K. Chairman¹ , M. Jeyamala¹ , S. Sankar² , A. Murugan¹ , A.J.A. Ranjit Singh¹

1. Department of Advanced Zoology and Biotechnology, Sri Paramakalyani College, Alwarkurichi, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu, 627 412, India
2. CAS in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai, 608502, India
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Marine Science, 2013, Vol. 3, No. 19   doi: 10.5376/ijms.2013.03.0019
Received: 19 Mar., 2013    Accepted: 16 Apr., 2013    Published: 22 Apr., 2013

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Chairman et al., 2013, Immunomodulating Properties of Bioactive Compounds Present in Aurora globostellata, International Journal of Marine Science, Vol.3, No.19 151-157 (doi: 10.5376/ijms.2013.03.0019)

Marine sponges are animals belonging to the Phylum Porifera. They are well known for its medicinal value. However, to prove its efficiency for the clinical utilization, more experimental data will be beneficial. The present study involved the investigation of immunomodulatory activities of ethyl acetate extract of marine sponge Aurora globostellata from Tuticorin coast of India. The extract was studied for acute toxicity (OECD-425 guideline), Haemagglutinating antibody (HA) titre and delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response for their immunomodulatory potential. The evaluation of immunomodulatory potential by oral administration of ethyl acetate extract of marine sponge (200 mg/kg) evoked a significant decrease in total WBC count as compared to control, in antibody titre values, and also in delayed type hypersensitivity reaction induced by sheep red blood cells. The results obtained in the present study indicated that extract of marine sponge Aurora globostellata possesses immunosuppressant activity and can be studied further for isolation of the compounds which can be used for organ rejection purpose in future.

Aurora globostellata; Haemagglutinating antibody (HA) titre; Delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response