Holothuria Arenicola as Promising Material for Therapeutic Drugs

Abstract

Marine invertebrates have become attractive as nutraceutical and functional foods and as a source material for the development of therapeutic drugs. The bioactivity of echinoderm, Holothuria arenicola extracts and their secondary metabolites has been identified by researchers as a promising potential rich source of natural drugs. H. arenicola is rich in several phenolic compounds, amino acids, alkaloids and other important nutraceutical compounds. H. arenicola extract has been shown to produce promising antiulcerogenic efficacy that attributed to its high content of chlorogenic acid. The health benefits of H. arenicola are associated with its antioxidant, antifibrotic and antimicrobial effects. H. arenicola extract induced an apparent arrest in the progression of collagen deposition in the cholestatic animals which may be a consequence of the increased mass of regenerated liver cells. The previous work showed that the antibacerial efficacy of H. arenicola body wall extract may be due to its content of polyphenolic compound especially quinine, saponins and terpenoid. Thus, this review aims to elaborates and analyze the role of H. arenicola in the modulation of several organ-specific diseases.