Active Compounds from Sea Cucumber

Dear Colleagues,

Sea cucumbers are marine animals with an interesting lifestyle and a unique system of defense. They have different pharmacological, nutraceutical and medicinal activities due to the remarkable differences in the type and quantity of compounds they produce. Sea cucumbers are referred to as “marine ginseng” since they have been used either whole or in part in traditional folk medicine in many Asian countries to cure diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, joint pain, tendonitis, osteoarthritis, cardiovascular, ankylosing spondylitis, arthralgia, tumors, fungal infection, gastric, impotence, frequent urination and kidney deficiency, high blood pressure and muscular disorders.

Therefore, it is recognized that these holothurians have the ability to generate a wide range of distinctive biologically and pharmacologically important compounds with diverse chemistries which include saponins (triterpene glycosides), fatty acids, lipids, minerals, carotenoids, sphingosine, bioactive proteins (enzymes, collagen, gelatine, peptides, amino acids), vitamins, carbohydrates, mucopolysaccharides, glycosaminoglycan (GAGS, chondroitin/fucan sulphates), fucoidan, phenolics and flavonoids.

This Special Issue on “Active Compounds from Sea Cucumbers” aims to collate contributions on the latest information on the discovery, characterization, biological, pharmacological and medical evaluation and modes of actions of the many compounds from sea cucumbers. The presence and power of these active ingredients have led to a rapid growth and development in various biomedical and functional food applications which are important to human health.

Prof. Cusimano Maria Grazia
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Marine Drugs is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.