Potentiality of benthic dinoflagellate cultures and screening of their bioactivities in Jeju Island, Korea

Eleven strains of benthic dinoflagellates (Amphidinium carterae (D1), Prorocentrum rhathymum (D2),Symbiodinium sp. (D3), Coolia malayensis 1 (D4), Ostreopsis ovata 1 (D5), Ostreopsis ovata 2 (D6),Coolia malayensis 2 (D7), Amphidinium operculatum 1 (D8), Heterocapsa psammophila (D9), Cooliamalayensis 3 (D10) and Amphidinium operculatum 2 (D11)) were collected in Jeju Island, Korea and cultured in 20 L carboys after establishing unialgal cultures. Their growth potential and biomass productivity were evaluated using two different culture media (IMK and f/2 medium); it was found thatIMK medium has the potential to culture benthic dinoflagellates compared to commonly used f/2 medium. Among the benthic dinoflagellates, A. carterae (D1) had the maximum cell density (148.6 × 103 cells mL-1), growth rate (0.317 ± 0.01 divisions day-1) and biomass (0.260 ± 0.03 g L-1 dry weight) in IMK medium at 20 days of culture. Also, screened bioactivities among the methanolic extracts of cultured dinoflagellates showed A. carterae (D1) to have the highest antioxidant and  anti-inflammatory effect and O. ovata 1 (D5) had the highest anticancer activity compared to the other strains. Taken together, this is the first report on the growth potential and biomass production of benthic dinoflagellate strains isolated from Jeju Island in appropriate culture medium as well as their importance in potential pharmacological applications.Key words: Amphidinium carterae, benthic dinoflagellates, biomass, bioactivities, culture conditions, Jeju Island

Solubility enhancement of simvastatin by arginine: thermodynamics, solute–solvent interactions, and spectral analysis

MMR Meor Mohd Affandi,1,2 Minaketan Tripathy,1,3 Syed Adnan Ali Shah,3,4 ABA Majeed1,3 1Laboratory of Fundamental Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Bandar Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia; 2DDH Core, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia; 3Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Core, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia; 4Atta-ur-Rahman Institute for Natural Products Discovery (AuRIns), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Bandar Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia Abstract: We examined the solubility of simvastatin in water in 0.01 mol·dm-3, 0.02 mol·dm-3, 0.04 mol·dm-3, 0.09 mol·dm-3, 0.18 mol·dm-3, 0.36 mol·dm-3, and 0.73 mol·dm-3 arginine (ARG) solutions. The investigated drug is termed the solute, whereas ARG the cosolute. Phase solubility studies illustrated a higher extent of solubility enhancement for simvastatin. The aforementioned system was subjected to conductometric and volumetric measurements at temperatures (T) of 298.15 K, 303.15 K, 308.15 K, and 313.15 K to illustrate the thermodynamics involved and related solute–solvent interactions. The conductance values were used to evaluate the limiting molar conductance and association constants. Thermodynamic parameters (ΔG0, ΔH0, ΔS0, and Es) for the association process of the solute in the aqueous solutions of ARG were calculated. Limiting partial molar volumes and expansibilities were evaluated from the density values. These values are discussed in terms of the solute–solvent and solute–cosolute interactions. Further, these systems were analyzed using ultraviolet–visible analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and 13C, 1H, and two-dimensional nuclear overhauser effect spectroscopy nuclear magnetic resonance to complement thermophysical explanation. Keywords: simvastatin–arginine complex, solubility, volumetric, conductometric, spectroscop