Anticonvulsant and analgesic activities of crude extract and its fractions of the defensive secretion from the Mediterranean sponge, Spongia officinalis

The inability to cure contemporary disease such as cancer, AIDS, arthritis, Alzheimer and the growing incidence of drug-resistant infection diseases have stimulated the need for the development of new drugs from natural sources. Since the few last decades, marine environment have been recognized to be a rich sources of bioactive metabolites with varied biological and pharmacological activities [1,2]. Covering around 70% of the planet surface, the oceans possess a huge potential for the new discovery often on novel molecules. The most interesting phyla with respect to pharmacologically active marine compounds include bacteria, fungi, algae, soft corals and gorgonians, sea hares and nudibranchs, bryozoans, tunicates and especially sponges [3]. Marine sponges have been considered as a gold mine during the past few decades with respect to the diversity of their secondary metabolites and continue to provide novel natural products with a remarkable chemical diversity. It is not surprising that a sponge natural product possessed different pharmacological properties such as ceramide from Negombata corticata[4] which displayed anticonvulsant activitiy; manoalide, a sesterpenoid compound, from Luffariella variabilis which displayed anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antibacterial activities [5,6]. The objective of the present study was to evaluate for the first time the potency of crude extract and its semi-purified fractions (F1-F3) of the defensive secretion from Spongia officinalis for inhibiting convulsion induced by PTZ and for inhibiting writhes induced by acetic acid and phenylbenzoquinone with the aim of identifying novel molecules with interesting and potentially useful pharmacological activities.The marine sponge, Spongia officinalis was collected from the Mediterranean Sea, in various areas of the coastal region of Tunisia, at a depth between 2 and 3 meters. The collected samples were cleaned by rising with sea water and distilled water and transported in cool box to