The Sea – A Source Of Bioactive Substances

Abstract

Seventy-five percent of the Earth's surface is covered in water. The marine environment provides a huge ecological resource, including a variety of marine plants and animals, and is an exclusive reservoir for bioactive substances many of which have structural and chemical characteristics that are absent in natural terrestrial products. These marine organisms are researched as antibacterial, immunomodulating, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, antimicrobial, neuroprotective, analgesic and antimalarial agents with some of them having proven themselves as homeopathic monoremedies. At present, there are ten drugs of marine origin approved in different parts of the world, and thirteen compounds are at different stages of clinical trials. There are many marine compounds/molecules that are in the pre-clinical stage of testing. Substances of marine origin are also used in homeopathy, 6 monoremedies extracted from marine organisms are registered in Bulgaria. Marine pharmacology presents a huge field for research of medicines of marine origin, but nevertheless the available registered drugs derived from marine organisms are relatively limited. Interest in marine species is on the rise. The explanation for this is more than four billion years of evolution invested in the combined chemistry of marine organisms’ bioactive substances, aimed at appropriate and effective biological activity.