for example in the treatment of dermatitis trauma or ache clinical tests which have been performed using compositions containing the active substance have specifically demonstrated its activity in restoration of the liver function and in the treatment of seborrhea in a further aspect of this invention there is provided a dietary or health food composition which comprises the active principle described herein together with one or more appropriate base or carrier materials such a composition may for example be useful in the treatment of a hangover in another aspect the present invention provides a cosmetic composition comprising the active principle as described above together with a cosmetic base material in another aspect the present invention provides a composition for the treatment of the skin comprising the active principle as described above together with a topically acceptable carrier or diluent thereof the compositions of the present invention may also incorporate known pharmaceuticals or other active ingredients for example antibiotics or other antibacterial substances further details of this invention will be apparent from the following examples which illustrate the invention without limiting it in any way 280 g of a mixture of liver and gallbladder isolated from 4 kg of shark was homogenised in 300 ml of water and the mixture was centrifuged at 12 000 rpm for 30 minutes to obtain a clear aqueous layer 50 g of ion exchange resin of basic anion exchange type was added to the aqueous layer and the mixture was left to stand overnight the resin was removed by filtration and washed with water the resin was then extracted with 200 ml of 0 5 sodium chloride solution 100 g of xad2 was added to the extracted solution xad2 was removed by filtration and washed with water xad2 was extracted.