Background
Marine organisms are always considered as one of the richest sources of natural
products. Historically, they are being used as medicines in diverse ailments. In recent
years, researchers have reported several primary and secondary metabolites in marine
organisms (few examples are macroalgae, sponges, seagrasses, bacteria, microalgae),
which serve in numerous disorders, of which 20–25% have shown antiviral,
antimicrobial, antifungal, anticancer or anti-inflammatory properties. According to the
global pharmaceutical website, there are a total of nine approved pharmaceuticals from
a marine source, and apart from this, thirty-one other compounds are currently in a
clinical trial.
Objective
Discovery of potent antiviral drugs is required currently to mitigate life-threatening
viruses. Considerable research exploring the bioactivity of marine macroalgae has been
documented, highlighting the immense biochemical diversity of its primary and
secondary metabolites with a novel mechanism of action, making them perfect sources
for novel antiviral bioactive compounds of pharmaceutical interest.
Methods
Databases utilizing bibliographic databanks, such as PubMed, SpringerLink, Elsevier
journal, Science Direct, Scopus databases, and Google search were surveyed using
keywords anti-viral, seaweeds, antiviral drugs, seagrass, polyphenols, pharmacology,
clinical trials.
Results
Marine phytoplanktons are found to be the major source of several key medicinal
agents (polyphenols, phenolic compounds), which are largely obtained from seaweeds and seagrasses and have shown promising antiviral activity in cell culture studies. This
review explains recent developments regarding antiviral agents from seaweeds and
seagrass.
Keywords: Antiviral Drugs, Polyphenols, Seagrass, Seaweeds.
