Anti-inflammatory and Anti-diabetic Potential of Echinoderm Species from Mindanao, Philippines

Abstract

The island of Mindanao in the Philippines is a haven of marine resources. The abundance of echinoderm species serves as the motivation of the present study to discover new anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic natural sources from the sea. Methanol and hexane extracts of seven echinoderm species, namely, Culcita novaeguineae (Cn), Marthasterias glacialis (Mg), Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis (Sd), Bohadschia argus (Ba), Acanthaster planci (Apl), Actinopyga palauensis (Apa), and Choriaster granulatus (Cg) were subjected to bovine serum albumin (BSA) denaturation and α-amylase inhibition assays to evaluate their anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic potentials, respectively. At 25 µg/mL, all hexane extracts exhibited anti-inflammatory activity comparable to the positive control Naproxen (% inhibition of BSA denaturation = 90.75 ± 1.72) with Apl (% inhibition = 93.07 ± 1.35) leading. Among the methanol extracts, Ba exhibited the highest anti-inflammatory activity (% inhibition = 93.01 ± 2.29) and only Apa registered no inhibition. For antidiabetic activity at 25 µg/mL, the hexane extract of Sd (% α-amylase inhibition = 95.75 ± 0.32) exhibited the highest activity while those of Apl, Apa, and Mg showed no inhibition. All the methanol extracts demonstrated varying α-amylase inhibition with Apa registering the highest (% inhibition = 91.70 ± 0.32). Moreover, all α-amylase inhibitions were comparable to the positive control acarbose (Glucobay, % α-amylase inhibition = 73.01 ± 4.59.) The results are promising, but further studies need to be done to confirm these results prior to purification and isolation of bioactive compounds from these marine species.