Antimalarial activity of the isolates from the marine sponge Hyrtios erectus against the chloroquine-resistant Dd2 strain of Plasmodium falciparum

Abstract

This work reports the isolation of the three known compounds, smenotronic acid (1), ilimaquinone (2), and pelorol (3), from the 85% methanol (MeOH)-soluble fraction of the sponge Hyrtios erectus. The structures of the isolated compounds were determined with the help of modern spectroscopic techniques, and the resulting compounds were then subjected to in vitro screening to determine their antimalarial potential against the chloroquine-resistant Dd2 strain of Plasmodium falciparum. Amongst the three compounds, pelorol (3) showed significant activity against P. falciparum with an IC50 value of 0.8 mu M. For smenotronic acid (1) and ilimaquinone (2), moderate activities were observed with IC50 values of 3.51 and 2.11 mu M, respectively.