Anti-leishmanial and cytotoxic compounds isolated from marine sponge Hemimycale sp.

The methanolic extract of the marine sponge Hemimycale sp. yielded two new compounds; 1-(2'-methyl heptadecyl) phenol (1) and a new pyrazole derivative; 4-(hydroxymethyl)-1H-pyrazol-3-ol (2), together with previously isolated (2'R)-2'-hydroxy-N-((2S,3S,4R)-1,3,4-trihydroxy-16-methylpentadecan-2-yl)docosanamide (3), cholesterol (4), 5, 8-epi-dioxycholest-6-en-3-ol (5) and 3-acetylsesterstatin 3 (6), which were firstly reported from family Hymedesmiidae. Their structure elucidation was based on extensive nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and high resolution-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry. The isolated compounds were evaluated for their anti-leishmanial and cytotoxic activities. Compound 5 showed remarkable anti-leishmanial activity with IC₅₀ value of 15.8 ± 0.92 µg/mL comparable with the standard miltefosine (IC₅₀ = 3.2 ± 0.07 µg/mL), while compound 3 exhibited noteworthy cytotoxicity against A594 cell line with IC₅₀ value of 29.6 ± 1.68 µg/mL compared to etoposide (IC₅₀ = 10.9 ± 1.30 µg/mL).