Phytol, a precursor of vitamin E was identified from green algae Chaetomorpha antinnina collected from Chullickal, Kochi Kerala coast, using GC-MS. Phytol is an acyclic diterpene alcohol that can be used as a precursor for the manufacture of synthetic forms of vitamin E and vitamin K1. The compound 3,7,11,15-tetramethylhexadec-2-en-1-ol also known as phytol which exist naturally only in single isomeric form having molecular formula C20H40O and molecular mass 296. From the total ion chromatogram more than twenty peaks were observed, the mass spectrum of the peak at Rt 21.53 was resolved and the major fragmentations were noted. Major fragmentation were m/z 71 the base peak, m/z 296 the molecular ion peak, m/z 43, m/z 57, m/z 81, m/z 95, and m/z 123. It was found that there are some other compounds apart from this identified phytol which are more complicated in structure and cannot be characterised using GC-MS. Phytol is reported to have both antimicrobial and anticancer activities. The green algae Chaetomorpha antinnina can be proposed to be a good natural source for production of phytol.
Background:Gorgonians and other octocorals are known to possess a huge array of secondary metabolites in which sterols are the major group of secondary metabolites apart from sesquiterpenes and diterpenes, and the bioactive metabolites could show marked biomedical potential for future drug discovery.Objective:This study was intended for the isolation and identification of sterols from the octocoral Subergorgia reticulata and to evaluate the anticancer and apoptosis-inducing activities of the identified sterols through in vitro and in silico approach.Materials and Methods:The organism was collected from Lakshadweep Island. The isolated sterols were identified using Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The structure was confirmed by using comparison of their spectra those in National Institute of Standard Technology (NIST) library. The apoptosis inducing effect of identified sterols were determined by PASS online prediction. In vitro cytotoxity studies were carried out using Dalton's lymphoma ascites cells (DLA) and the cell viability was determined by trypan blue exclusion method.Results:Six sterols were identified from the soft coral S. reticulata. They are Cholesta-5,22-diene-3ol (3β), Ergosta-5-22-dien-3ol (3β,22E 24S), Cholesterol, 26,26-Dimethyl-5,24(28)-ergostadien-3β-ol. β-sitosterol, and Fucosterol. In silico predictions showed that the identified sterols exhibited remarkable apoptosis agonist activity. The probability of apoptosis agonist activity were found maximum for 26,26-Dimethyl-5,24 (28)-S. reticulata sterol fractions isolated were found to be having anticancer activity.Conclusions:These findings suggest that S. reticulata contained biologically active sterol compounds that may be useful in the treatment of cancer.
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