scholarly journals Challenges, Advances and Opportunities in Exploring Natural Products to Control Arboviral Disease Vectors

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel P. Demarque ◽  
Laila S. Espindola
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Vector Control ◽  
Disease Vectors ◽  
Discovery Process ◽  
Drug Discovery Process ◽  
Endemic Diseases ◽  
Natural Products Chemistry ◽  
General Aspects ◽  
Drug Leads ◽  
Arboviral Disease

Natural products constitute an important source of molecules for product development. However, despite numerous reports of compounds and active extracts from biodiversity, poor and developing countries continue to suffer with endemic diseases caused by arboviral vectors, including dengue, Zika, chikungunya and urban yellow fever. Vector control remains the most efficient disease prevention strategy. Wide and prolonged use of insecticides has resulted in vector resistance, making the search for new chemical prototypes imperative. Considering the potential of natural products chemistry for developing natural products-based products, including insecticides, this contribution discusses the general aspects and specific characteristics involved in the development of drug leads for vector control. Throughout this work, we highlight the obstacles that need to be overcome in order for natural products compounds to be considered promising prototypes. Moreover, we analyze the bottlenecks that should be addressed, together with potential strategies, to rationalize and improve the efficiency of the drug discovery process.

scholarly journals Partitioning Pattern of Natural Products Based on Molecular Properties Descriptors Representing Drug-Likeness

Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 546
Author(s):  
Miroslava Nedyalkova ◽  
Vasil Simeonov
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Target Prediction ◽  
Natural Compounds ◽  
Discovery Process ◽  
Drug Discovery Process ◽  
Unique Source ◽  
The Times ◽  
Partitioning Pattern

A cheminformatics procedure for a partitioning model based on 135 natural compounds including Flavonoids, Saponins, Alkaloids, Terpenes and Triterpenes with drug-like features based on a descriptors pool was developed. The knowledge about the applicability of natural products as a unique source for the development of new candidates towards deadly infectious disease is a contemporary challenge for drug discovery. We propose a partitioning scheme for unveiling drug-likeness candidates with properties that are important for a prompt and efficient drug discovery process. In the present study, the vantage point is about the matching of descriptors to build the partitioning model applied to natural compounds with diversity in structures and complexity of action towards the severe diseases, as the actual SARS-CoV-2 virus. In the times of the de novo design techniques, such tools based on a chemometric and symmetrical effect by the implied descriptors represent another noticeable sign for the power and level of the descriptors applicability in drug discovery in establishing activity and target prediction pipeline for unknown drugs properties.

Biotechnological utilization of plant genetic resources for the production of phytopharmaceuticals

2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Rischer ◽  
K.-M. Oksman-Caldentey
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Culture ◽  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Plant Genetic Resources ◽  
Chemical Diversity ◽  
Wild Plants ◽  
Discovery Process ◽  
Drug Discovery Process ◽  
Pharmaceutical Activity

Natural products from plants are still important sources for the development of drugs, despite their recent neglect in pharmaceutical discovery programmes. The rapidly dwindling number of species endangers the availability of these natural compounds, which are characterized by the immense chemical and functional diversity ultimately responsible for their pharmaceutical activity. Although many steps in the drug discovery process have been continuously modified during recent years, a common dilemma is still unresolved, i.e. the supply crisis for hits discovered in rare wild plants due to their inaccessibility or lack of reproducibility. New technology, combining tissue culture, functional genomics and metabolomics, shows promise to overcome these problems and even to supply a greater chemical diversity of compounds.

Updates on Managing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus with Natural Products: Towards Antidiabetic Drug Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (39) ◽  
pp. 5395-5431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fahmida Alam ◽  
Md. Asiful Islam ◽  
Mohammad Amjad Kamal ◽  
Siew Hua Gan
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Drug Development ◽  
Discovery Process ◽  
Drug Discovery Process

Over the years, natural products have shown success as antidiabetics in in vitro, in vivo studies and clinical trials. Because natural product-derived drugs are more affordable and effective with fewer side-effects compared to conventional therapies, pharmaceutical research is increasingly leaning towards the discovery of new antidiabetic drugs from natural products targeting pathways or components associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) pathophysiology. However, the drug discovery process is very lengthy and costly with significant challenges. Therefore, various techniques are currently being developed for the preclinical research phase of drug discovery with the aim of drug development with less time and efforts from natural products. In this review, we have provided an update on natural products including fruits, vegetables, spices, nuts, beverages and mushrooms with potential antidiabetic activities from in vivo, in vitro and clinical studies. Synergistic interactions between natural products and antidiabetic drugs, and potential antidiabetic active compounds from natural products are also documented to pave the way for combination treatment and new drug discovery, respectively. Additionally, a brief idea of the drug discovery process along with the challenges that arise during drug development from natural products and the methods to conquer those challenges are discussed to create a more convenient future drug discovery process.

Dereplication: racing to speed up the natural products discovery process

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 779-810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susana P. Gaudêncio ◽  
Florbela Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Drug Discovery ◽  
Discovery Process ◽  
Drug Discovery Process ◽  
Major Bottleneck ◽  
Speed Up ◽  
Natural Products Discovery

To alleviate the dereplication holdup, which is a major bottleneck in natural products discovery, scientists have been conducting their research efforts to add tools to their “bag of tricks” aiming to achieve faster, more accurate and efficient ways to accelerate the pace of the drug discovery process.

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