scholarly journals Selected Monocyclic Monoterpenes and Their Derivatives as Effective Anticancer Therapeutic Agents

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 4763
Author(s):  
Mariola Zielińska-Błajet ◽  
Przemysław Pietrusiak ◽  
Joanna Feder-Kubis

Terpenes—a diverse group of secondary metabolites—constitute the largest class of natural products abundant in almost every plant species. The properties of concrete terpenes and essential oils have been intensively studied due to their widespread use in the pharmaceutical, food and cosmetics industries. Despite the popularity of these aromatic compounds, their derivatives, terpenoids, are still not comprehensively characterized despite exhibiting potent bioactive properties. This review aims to assess the anticancer properties of selected monoterpenes including carvone, carvacrol, perillyl alcohol, perillaldehyde, limonene, menthol and their derivatives while also evaluating potential applications as novel anticancer treatments. Special attention is paid to functional groups that improve the bioactivity of monoterpene molecules. This review also covers the therapeutic potential of deep eutectic solvents that contain monoterpene substances. Taken together, the literature supports the use of monoterpene derivatives in the development of new alternatives for disease treatment and prevention.

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyoung Sang Cho ◽  
Myeongcheol Shin ◽  
Sunhong Kim ◽  
Sung Bae Lee

Carotenoids, symmetrical tetraterpenes with a linear C40 hydrocarbon backbone, are natural pigment molecules produced by plants, algae, and fungi. Carotenoids have important functions in the organisms (including animals) that obtain them from food. Due to their characteristic structure, carotenoids have bioactive properties, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and autophagy-modulatory activities. Given the protective function of carotenoids, their levels in the human body have been significantly associated with the treatment and prevention of various diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases. In this paper, we review the latest studies on the effects of carotenoids on neurodegenerative diseases in humans. Furthermore, animal and cellular model studies on the beneficial effects of carotenoids on neurodegeneration are also reviewed. Finally, we discuss the possible mechanisms and limitations of carotenoids in the treatment and prevention of neurological diseases.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (20) ◽  
pp. 2292-2303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Negar Talaei Zanjani ◽  
Monica Miranda Saksena ◽  
Fariba Dehghani ◽  
Anthony L. Cunningham

Hemocyanins are large and versatile glycoproteins performing various immunological and biological functions in many marine invertebrates including arthropods and molluscs. This review discusses the various pharmacological applications of mollusc hemocyanin such as antiviral activity, immunostimulatory and anticancer properties that have been reported in the literature between the years 2000 and 2016. Emphasis is placed on a better mechanistic understanding of hemocyanin as a therapeutic agent. Elucidation of the mechanism of action is essential to improve the clinical efficacy and for a better understanding of some endogenous immunological functions of this complex glycoprotein.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 428
Author(s):  
Douglas Kemboi Magozwi ◽  
Mmabatho Dinala ◽  
Nthabiseng Mokwana ◽  
Xavier Siwe-Noundou ◽  
Rui W. M. Krause ◽  
...  

Plants of the genus Euphorbia are widely distributed across temperate, tropical and subtropical regions of South America, Asia and Africa with established Ayurvedic, Chinese and Malay ethnomedical records. The present review reports the isolation, occurrence, phytochemistry, biological properties, therapeutic potential and structure–activity relationship of Euphorbia flavonoids for the period covering 2000–2020, while identifying potential areas for future studies aimed at development of new therapeutic agents from these plants. The findings suggest that the extracts and isolated flavonoids possess anticancer, antiproliferative, antimalarial, antibacterial, anti-venom, anti-inflammatory, anti-hepatitis and antioxidant properties and have different mechanisms of action against cancer cells. Of the investigated species, over 80 different types of flavonoids have been isolated to date. Most of the isolated flavonoids were flavonols and comprised simple O-substitution patterns, C-methylation and prenylation. Others had a glycoside, glycosidic linkages and a carbohydrate attached at either C-3 or C-7, and were designated as d-glucose, l-rhamnose or glucorhamnose. The structure–activity relationship studies showed that methylation of the hydroxyl groups on C-3 or C-7 reduces the activities while glycosylation loses the activity and that the parent skeletal structure is essential in retaining the activity. These constituents can therefore offer potential alternative scaffolds towards development of new Euphorbia-based therapeutic agents.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1609
Author(s):  
Lutfun Nahar ◽  
Shaymaa Al-Majmaie ◽  
Afaf Al-Groshi ◽  
Azhar Rasul ◽  
Satyajit D. Sarker

Dihydrofuranocoumarin, chalepin (1) and furanocoumarin, chalepensin (2) are 3-prenylated bioactive coumarins, first isolated from the well-known medicinal plant Ruta chalepensis L. (Fam: Rutaceae) but also distributed in various species of the genera Boenminghausenia, Clausena and Ruta. The distribution of these compounds appears to be restricted to the plants of the family Rutaceae. To date, there have been a considerable number of bioactivity studies performed on coumarins 1 and 2, which include their anticancer, antidiabetic, antifertility, antimicrobial, antiplatelet aggregation, antiprotozoal, antiviral and calcium antagonistic properties. This review article presents a critical appraisal of publications on bioactivity of these 3-prenylated coumarins in the light of their feasibility as novel therapeutic agents and investigate their natural distribution in the plant kingdom, as well as a plausible biosynthetic route.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 6115
Author(s):  
Boris Mravec

Research on the neurobiology of cancer, which lies at the border of neuroscience and oncology, has elucidated the mechanisms and pathways that enable the nervous system to modulate processes associated with cancer initiation and progression. This research has also shown that several drugs which modulate interactions between the nervous system and the tumor micro- and macroenvironments significantly reduced the progression of cancer in animal models. Encouraging results were also provided by prospective clinical trials investigating the effect of drugs that reduce adrenergic signaling on the course of cancer in oncological patients. Moreover, it has been shown that reducing adrenergic signaling might also reduce the incidence of cancer in animal models, as well as in humans. However, even if many experimental and clinical findings have confirmed the preventive and therapeutic potential of drugs that reduce the stimulatory effect of the nervous system on processes related to cancer initiation and progression, several questions remain unanswered. Therefore, the aim of this review is to critically evaluate the efficiency of these drugs and to discuss questions that need to be answered before their introduction into conventional cancer treatment and prevention.


Author(s):  
Eduardo Silva ◽  
Filipe Oliveira ◽  
Joana M. Silva ◽  
Rui L. Reis ◽  
Ana Rita C. Duarte

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 733-738 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Manurung ◽  
Taslim ◽  
A.G.A. Siregar

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have numerous potential applications as cosolvents. In this study, use of DES as organic solvents for enzymatic biodiesel production from degumming palm oil (DPO) was investigated. Deep eutectic solvent was synthesized using choline chloride salt (ChCl) compounds with glycerol and 1,2-propanediol. Deep eutectic solvent was characterized by viscosity, density, pH and freezing values, which were tested for effectiveness by enzymatic reactions for the production of palm biodiesel with raw materials DPO. Deep eutectic solvent of ChCl and glycerol produced the highest biodiesel yield (98.98%); weight of DES was only 0.5 % of that of the oil. In addition, the use of DES maintained the activity and stability of novozym enzymes, which was assessed as the yield until the 6th usage, which was 95.07 % biodiesel yield compared with the yield without using DES. Hence, using DES, glycerol in enzymatic biodiesel production had high potentiality as an organic solvent for palm oil biodiesel production


2015 ◽  
Vol 309 (10) ◽  
pp. F821-F834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pinelopi P. Kapitsinou ◽  
Volker H. Haase

More effective therapeutic strategies for the prevention and treatment of acute kidney injury (AKI) are needed to improve the high morbidity and mortality associated with this frequently encountered clinical condition. Ischemic and/or hypoxic preconditioning attenuates susceptibility to ischemic injury, which results from both oxygen and nutrient deprivation and accounts for most cases of AKI. While multiple signaling pathways have been implicated in renoprotection, this review will focus on oxygen-regulated cellular and molecular responses that enhance the kidney's tolerance to ischemia and promote renal repair. Central mediators of cellular adaptation to hypoxia are hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs). HIFs play a crucial role in ischemic/hypoxic preconditioning through the reprogramming of cellular energy metabolism, and by coordinating adenosine and nitric oxide signaling with antiapoptotic, oxidative stress, and immune responses. The therapeutic potential of HIF activation for the treatment and prevention of ischemic injuries will be critically examined in this review.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 397-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Awais Anwar ◽  
Emma Gould ◽  
Ryan Tinson ◽  
Javaid Iqbal ◽  
Chris Hamilton

Abstract Purpose of review This article provides a brief overview of natural phytoprotective products of allium with a special focus on the therapeutic potential of diallyl polysulfanes from garlic, their molecular targets and their fate in the living organisms. A comprehensive overview of antimicrobial and anticancer properties of published literature is presented for the reader to understand the effective concentrations of polysulfanes and their sensitivity towards different human pathogenic microbes, fungi, and cancer cell lines. Recent findings The article finds polysulfanes potentials as new generation novel antibiotics and chemo preventive agent. The effective dose rates of polysulfanes for antimicrobial properties are in the range of 0.5–40 mg/L and for anticancer 20–100 μM. The molecular targets for these redox modulators are mainly cellular thiols as well as inhibition and/or activation of certain cellular proteins in cancer cell lines. Summary Antimicrobial and anticancer activities of polysulfanes published in the literature indicate that with further development, they could be promising candidates for cancer prevention due to their selectivity towards abnormal cells.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document