https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlepdf/2019/NP/C8NP00092A

Marine natural products.

Saponins are steroid or triterpenoid glycosides, common in a large number of plants and plant products that are important in human and animal nutrition. Several biological effects have been ascribed to saponins. Extensive research has been carried out into the membrane-permeabilising, immunostimulant, hypocholesterolaemic and anticarcinogenic properties of saponins and they have also been found to significantly affect growth, feed intake and reproduction in animals. These structurally diverse compounds have also been observed to kill protozoans and molluscs, to be antioxidants, to impair the digestion of protein and the uptake of vitamins and minerals in the gut, to cause hypoglycaemia, and to act as antifungal and antiviral agents. These compounds can thus affect animals in a host of different ways both positive and negative.

/pdf/the-biological-action-of-saponins-in-animal-systems-a-review-21yt7p784a.pdf

The biological action of saponins in animal systems: a review

Tumor necrosis factor antagonist mechanisms of action: A comprehensive review

The preparation of urea by Wöhler constituted a landmark achievement in organic chemistry, and it laid the ground for the early days of target-oriented organic synthesis.1 Since then, significant progress has been achieved in this discipline; many powerful single bond forming reactions and asymmetric variants have been developed. These discoveries have paved the way for the stereoselective assembly of complex organic molecules, a task deemed inconceivable by early practitioners. A great many strategies were invented by chemists in order to facilitate the synthesis of complex natural products.2 One avenue in emulating nature’s efficiency would * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dennis.hall@ ualberta.ca. † Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research. ‡ Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta. Chem. Rev. 2009, 109, 4439–4486 4439

Natural product synthesis using multicomponent reaction strategies.

13C NMR spectra of pentacyclic triterpenoids--a compilation and some salient features

Pancreatic lipase inhibitors from natural sources: unexplored potential.

Obesity is a disorder of lipid metabolism and continues to be a global problem, ranking fifth for deaths worldwide. It also leads to diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, musculoskeletal disorders and some types of cancer. Obesity is regarded as the output of a long-term imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. Digestion and absorption of dietary lipids by pancreatic lipase, a major source of excess calorie intake, can be targeted for development of anti-obesity agents. Being the major factor of concern, food materials and edible plants are most widely studied for the anti-obesity activity, so that they can be incorporated in the routine diet. In this review, an attempt was made to present a current scenario of the bioactive compounds from plant and microbial origin that have been investigated for their pancreatic lipase inhibition. Compounds belonging to various classes of natural products such as alkaloids, carotenoids, glycosides, polyphenols, polysaccharides, saponins and terpenoids are well studied while lipophilic compounds from microbial sources are the most active against the pancreatic lipase. Few studies on the synthetic analogues, structurally similar to the triglycerides have been described in the review. Despite of tremendous research on the finding of potential pancreatic lipase inhibitor, very few compounds have entered the clinical studies and no new molecule after orlistat has been marketed. Along with HTS based screening, detailed structure-activity relationship studies on semi-synthetic and synthetic derivatives might also provide a direction for the development of potential lead(s) or pharmacophore for pancreatic lipase inhibition in order to treat and/or prevent obesity and related disorders.

Inhibitors of pancreatic lipase: state of the art and clinical perspectives.

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), is an immuno- suppressive disease that results in life -threatening oppor- tunistic infections and malignancies. Despite continuous advances made in antiretrovira l therapy, AIDS has become the leading cause of death in Africa and fourth worldwide; the number of people with HIV is increasing at an alarming rate in India and Southeast Asia. Biodiversity of the plant kingdom has always provided a source of new drug candidates for almost all disease areas. The number of compounds exhibiting anti-HIV activity and isolated from natural sources is increasing steadily. Calanolide A, a coumarin isolated from Callophyllum lanigerum and two other natural product-derived molecules, DSB and 3-hydroxymethyl- 4-methyl DCK are phase II clinical candidates, with potential to come up as drugs for treatment of HIV i nfec- tion. Here, the natural products possessing anti-HIV activity have been discussed, with main focus on recent outcomes from natural sources as anti-HIV agents. ACQUIRED immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a clinical syndrome that is the result of infection with human i mmuno- deficiency virus (HIV), which causes profound i mmuno- suppression. It has been a serious, life -threatening health problem since the first case was identified in 1981 and is the most quickly spreading disease of the century. Since the epidemic began, more than 60 million people have been infected with the virus. HIV/AIDS is now the leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa. Worldwide, it is the fourth biggest killer. According to recent reports of WHO and UNAIDS, at the end of 2004, an estimated 40 million people (37.2 million adults and 2.2 million children) globally were living with HIV, out of which about 22 million had died. The most affected is Sub-Saharan Africa, where 3.1 million adults and children became infected with HIV during the year 2004 and 2.3 million died in 2004. By the end of 2004, the total number of people living with HIV/ AIDS in the region has reached 25.4 million 1 . Around 1.2 million people in Asia acquired HIV in 2004, bringing the number of people living with HIV to an estimated 8.2 million. A further 540,000 people are estimated to have died of AIDS in 2004. The spread of HIV in India has been di- verse, with much of India having a low rate of infection and the epidemic being most extreme in the southern states. As of December 2004, 92% of all nationally reported AIDS cases has been found in 10 of the 28 states and 7 union territories. The greatest numbers were in Maharashtra and Gujarat in the west; Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in the south; and Manipur in the Northeast. In the southern states, the infections are mostly due to heterosexual contact, while infections are mainly found amongst injecting drug- users in Manipur and Nagaland. The maximum number of AIDS cases has been reported in Tamil Nadu (44,492) followed by Maharashtra (12,783) out of 96,978 AIDS cases in year 2004. A very high proportion of men and women infected with HIV virus are in their active reproductive ages and around half of the people who acquire HIV become infected before they turn 25. Of greater concern is the possibility of infected mothers transferring the disease to their babies

Kamlesh K. Bhutani

Papers

Pancreatic lipase inhibitors from natural sources: unexplored potential.

Inhibitors of pancreatic lipase: state of the art and clinical perspectives.

Anti-HIV natural products

Colonic drug delivery of 5-fluorouracil: an in vitro evaluation.

Synthesis and anti-HIV activity of alkylated quinoline 2,4-diols.