Dolabellane diterpenes from the Caribbean soft corals Eunicea laciniata and Eunicea asperula and determination of their anti HSV-1 activity

Dolabellane diterpenes have considerable antiviral activity, but most studies have been focused towards compounds isolated from Dictyota brown algae. Although soft corals are also a significant source of these diterpenes, their antiviral potential has not been studied in detail. With the aim of assessing the biological activity of marine sources, we evaluated the dolabellane content in the soft corals Eunicea laciniata and E. asperula collected in Santa Marta, Colombian Caribbean. Dolabellanes 1-6 were isolated from E. laciniata while compounds 2, 4 and 5 were isolated from E. asperula. All compounds were identified by NMR, GC-EIMS, optical rotation and comparison with previously reported dolabellanes. GC-EIMS analyses showed that dolabellatrienone (2) transforms into compounds 4 and 5 as oxidation products upon prolonged storage; however, those compounds were also naturally present in the extract of the studied organisms. Pure dolabellanes were tested in vitro in antiviral assays against HSV-1. Compound 6 inhibited virus replication in infected cells (73.7% of inhibition at 50 mu M) without cytotoxic effect (CC50 = 959), showing similar activity to the positive control Acyclovir (R). Thus, compound 6 is an interesting candidate for further studies of dolabellanes as antivirals.