Objective: To evaluate the in vitro antioxidant activity of Sargassum wightii (S. wightii) andUlva lactuca (U. lactuca). Methods: Dried seaweeds of S. wightii and U. lactuca were tested for total phenolic content. In vitro antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH assay and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Functional groups of two seaweeds were analysed by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Results: The highest total phenolic content was observed in S. wightii (0.65±0.02 mg GAE/g) when compared with U. lactuca. In vitro antioxidant activity of S. wightii showed higher activity in all assays than U. lactuca with the higher total antioxidant activity (123.40±4.00 mg ascorbic acid/g), DPPH radical scavenging activity (108.06±1.02)% and ferric reducing antioxidant power (153.40±1.41 mg GAE/g). FITR spectrum of standard gallic acid was compared with seaweeds and same number of peaks lying between 449.32 and 3 495.89 cm-1 and 462.89 and 3 407.05 cm-1 was recorded. Conclusions: These results show that S. wightii has higher antioxidant capacity than U. lactuca. Further study is necessary to exploit the multifunctional properties of seaweeds which will be usefull to treat many diseases.

Objective: To evaluate the antiangiogenic potential of twenty two marine invertebrate species of Phylum Mollusca from south east coast of India.Methods:Live specimens of molluscan species were collected and their methanolic extracts were evaluated for preliminary antiangiogenic activity using the in ovo chick chorio-allantoic membrane assay. The extracts were further evaluated for in vivo antiangiogenic activity using chemical cautery induced corneal neovascularization assay in rats and oxygen induced retinopathy assay in rat pups.Results:In the chick chorio-allantoic membrane assay, four methanolic extracts of marine molluscan species viz. Meretrix meretrix, Meretrix casta, Telescopium telescopium and Bursacrumena methanolic extracts exhibited noticeable antiangiogenic activity at the tested concentration of 200 μg whereby they significantly inhibited the VEGF induced proliferation of new blood vessels. Among these four extracts, the methanolic extract of Meretrix casta exhibited relatively higher degree of antiangiogenic activity with an inhibitiory percentage (64.63%) of the VEGF induced neovascularization followed by the methanolic extracts of Telescopium telescopium (62.02%), Bursa crumena (60.48%) and Meretrix meretrix (47.01%). These four methanolic extracts were further evaluated for in vivo antiangiogenic activity whereby the methanolic extract of Telescopium telescopium exhibited most noticeable inhibition (42.58%) of the corneal neovascularization in rats in comparison to the sham treated group, and also exhibited most noticeable inhibition (31.31%) of the oxygen induced retinal neovascularization in rat pups in comparison to the hyperoxia group that was observed for considerable retinal neovascularization.Conclusions:The significant antiangiogenic activity evinced by the extract of Telescopium telescopium merits further investigation for ocular neovascular diseases.

Objective:To determine the antibacterial, antifungal, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the protease activity of the stingray mucus Dasyatis sephen (D. sephen) and Himantura gerrardi (H. gerrardi). Methods: Antimicrobial activity of crude aqueous, acidic and organic mucus extract was evaluated by disc diffusion method against human pathogens, MIC of the active samples were determined by spectrophotometric method and the protease activity which is responsible for the antimicrobial activity was determined by using zymogram method. Results:The crude acidic extracts of both the species showed antibacterial activity against Salmonella typhi (S. typhi), Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus aureus, Escherichia coli (E. coli), Vibrio cholerae (V. cholerae) and the acidic extracts of both the species exhibit antifungal activity against all the tested pathogens. Remaining extracts didn't show any inhibitory activity. The acidic extracts of H. gerrardi is significantly active against S. typhi, E. coli, V. cholerae, Trichophyton mentagrophytes (T. mentagrophytes), Alternaria alternaria (A. alternaria), Trichophyton rubrum (T. rubrum), Candida tropicalis (C. tropicalis) at the minimum concentration of 16μg/mL, but the acidic extract of D. sephen required 32μg/mL of protein to inhibit S.typhi, E. coli, Aspergillus niger (A. niger), penicillium sp, T. mentagrophytes, A. alternaria. Both the D. sephen and H. gerrardi shows the proteolytic activity above the molecular mass of> 66 KDa. The characterization of protease class using inhibitors showed the presence of both serine and metallo protease in the the samples. Conclusions:Protease activity present in the sting ray mucus is one of the key factor responsible for the antimicrobial activity and the results proved the role of mucus in the innate immunity.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the antiangiogenic potential of twenty two marine invertebrate species of Phylum Mollusca from south east coast of India.

METHODSLive specimens of molluscan species were collected and their methanolic extracts were evaluated for preliminary antiangiogenic activity using the in ovo chick chorio-allantoic membrane assay. The extracts were further evaluated for in vivo antiangiogenic activity using chemical cautery induced corneal neovascularization assay in rats and oxygen induced retinopathy assay in rat pups.

RESULTSIn the chick chorio-allantoic membrane assay, four methanolic extracts of marine molluscan species viz. Meretrix meretrix, Meretrix casta, Telescopium telescopium and Bursa crumena methanolic extracts exhibited noticeable antiangiogenic activity at the tested concentration of 200 µg whereby they significantly inhibited the VEGF induced proliferation of new blood vessels. Among these four extracts, the methanolic extract of Meretrix casta exhibited relatively higher degree of antiangiogenic activity with an inhibitiory percentage (64.63%) of the VEGF induced neovascularization followed by the methanolic extracts of Telescopium telescopium (62.02%), Bursa crumena (60.48%) and Meretrix meretrix (47.01%). These four methanolic extracts were further evaluated for in vivo antiangiogenic activity whereby the methanolic extract of Telescopium telescopium exhibited most noticeable inhibition (42.58%) of the corneal neovascularization in rats in comparison to the sham treated group, and also exhibited most noticeable inhibition (31.31%) of the oxygen induced retinal neovascularization in rat pups in comparison to the hyperoxia group that was observed for considerable retinal neovascularization.

CONCLUSIONSThe significant antiangiogenic activity evinced by the extract of Telescopium telescopium merits further investigation for ocular neovascular diseases.