Search

Marine sponges belonging to the class Demospongiae have shown to be promising sources of bioactive compounds. This review aimed to compile studies on the biological activities and chemical components of sponge species from this class, highlighting the structure/activity relationship. Data collection was conducted using the Science Direct, PubMed, Scielo, Web of Science and Google Scholar databases, employing the following descriptors: antimicrobial marine sponges, antioxidant marine sponges, and biological activity of marine sponges. The inclusion criteria were: (1) publications from the year 2022 onwards; (2) written in English or Portuguese; and (3) that evaluated biological activities. Exclusion criteria included: (1) duplicate studies; (2) studies that were not within the scope; and (3) studies that did not evaluate biological activities. As a result of this survey, it was possible to isolate and identify 262 compounds from different metabolic classes, with terpenes, lipids, and alkaloids being highlighted. The extracts, fractions, and isolates were investigated for their antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxic properties. The sponges demonstrated broad-spectrum antimicrobial potential and cytotoxic potential against various cancer cell lines. Based on data analysis, it is concluded that the studied compounds show promise for the development of drugs for microorganism control and cancer treatment, acting through different mechanisms of action., (© 2024 Wiley-VHCA AG, Zurich, Switzerland.)

Marine sponges are valuable sources of bioactive compounds, which have attracted pharmacological interest. This study aimed to evaluate the chemical profile, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities of the species Desmapsamma anchorata, Dysidea etheria, and Echinodictyum dendroides. The chemical profile involved identifying and quantifying polyphenols, and antioxidant activity was evaluated using various methods. The antibacterial and modulatory activities were evaluated using microdilution against pathogenic strains. The extracts contained a low amount of polyphenols. In the antioxidant assays, the EACDa and EMDa extracts exhibited better inhibitory results. In the antibacterial evaluation, extracts presented MIC ≥1024 μg mL -1 . The modulation of the extracts combined with antibiotics showed significant effects against the multiresistant bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This study contributes to the deepening of chemical and biological knowledge of sponge species. It indicates that their extracts can act as good modulators of bacterial resistance to aminoglycoside antibiotics, which requires further investigation into their mechanisms of action., (© 2024 Wiley-VHCA AG, Zurich, Switzerland.)

Melipona subnitida (Ducke, 1911), a species of stingless bee, popularly known as Jandaíra, has a wide distribution in the Brazilian Northeast region, being an important pollinator of the Caatinga biome. This bee produces products such as honey, geopropolis, pollen (saburá) and wax that are traditionally used for therapeutic purposes and some studies report the biological properties, as well as its chemical composition. This review aimed to select, analyze and gather data published in the literature focusing on the chemical profile and bioactivities described for M. subnitida products. Data collection was carried out through the Capes Journal Portal platform, using the following databases: Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed. Original articles published in English and Portuguese were included, with no time limitation. The chemical composition of M. subnitida products has been investigated through chromatographic analysis, demonstrating the presence of a variety of phenolic compounds, such as flavonoids and phenylpropanoids, among other classes of secondary metabolites. These products also have several biological activities, including antioxidant, healing, antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, antidyslipidemic, antiobesity, antifungal, antibacterial and prebiotic. Among the biological activities reported, the antioxidant activity was the most investigated. These data show that products derived from the stingless bee M. subnitida have promising bioactive compounds. This review provides useful information about the bioactivities and chemical profile of Melipona subnitida bee products, and a direction for future research, which should focus on understanding the mechanisms of action associated with the already elucidated pharmacological activities, as well as the bioactive properties of the main isolate's constituents identified in the chemical composition of these products., (© 2023 Wiley-VHCA AG, Zurich, Switzerland.)

Quinones are natural products widely distributed in nature, which are involved in stages of several vital biological processes, with mostly having a variety of pharmacological properties. The main groups comprising most of these compounds are benzoquinones, naphthoquinones, anthraquinones, and phenanthraquinones. Quinone isolation has been a focus of study around the world in recent years; for this reason, this study approaches the junction of natural quinones identified by 13 C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopic analytical techniques. The methodology used to obtain the data collected articles from various databases on quinones from 2000 to 2022. As a result, 137 compounds were selected, among which 70 were characterized for the first time in the period investigated; moreover, the study also discusses the biosynthetic pathways of quinones and the pharmacological activities of the compounds found, giving an overview of the various applications of these compounds., (© 2023 Wiley-VHCA AG, Zurich, Switzerland.)

In this study, twelve campesterol derivatives (2-13) were prepared by esterification reaction at the hydroxy group in C-3 and catalytic hydrogenation at the carbon-carbon double bond in C-5(6). All obtained compounds were characterized by IR, 1 H-NMR, 13 C-NMR, and MS spectra. Campesterol (1) and its derivatives (2-13) were evaluated in vitro against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538), Streptococcus mutans (ATCC 0046), Escherichia coli (ATCC 10536), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 15442), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 10031) using the microdilution method. Among tested compounds, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12, and 13 displayed the best antibacterial activity. Moreover, to support the antibacterial activity experiments, the investigation of molecular interactions of more active compounds, and also compound 1 and neomycin, used as starting material and positive control, respectively, at the binding site of the target proteins was performed using molecular docking simulations. Four compounds (7, 9, 10 and 11) are herein described for the first time., (© 2023 Wiley-VHCA AG, Zurich, Switzerland.)