In the present study, we screened the biological activity of extracts from the marine sponge Halichondria panicea collected in the Arabian Sea. Crude toxin was obtained by methanol, chloroform-methanol (2:1) and aqueous extraction. Subsequently, the protein concentration of each crude extract was determined. The impact of both sponge methanolic and aqueous extracts was found to increase activities of Na+-K+ ATP-ase and Mg++ ATP-ase. In the case of chloroform-methanol extract, higher concentrations increased acetylcholine esterase (AchE) activity. The methanolic and chloroform-methanol extracts exhibited hemolytic activity on chicken and human erythrocytes, whereas the aqueous extract failed to do so. Methanol and aqueous extracts produced an... |