Eritrean coast of Red Sea is an epicenter of diversified marine ecosystem with high endemic biota. Environmental and ecological conditions around wide number of Islands in Eritrean coast of Red Sea are conducive for shelter and nourishment of many marine flora and fauna. Bioactive secondary metabolites have an extensive role in treatment of many diseases both in its natural forms and extensive key components in synthetic biomedicine. Soft corals belong to phylum Cnidaria are soft fleshy marine organisms which are abundantly found in Southern Red Sea. Among the 180 species of soft corals found worldwide, approximately 40 % are indigenous to Red Sea. These soft corals are rich in novel bioactive compounds with potential cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, HIV inhibitory, antibacterial, antitumor and antifungal activity. The most abundant interesting biomedical compounds found in soft corals are steroids, alkaloids, terpenoids, prostaglandins, sterols and steroid glycosides. In the present review different bioactive compounds with novel biomedical applications and abundance of soft corals around Eritrean coast of Red Sea is discussed.

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软珊瑚的生物活性次生代谢产物（Octocorallia）及其在红海厄立特里亚海岸的分布研究述评

红海的厄立特里亚海岸是生物多样性高发的多元化海洋生态系统的中心。红海厄立特里亚海岸的许多岛屿周围的环境和生态条件有利于许多海洋动植物的庇护和营养。具有生物活性的次生代谢产物以其天然形式和合成生物医学中广泛的关键成分在多种疾病的治疗中具有广泛的作用。柔软的珊瑚属于Cindaria门，是在南红海大量发现的柔软的肉质海洋生物。在全世界发现的180种软珊瑚中，约有40％是红海土著。这些软珊瑚富含新型生物活性化合物，具有潜在的细胞毒性，抗炎，HIV抑制，抗菌，抗肿瘤和抗真菌活性。在软珊瑚中发现的最丰富有趣的生物医学化合物是类固醇，生物碱，萜类，前列腺素，固醇和类固醇糖苷。在本综述中，讨论了具有新颖生物医学应用和红海厄立特里亚海岸周围丰富的软珊瑚的不同生物活性化合物。