Comparative cytotoxic and anti-tuberculosis activity of Aplysina caissara marine sponge crude extracts.

Three crude extracts of Aplysina caissara, a marine sponge endemic to Brazil, were tested against a hepatoma cell line and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The results demonstrate that all extracts are toxic and capable of inhibiting cellular growth. Additionally, the extracts produced morphological aberrations and inhibited cell attachment to culture substrates. These effects were dose/time dependent. Our results also suggest that reactive oxygen species (ROS) production is not involved in the cytotoxic processes levied by the extracts employed in this study and that active metabolites are likely to be present in the polar fractions of the crude extracts. Finally, our results indicate that all three extracts exhibit a moderate anti-tuberculosis capacity, and that the removal of an extract's lipid fraction appears to diminish this activity.