Skip to main content
Publications | Persons | Institutes | Projects
[ report an error in this record ]basket (0): add | show Print this page

Overview of natural antiplasmodials from the last decade to inspire medicinal chemistry
Degotte, G.; Pirotte, B.; Francotte, P.; Frédérich, M. (2021). Overview of natural antiplasmodials from the last decade to inspire medicinal chemistry. Curr. Med. Chem. 28(30): 6199-6233. https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/0929867328666210329112354
In: Current Medicinal Chemistry. Bentham Science Publishers: Schiphol. ISSN 0929-8673; e-ISSN 1875-533X, more
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Keywords
Author keywords
    Malaria; Plasmodium; natural products; antiplasmodial; marine products; fungi; bacteria

Authors  Top 

Abstract

    Background: Despite major advances in the fight against this parasitic disease, malaria remained a major cause of concern in 2021. This infection, mainly due to Plasmodium falciparum, causes more than 200 million cases every year and hundreds of thousands deaths in the developing regions, mostly in Africa. The last statistics show an increase in the cases for the third consecutive year; from 211 million in 2015, it has reached 229 million in 2019. This trend could be partially explained by the appearance of resistanceto all the used antimalarials, including artemisinin. Thus, the design of new anti-Plasmodium compounds is an urgent need. For thousands of years, nature has offered humans medicines to cure their diseases or the inspiration for the development of new active principles. It then seems logical to explore the natural sources to find new molecules to treat this parasitosis.

    Methods: Therefore, this review reports and analyzes the extracts (plants, bacteria, sponges, fungi) and the corresponding isolated compounds, showing antiplasmodial properties between 2013 and 2019.

    Results and Conclusion: Nature remains a major source of active compounds. Indeed, 648 molecules from various origins, mostly plants, have been reported for their inhibitory effect on Plasmodium falciparum. Among them, 188 scaffolds were defined as highly active with IC50 ≤ 5 μM, and have been reported here in detail. Moreover, the most active compounds showed a large variety of structures, such as flavonoids, triterpenes, and alkaloids. Therefore, these compounds could be an interesting source of inspiration for medicinal chemists; several of these molecules could become the next leads for malaria treatment.


All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors