Quinazolinone Derivatives as a Potential Class of Compounds in Malaria Drug Discovery

Abstract

Malaria causes over a million deaths each year (2 percent of the global total of deaths), with hundreds of millions of clinical episodes per annum. The greatest challenge to malaria control and eradication is the emergence of malaria parasites that are resistant to antimalarial drugs. The development of resistance to conventionally used anti-malarial drugs, such as chloroquine (CQ) and Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine (SP) has been documented. To counter this WHO recommended that artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) should be used for treating uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria to ensure efficacy and reduce the emergence of drug-resistant parasites. Currently available antimalarial drugs are ineffective and their number is declining because of the widespread resistance. Thus, the new antimalarial agent is in urgent demand; however, the development of new antimalarial drug presents challenges due to resistance, toxicity, minimal efficacy of those on the pipeline and high cost of drug research. Identification of novel drug targets and design of new chemical compounds acting on new targets is important to control the emergence of resistance to existing drugs. In this regard, a natural product derived synthetic analogs of febrifugine containing quinazolinone scaffold can be considered best. Therefore, quinazolinones are potential compounds in seeking for novel drugs that act against the malarial pathogen. Hence, in this review compounds containing quinazolinone structure and possessing antimalarial activities are covered.