Anti-inflammatory sesquiterpene-quinones from the New Zealand sponge Dysidea cf. cristagalli.

The inhibition of superoxide production by human neutrophils has been used to screen New Zealand's unique biota for anti-inflammatory natural products. Bioactivity-directed isolation on an extract of the sponge Dysidea cf. cristagalli led to a new sesquiterpene-quinone (4) with anti-inflammatory activity, plus acetylated hydroquinone (3). These compounds inhibited superoxide production in vitro with IC50's of 3 microM (3) and 11 microM (4).