Isolation of bioactive 5α,8α-epidioxy sterols from the marine sponge <i>Luffariella cf. variabilis</i>

Abstract

The lipid extract of the marine sponge Luffariella cf. variabilis from Mayotte (Indian Ocean) has proven to be an extraordinarily rich source of a wide variety of unusual steroids belonging to the 5α,8α-epidioxy sterol family. Ten epidioxy sterols have been identified: 5α,8α-epidioxycholesta-6,22-dien-3β-ol, 5α,8α-epidioxycholest-6-en-3β-ol, 5α,8α-epidioxy-24(ξ)-methylcholesta-6,22-dien-3β-ol, 5α,8α-epidioxy-24(S)-methylcholest-6-en-3β-ol and its epimer (24R), 5α,8α-epidioxy-24(S)-ethylcholesta-6,22-dien-3β-ol and its epimer (24R), 5α,8α-epidioxy-24(S)-ethylcholest-6-en-3β-ol and its epimer (24R), along with 5α,8α-epidioxy-24(ξ)-methylcholesta-6,9(11),22-trien-3β-ol. Their structures were determined by nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H, 13 C) and electron impact mass spectrometry. The mixture of the 10 steroids showed inhibitive activity against the human T-cell leukemia/lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) and also displayed cytotoxic activity against the human breast cancer cell line (MCF 7 WT).Key words: Luffariella cf. variabilis, marine sponge, 5α,8α-epidioxy sterols, antitumor and antiviral activities.