scholarly journals Monoterpenes and Their Derivatives—Recent Development in Biological and Medical Applications

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (19) ◽  
pp. 7078
Author(s):  
Mariola Zielińska-Błajet ◽  
Joanna Feder-Kubis

Monoterpenes, comprising hydrocarbons, are the largest class of plant secondary metabolites and are commonly found in essential oils. Monoterpenes and their derivatives are key ingredients in the design and production of new biologically active compounds. This review focuses on selected aliphatic, monocyclic, and bicyclic monoterpenes like geraniol, thymol, myrtenal, pinene, camphor, borneol, and their modified structures. The compounds in question play a pivotal role in biological and medical applications. The review also discusses anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticonvulsant, analgesic, antiviral, anticancer, antituberculosis, and antioxidant biological activities exhibited by monoterpenes and their derivatives. Particular attention is paid to the link between biological activity and the effect of structural modification of monoterpenes and monoterpenoids, as well as the introduction of various functionalized moieties into the molecules in question.

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mulatu Yohannes Nanusha ◽  
Martin Krauss ◽  
Carina D. Schönsee ◽  
Barbara F. Günthardt ◽  
Thomas D. Bucheli ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Substantial efforts have been made to monitor potentially hazardous anthropogenic contaminants in surface waters while for plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) almost no data on occurrence in the water cycle are available. These metabolites enter river waters through various pathways such as leaching, surface run-off and rain sewers or input of litter from vegetation and might add to the biological activity of the chemical mixture. To reduce this data gap, we conducted a LC–HRMS target screening in river waters from two different catchments for 150 plant metabolites which were selected from a larger database considering their expected abundance in the vegetation, their potential mobility, persistence and toxicity in the water cycle and commercial availability of standards. Results The screening revealed the presence of 12 out of 150 possibly toxic PSMs including coumarins (bergapten, scopoletin, fraxidin, esculetin and psoralen), a flavonoid (formononetin) and alkaloids (lycorine and narciclasine). The compounds narciclasine and lycorine were detected at concentrations up to 3 µg/L while esculetin and fraxidin occurred at concentrations above 1 µg/L. Nine compounds occurred at concentrations above 0.1 µg/L, the Threshold for Toxicological Concern (TTC) for non-genotoxic and non-endocrine disrupting chemicals in drinking water. Conclusions Our study provides an overview of potentially biologically active PSMs in surface waters and recommends their consideration in monitoring and risk assessment of water resources. This is currently hampered by a lack of effect data including toxicity to aquatic organisms, endocrine disruption and genotoxicity and demands for involvement of these compounds in biotesting.


Marine Drugs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 335
Author(s):  
Xia Yan ◽  
Jing Liu ◽  
Xue Leng ◽  
Han Ouyang

Sinularia is one of the conspicuous soft coral species widely distributed in the world’s oceans at a depth of about 12 m. Secondary metabolites from the genus Sinularia show great chemical diversity. More than 700 secondary metabolites have been reported to date, including terpenoids, norterpenoids, steroids/steroidal glycosides, and other types. They showed a broad range of potent biological activities. There were detailed reviews on the terpenoids from Sinularia in 2013, and now, it still plays a vital role in the innovation of lead compounds for drug development. The structures, names, and pharmacological activities of compounds isolated from the genus Sinularia from 2013 to March 2021 are summarized in this review.


Toxins ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zbigniew Adamski ◽  
Linda L. Blythe ◽  
Luigi Milella ◽  
Sabino A. Bufo

Plants produce many secondary metabolites, which reveal biological activity [...]


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 1145
Author(s):  
Chabaco Armijos ◽  
Jorge Ramírez ◽  
Melissa Salinas ◽  
Giovanni Vidari ◽  
Alírica I. Suárez

The use of plants as therapeutic agents is part of the traditional medicine that is practiced by many indigenous communities in Ecuador. The aim of this study was to update a review published in 2016 by including the studies that were carried out in the period 2016–July 2021 on about 120 Ecuadorian medicinal plants. Relevant data on raw extracts and isolated secondary metabolites were retrieved from different databases, resulting in 104 references. They included phytochemical and pharmacological studies on several non-volatile compounds, as well as the chemical composition of essential oils (EOs). The tested biological activities are also reported. The potential of Ecuadorian plants as sources of products for practical applications in different fields, as well the perspectives of future investigations, are discussed in the last part of the review.


2007 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. 1934578X0700200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liva Harinantenaina ◽  
Yoshinori Asakawa

The phytochemical investigation of eight Jungermaniales liverwort species: Bazzania decrescens, B. madagassa (Lepidoziaceae), Plagiochila barteri, P. terebrans (Plagiochilaceae), Isotachis aubertii (Isotachidaceae), Mastigophora diclados (Lepicoleaceae), Radula appressa (Radulaceae), and Thysananthus spathulistipus (Lejeuneaceae), collected from Madagascar, has been carried out to afford new and structurally interesting terpenoids and aromatic compounds. The biological activities of the isolated secondary metabolites were determined and the herbertene-type sesquiterpenoids were shown to have antibacterial activity. A new ent-clerodane diterpene from Thysananthus spathulistipus and bis-bibenzyls-type aromatic compounds exhibited strong inhibition of NO production in RAW 264.7 cells, while marchantin C produced moderate α-glucosidase inhibition. The chemosystematics of the studied species are discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 2835
Author(s):  
Joze Aparecida Marciano Corrêa ◽  
Diana Fortkamp ◽  
Camila Furtunato da Silva ◽  
Flávio Rocha ◽  
Luiz Humberto Gomes ◽  
...  

Many oomycete species are plant pathogens and are responsible for causing significant losses in agriculture. Currently, plant pathogen control is carried out by chemical, biological and physical methods. However, due to the development of resistance to these methods by some pathogens, it is imperative that alternative methods are developed. Brazilian biodiversity is well-known for its species richness and is considered a promising source of natural products. Among the vascular plants, the family Solanaceae A. Juss. (Solanaceae) is considered one of the largest, with distributions across all tropical and temperate regions of the world. The Solanaceae family presents a high diversity of species of economic importance as sources of food, medicinal and ornamental properties. Plants of this family are sources of secondary metabolites of various chemical classes that possess potential diverse applications. Therefore, chemical and biological investigations of these compounds are extremely important as they present alternatives for their potential use in the control of plant pathogens. Here, we report for the first time, the biological activity of 7beta-acetoxywithanolide D, a compound isolated from Acnistus arborescens, against the oomycete Phytophthora cinnamomi. With these results, we emphasize the importance of such studies on plant secondary metabolites, which may present coadjuvant options in the control of plant pathogens.


ChemInform ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brigitta Elsaesser ◽  
Karsten Krohn ◽  
Ulrich Floerke ◽  
Natalia Root ◽  
Hans-Juergen Aust ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian T. Johnson

Epidemiological studies showing a protective effect of diets rich in fruits and vegetables against cancer have focused attention on the possibility that biologically-active plant secondary metabolites exert anti-carcinogenic activity. This huge group of compounds, now collectively termed ‘phytochemicals’, provides much of the flavour and colour of edible plants and the beverages derived from them. Many of these compounds also exert anti-carcinogenic effects in animal models of cancer, and much progress has been made in defining their many biological activities at the molecular level. Such mechanisms include the detoxification and enhanced excretion of carcinogens, the suppression of inflammatory processes such as cyclooxygenase-2 expression, inhibition of mitosis and the induction of apoptosis at various stages in the progression and promotion of cancer. However, much of the research on phytochemicals has been conducted in vitro, with little regard to the bioavailability and metabolism of the compounds studied. Many phytochemicals present in plant foods are poorly absorbed by human subjects, and this fraction usually undergoes metabolism and rapid excretion. Some compounds that do exert anti-carcinogenic effects at realistic doses may contribute to the putative benefits of plant foods such as berries, brassica vegetables and tea, but further research with human subjects is required to fully confirm and quantify such benefits. Chemoprevention using pharmacological doses of isolated compounds, or the development of ‘customised’ vegetables, may prove valuable but such strategies require a full risk–benefit analysis based on a thorough understanding of the long-term biological effects of what are often surprisingly active compounds.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoling Lu ◽  
Xiaoyu Liu ◽  
Cong Long ◽  
Guoxiang Wang ◽  
Yun Gao ◽  
...  

East China Sea is one of the four sea areas in China, which possesses peculiar ecological environment and many kinds of living creatures, especially the microorganisms. We established the East China Sea microorganism library (during 2006–2010) for the first time, which stored about 30000 strains that covered most kinds of the species. In this paper, 395 pure strains of East China Sea microorganism library which belong to 33 different genera were mainly introduced.Sulfitobacter,Halomonas,Bacillus,Pseudoalteromonas, andIdiomarinawere the most dominant species. On the large-scale biological activity screening of the 395 strains, 100 strains possess different biological activities based on different screening models, of which 11.4% strains have antibacterial activities, 15.9% have cytotoxicity activities, and 6.1% have antioxidation activities. Besides, the secondary metabolites of 6 strains with strong biological activities were studied systematically; diketopiperazines and macrocyclic lactones are the active secondary metabolites. The species and the biological activity of microorganisms diversity, the abundant structure type of the secondary metabolites, and their bioactivities all indicate that East China Sea is a potent marine microorganisms-derived developing resource for drug discovery.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivek K. Bajpai ◽  
Rajib Majumder ◽  
Jae Gyu Park

<p>Chromatographic techniques have significant role in natural products chemistry as well as contribute dramatically in the discovery of novel and innovative compounds of pharmaceutical and biomedical importance. This study focused on step-by-step visual demonstration of fractionation and isolation of biologically active plant secondary metabolites using column-chromatographic techniques. Isolation of bioactive compounds using column-chromatographic involves: a) Preparation of sample; b) Packing of column; c) Pouring of sample into the column; d) Elution of fractions; and e) Analysis of each fractions using thin layer chromatography. However, depending on nature of research, compounds can be further purified using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectral analyses.</p><p><strong>Video Clips</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/pr8mrBoI8xA">Part 1:</a> 3 min 45 sec</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/rYrfClKn-og">Part 2:</a> 6 min 21 sec</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/kffHXxuPwbo">Part 3</a>: 4 min 45 sec</p>


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document