their antiviral activity against Herpes Simplex and hepatitis A viruses, and for their antioxidant activity.

Preliminary study on the possible impact of Thalassodendron ciliatum (Forss.) den Hartog acidic polysaccharide fractions against TAA induced liver failure.

The water-soluble acidic polysaccharide from Thalassodendron ciliatum (Forss.) den Hartog was successfully extracted, fractionated and purified. The phytochemical profile of the two water-soluble fractions (F1 and F2), were detected using different analytic techniques. GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of 22 saccharide. Acidic polysaccharide, galacturonic and glucuronic acid were the most abundant. Moreover, paper chromatography and electrophoresis also performed as a preliminary chemical characterization of the polymer. The hepatoprotective activity of the fractions against thioacetamide (TAA) induced liver failure; antioxidant potential and preliminary immunomodulatory activity were assigned in-vivo. The results revealed a potent competence to improve the liver function profile (ALT, AST, total bilirubin, total glyceride, etc.) and a remarkable improvement in liver architecture in comparison to the challenged intoxicated groups. Moreover, they showed high anti-oxidative properties and a promising immunomodulatory influence via Il6. These findings provide new insight into the possible role of polysaccharide purified two fractions in the treatment of acute liver injury.

Role of some fermentation parameters on cyclosporin A production by a new isolate of Aspergillus terreus.

A local isolate of Aspergillus terreus was selected among different microorganisms as a new cyclosporin A (Cy A) producing culture. The formation of Cy A was investigated under different fermentation conditions (including selection of the cultivation medium, fermentation time course, inoculum nature, medium volume, agitation rate, pH value). Relatively high Cy A productivities were maintained when the fermentation process was carried out using a medium composed of (g/L): glucose, 50; bactopeptone, 10; KH(2)PO(4), 5; KCl, 2.5; pH 5.3, inoculated with 2% standard inoculum of 48 h age, shaken at 200 rpm for 10 days.

Anti-influenza A virus activity of a new dihydrochalcone diglycoside isolated from the Egyptian seagrass Thalassodendron ciliatum (Forsk.) den Hartog.

One new dihydrochalcone diglycoside has been isolated from the EtOAc fraction of the Egyptian seagrass Thalassodendrin ciliatum (Forsk.) den Hartog, and was identified as 6'-O-rhamnosyl-(1‴ → 6″)-glucopyranosyl asebogenin for which a trivial name Thalassodendrone was established. Furthermore, five known phenolics were isolated and identified as asebotin, quercetin 3,7-diglucoside, protocatechuic acid, ferulic acid and p-hydroxybenzoic acid. The structures of all the isolated compounds were established based on 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy and high-resolution-mass spectrometer. High-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectra (HR-ESI-MS) were obtained using a JEOL JMS-T100TD spectrometer (JEOL Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). The anti-influenza A virus activity of the isolated new compound and asebotin was evaluated, and the obtained results revealed that the inhibition dose concentration of asebotin was more than that of Thalassodendrone with IC50 = 2.00 and 1.96 µg/mL, respectively, and with cytotoxic concentration (CC50) of 3.36 and 3.14 µg/mL, respectively.

3-Keto-22-epi-28-nor-cathasterone, a brassinosteroid-related metabolite from Cystoseira myrica.

Bioassay-guided purification of an ethanolic extract of Cystoseira myrica against HEPG-2 (liver) and HCT116 (colon) human cancer cell lines led to the isolation of 3-keto-22-epi-28-nor-cathasterone, 1 and cholest-4-ene-3,6-dione, 2. This finding allowed us to report for the first time that a brassinosteroid-related metabolite occurs in seaweed. These compounds showed activity in the range of 12.38-1.16 microM with selective activity of compound 2 to liver cancer cell lines.