Chemical investigation of the Red Sea sponge Mycale euplectellioides afforded two new compounds; hexacosa-(6Z,10Z)-dienoic acid methyl ester (1) and hexacosa-(6Z,10Z)-dienoic acid (2), along with two known compounds: icosa-(8Z,11Z)-dienoic acid methyl ester (3) and β-sitosterol (4). The structures were elucidated by the interpretation of their spectral data. The total methanol extract (TME) of the sponge exhibited potent antimicrobial activity against the different strains at a concentration of 100 mg/mL. All tested fractions did not exhibit any activity against Serratia marcescens and tested fungal strains. The TME and different fractions displayed anti-inflammatory and antipyretic activities at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg compared with indomethacin (8 mg). The TME exhibited a remarkable hepato-protective effect in CCl4-induced liver damage compared with silymarin. Furthermore, compounds 1 and 2 displayed weak activity against A549 non-small cell lung cancer, the U373 glioblastoma and the PC-3 prostate cancer cell lines.
Keywords: Mycale euplectellioides; Red Sea sponge; anti-inflammatory; cancer growth inhibitory activity; fatty acids; hepato-protective.