Bioactive compounds from Octopus vulgaris ink extracts exerted anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory effects in vitro

Abstract

Underutilized marine food products such as cephalopods’ ink could be sources of bioactive compounds providing health benefits. This study aimed to assess the anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory effects from Octopus vulgaris ink extracts (hexane-, ethyl acetate-, dichloromethane- (DM), and water extracts) using human colorectal (HT-29/HCT116) and breast (MDA-MB-231) cancer cells, and LPS-challenged murine RAW 264.7 cells. Except by ethyl-acetate, all of the extracts exhibited anti-proliferative effects without being cytotoxic to ARPE-19 and RAW 264.7 cells. Among DM fractions (F1/F2/F3), DM-F2 showed the highest anti-proliferative effect (LC50 = 52.64 μg/mL), inducing pro-apoptotic morphological disruptions in HCT116 cells. On RAW 264.7 cells, DM-F2 displayed the lowest nitrites reduction and up-regulation of key-cytokines from the JAK-STAT, PI3K-Akt, and IL-17 pathways. Compared to control, DM-F2 increased IL-4 and decreased NF-κB fluorometric expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Metabolomic analysis of DM-F2 highlighted hexadecanoic acid and 1-(15- methyl-1-oxohexadecyl)-pyrrolidine as the most important metabolites. These compounds also exhibited high in silico binding affinity (− 4.6 to − 5.8 kcal/mol) to IL-1α, IL-1β, and IL-2. Results suggested the joint immunomodulatory and anti-proliferative effect derived from selected compounds of underutilized marine food products such as ink. This is the first report of such biological activities in extracts from O. vulgaris ink.