Chronic inflammation can extensively burden a healthcare system. Several synthetic anti-inflammatory drugs are currently available in clinical practice, but each has its own side effect profile. The planet is gifted with vast and diverse oceans, which provide a treasure of bioactive compounds, the chemical structures of which may provide valuable pharmaceutical agents. Marine organisms contain a variety of bioactive compounds, some of which have anti-inflammatory activity and have received considerable attention from the scientific community for the development of anti-inflammatory drugs. This review describes such bioactive compounds, as well as crude extracts (published during 2010-2022) from echinoderms: namely, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and starfish. Moreover, we also include their chemical structures, evaluation models, and anti-inflammatory activities, including the molecular mechanism(s) of these compounds. This paper also highlights the potential applications of those marine-derived compounds in the pharmaceutical industry to develop leads for the clinical pipeline. In conclusion, this review can serve as a well-documented reference for the research progress on the development of potential anti-inflammatory drugs from echinoderms against various chronic inflammatory conditions.
Keywords: anti-inflammatory activity; echinoderm; inflammatory pathways; marine drugs; sea cucumber; sea urchin; starfish.