Abstract

Malaria is an infectious disease causing at least 1 million deaths per year, and, unfortunately, the chemical entities available to treat malaria are still too limited. In this review we highlight the contribution of marine chemistry in the field of antimalarial research by reporting the most important results obtained until the beginning of 2009, with particular emphasis on recent discoveries. About 60 secondary metabolites produced by marine organisms have been grouped into three structural types and discussed in terms of their reported antimalarial activities. The major groups of metabolites include isonitrile derivatives, alkaloids and endoperoxide derivatives. The following discussion evidences that antimalarial marine molecules can efficiently integrate the panel of lead compounds isolated from terrestrial sources with new chemical backbones and, sometimes, with unique functional groups.

Highlights

  • Malaria is an infectious disease caused by several protozoans belonging to the genus Plasmodium (P. falciparum, P. ovale, P. vivax, P. malariae), with P. falciparum (Pf) being the parasite responsible for most severe diseases and most fatal cases

  • This review aims at highlighting the contribution of marine chemistry in the field of antimalarial research, by reporting the most important results obtained until the beginning of 2009, with particular emphasis on recent discoveries

  • Following a scheme that we have introduced in a recent book chapter [11], marine antimalarials have been divided throughout this review, according to their chemical structures, into three different classes: i) isonitrile-containing derivatives; ii) alkaloids; iii) endoperoxides

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Summary

Introduction

Malaria is an infectious disease caused by several protozoans belonging to the genus Plasmodium (P. falciparum, P. ovale, P. vivax, P. malariae), with P. falciparum (Pf) being the parasite responsible for most severe diseases and most fatal cases. According to Jefford, a drug directed against plasmodium should be active orally for 1-3 days, should give a fast eradication of parasite and disappearance of symptoms, should be safe for children and pregnant women, and, more importantly, should be as cheap as aspirin (

Isonitrile-containing derivatives and their analogues
Endoperoxides
Polyketides
Terpenoids
Miscellaneous Compounds
Quinones and Phenols
Peptides
Findings
Conclusions

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