scholarly journals Green solvents, plant metabolites, and COVID-19: Challenges and perspectives

BioResources ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 4667-4670
Author(s):  
Michal Jablonský ◽  
František Kreps ◽  
Aleš Ház ◽  
Jozef Šima ◽  
Jozef Jablonský

Acquisition and isolation of value-added substances from natural sources using new types of green solvents are becoming a breakthrough area of 21st century research. In combination with various extraction techniques, there is expected to be a diversification of the use of these solvents for extraction, separation, and the formation of new drug carriers, allowing increased solubility of substances having potential pharmacological properties. Extraction, separation, or increase in the solubility of suitable drug candidates against COVID-19, or other viral diseases, opens new ways to effectively prevent and protect human health in this pandemic period.

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nesibe Ebru Kafkas ◽  
Müberra Kosar ◽  
Ayşe Tülin Öz ◽  
Alyson E. Mitchell

Phenolic compounds are a group of secondary plant metabolites, many with health-promoting properties that are present in all parts of plants. They have an aromatic structure, including either one or more hydroxyl groups giving them the ability to stabilize free radicals and protect biological tissues against damage related to reactive oxygen species. Phenolic compounds are concentrated in the fruit of plants, and therefore, the fruit can be an important dietary source of these phytochemicals, which exist as monomers, or bound to one another. Polyphenolic compounds are classified into different subclasses based upon the number of phenol ring systems that they contain, saturation, and length of the carbon chain that bind the rings to one another. The phenolic acids present in fruit tissues protect the plant against disease, infections, UV radiation, and insect damage. For this reason, the beneficiary effects of phenolic compounds are continually being investigated for their health-promoting properties and for meeting increased consumer demand for healthy nutritious food. Due to the functional properties of polyphenolic compounds, there is increased interest on improving extraction, separation, and quantification techniques of these valuable bioactive compounds, so they can be used as value-added ingredients in foods, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. This review provides information on the most advanced methods available for the analysis of phenolics in fruits.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-224
Author(s):  
Susmita Roy Lisa ◽  
Mohammad Kaisarul Islam ◽  
Nazmul Qais

Medicinal plants with potential therapeutic activities are a tremendous resources of prospective drug candidates. NSAIDs, opiates, and other anti-inflammatory & analgesic agents exhibit several unwanted side-effects. Thus, the development of new active compounds with minimum adverse effects necessitates an emergence. This study aims to provide a comprehensive summary of plant species and reported phytoconstituents with analgesic and inti-inflammatory activities. Eighty-seven species from fifty-two plant families with reported constituents and activities have been included in this review. In-depth research in the area of screening novel analgesic and antiinflammatory agents from natural sources followed by the investigation of their pharmacological properties and clinical applications may lead to the generation of new active agents with better therapeutic activity and selectivity in the future. Dhaka Univ. J. Pharm. Sci. 19(2): 207-224, 2020 (December)


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Süleyman Ediz ◽  
Murat Cancan

Background: Reckoning molecular topological indices of drug structures gives the data about the underlying topology of these drug structures. Novel anticancer drugs have been leading by researchers to produce ideal drugs. Materials and Methods: Pharmacological properties of these new drug agents explored by utilizing simulation strategies. Topological indices additionally have been utilized to research pharmacological properties of some drug structures. Novel alkylating agents based anticancer drug candidates and ve-degree molecular topological indices have been introduced recently. Results and Conclusion: In this study we calculate ve-degree atom-bond connectivity, harmonic, geometric-arithmetic and sum-connectivity molecular topological indices for the newly defined alkylating agents based dual-target anticancer drug candidates.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hidayat Hussain ◽  
Ivan R. Green ◽  
Muhammad Saleem ◽  
Khanzadi F. Khattak ◽  
Muhammad Irshad ◽  
...  

Background: Cucurbitacins belong to a group of tetracyclic triterpenoids that display a wide range of biological effects. In the past, numerous cucurbitacins have been isolated from natural sources and many active compounds have been synthesized using the privileged scaffold in order to enhance its cytotoxic effects. Objective: his review covers patents on the therapeutic effects of natural cucurbitacins and their synthetic analogs published during the past decade. By far, the majority of patents published are related to cancer and Structure-Activity Relationships (SAR) of these compounds are included to lend gravitas to this important class of natural products. Methods: The date about the published patents was downloaded via online open access patent databases. Results: Cucurbitacins display significant cytotoxic properties, in particular cucurbitacins B and D which possess very potent effects towards a number of cancer cells. Numerous cucurbitacins isolated from natural sources have been derivatized through chemical modification at the C(2)-OH and C(25)- OH groups. Most importantly, an acyl ester of the C(25)-OH and, iso-propyl, n-propyl and ethyl ether groups of the C(2)-OH demonstrated the most increased cytotoxic activity. Conclusion: The significant cytotoxic effects of natural and semi-synthetic cucurbitacins make them attractive as new drug candidates. Moreover, cucurbitacins have the capability to form conjugates with other anticancer drugs which will synergistically enhance their anticancer effects. The authors believe that in order to get lead compounds, there should be a greater focus on the synthesis of homodimers, heterodimers, and halo derivatives of cucurbitacins. In the opinion of the authors the analysis of the published patents on the cucurbitacins indicates that these compounds can be developed into a regimen to treat a wide spectrum of cancers.


ChemBioChem ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 757-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Hornung ◽  
Marcelo Bertazzo ◽  
Agnieszka Dziarnowski ◽  
Kathrin Schneider ◽  
Katrin Welzel ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Jalil Shah ◽  
Reyaz Hassan Mir ◽  
Roohi Mohi-ud-din ◽  
Faheem Hyder Pottoo ◽  
Mubashir Hussain Masoodi ◽  
...  

: Depression, a well know mental disorder has global prevalence, nearly affecting 17% of population. Due to various limitations of the currently available drugs, people have been adopting traditional herbal medicines to alleviate the symptoms of depression. It is notable to mention that natural products, their derivatives, and their analogs are the main source for new drug candidates in depression. The mechanisms include interplay with γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors, serotonergic, dopaminergic noradrenergic systems, and elevation of BDNF levels. The focus of this review is to revisit the role of signalling molecules in depression and highlight the use of plant-derived natural compounds to counter depression in the CNS.


Catalysts ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Mena ◽  
Iluminada Gallardo ◽  
Gonzalo Guirado

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a known greenhouse gas, and is the most important contributor to global warming. Therefore, one of the main challenges is to either eliminate or reuse it through the synthesis of value-added products, such as carboxylated derivatives. One of the most promising approaches for activating, capturing, and valorizing CO2 is the use of electrochemical techniques. In the current manuscript, we described an electrocarboxylation route for synthesizing 4-cyanobenzoic acid by valorizing CO2 through the synergistic use of electrochemical techniques (“green technology”) and ionic liquids (ILs) (“green solvents”)—two of the major entries in the general green chemistry tool kit. Moreover, the use of silver cathodes and ILs enabled the electrochemical potential applied to be reduced by more than 0.4 V. The “green” synthesis of those derivatives would provide a suitable environmentally friendly process for the design of plasticizers based on phthalate derivatives.


Molecules ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 2080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muna Abdalla ◽  
Lyndy McGaw

Peptides are important biomolecules which facilitate the understanding of complex biological processes, which in turn could be serendipitous biological targets for future drugs. They are classified as a unique therapeutic niche and will play an important role as fascinating agents in the pharmaceutical landscape. Until now, more than 40 cyclic peptide drugs are currently in the market, and approximately one new cyclopeptide drug enters the market annually on average. Interestingly, the majority of clinically approved cyclic peptides are derived from natural sources, such as peptide antibiotics and human peptide hormones. In this report, the importance of cyclic peptides is discussed, and their role in drug discovery as interesting therapeutic biomolecules will be highlighted. Recently isolated naturally occurring cyclic peptides from microorganisms, sponges, and other sources with a wide range of pharmacological properties are reviewed herein.


2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 153535002005051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Gillies ◽  
John M. Hoffman ◽  
Kit S. Lam ◽  
Anne E. Menkens ◽  
David R. Piwnica-Worms ◽  
...  

Combinatorial chemistry and high-throughput screening have become standard tools for discovering new drug candidates with suitable pharmacological properties. Now, those same technologies are starting to be applied to the problem of discovering novel in vivo imaging agents. Important differences in the biological and pharmacological properties needed for imaging agents, compared to those for a therapeutic agent, require new screening methods that emphasize those characteristics, such as optimized residence time and tissue specificity, that make for a good imaging agent candidate.


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