From Marine Debris to a Valuable Medical Resource: A review on biology, chemistry, ethnopharmacology, bioactivity and application in biomedical materials of Cuttlebone

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Cuttlebone (CB), also known as SEPIAE ENDOCONCHA, is the inner shell of cuttlefish and has been employed in traditional medicine in numerous countries since antiquity. Despite its significant medicinal value, CB is often underestimated and discarded on the beach as debris in some countries, which considerably impacts the environment and economy.

The aim of the review: This study aims to elucidate the value of CB, particularly in the context of its medicinal properties, to promote its rational utilization.

Materials and methods: "Haipiaoxiao", "Wuzeigu", "cuttlebone", "cuttle bone", "Sepiae Endoconcha" were used as subject headings for the document retrieval conducted in the CNKI (core journals, CSSCI, CSCD) and Web of Science core collection databases (SCI, SSCI) to collate data pertinent to CB. The bibliometric software VOSviewer was employed to perform keyword co-occurrence analysis on the screened data to determine the research focus of this article. Based on the results of the analysis, a review of relevant articles from scientific databases (e.g., CNKI, Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, Chinese Herbal Classics, Chinese Pharmacopoeia, Doctoral and Master's Theses, and so on) was conducted to explore CB from the perspectives of biology, chemistry, ethnopharmacology, bioactivity, and its application in biomedical materials.

Results: The components of CB include calcium carbonate, protein, peptides, amino acids, nucleosides, polysaccharides, inorganic elements, and other chemical components. Among tthese components, calcium carbonate is the primary component. Several pharmacological activities have been demonstrated in CB, including hemostatic and anticoagulant effects; antiulcer and wound repair effects; antibacterial and antiviral effects; and anti-hyperphosphatemia, osteogenesis, and antioxidant effects. CB has been observed to be nontoxic. Owing to its distinctive "wall-septa" microscopic structure, layer-by-layer destruction characteristics, and multifaceted biological activities, CB is extensively utilized in materials, particularly those in the biomedical field.

Conclusion: CB is a versatile marine product in many fields, including ethnopharmacology and materials science. However, only a limited number of cuttlefish species are currently recognized as sources of medicinal CB. It is essential to comprehensively compare CB from various cuttlefish species to expand the range of potential medicinal uses. Several ethnopharmacological applications of CB require further verification through contemporary research. The processing mechanisms of its processed products needs to be elucidated, and the processing parameters should be quantified and unified to obtain products with homogeneous quality. It is imperative to establish a correlation between the chemical composition of CB and its pharmacological activities to clarify the substance basis of its efficacy.