Potential applications of marine macrolides: New drugs from the sea?

The sea is an untapped and unexploited wide ecosystem, which results to be extremely rich in diverse species: marine organisms are a source of many compounds and substances with numerous biological activities. Important marine biologically active molecules are, among others, macrolides, which could become the source of new and effective medicaments and therapeutics, due to their potential anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial (not only antibacterial and antifungal, but also antiprotozoal and antiviral), antioxidant, immunomodulant and antitumor capacities. Aim of this review is to examine the biological activities and the potential clinical and pharmaceutical applications of these interesting and fascinating novel marine bioactive compounds.