Analysis of biochemical components of the cultured copepod Acanthocyclops trajani, and evaluation of its extract as antimicrobial and anticancer activities

Aquatic environment is a vast reservoir of bioactive natural products, many of which exhibit structural and chemical properties not found in terrestrial natural products. However, studies on aquatic medicines have included a very small proportion of aquatic organisms. Copepoda is one of the most diverse groups on earth, yet there are no studies to test omnivores Copepod extract as an antimicrobial and anticancer agent. Therefore, this study aims to improve the sustainable mass production of the copepod Acanthocyclops trojani to evaluate its crude extract for antimicrobial and anticancer activity. GC-MS analysis of A. trajani extract detected 8 bioactive compounds known for their medicinal uses in several previous studies. The A. trajani crude extract showed activity against bacterial strain; S. aureus, E. coli, E. faecali, K. pneumonia, S. lutea and S. typhi with zones of inhibition of 14, 12, 8, 12, 17 and 12 mm, respectively. In addition, A. trajani crude extract showed moderate growth inhibitory activity against HepG2, A549, HCT and MCF7 cancer cell lines (IC50 = 63.064, 18.377, 46.905 and 21.736, respectively) compared to the activity of staurosporine (control). While the normal cells (THLE2, WI38, FHC and MCF10a) were more sensitive to staurosporine than the A. trajani extract. Based on the Cytotoxicity Selective Index (SI) values, the extract showed a selective effect on the lung and breast cancer cells (A549 and MCF7) (SI = 3.07 and 3.1, respectively). Therefore, A. trajani extract offers the potential for further exploitation in the discovery of a novel antibacterial agent and against lung and breast cancer.