Laboratorio de Biotecnologia Farmaceutica, Centro de Biotecnologia Genomica, Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Reynosa, Mexico.
Departamento de Quimica Organica, Facultad de Quimica y de Farmacia, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Curr Top Med Chem. 2021;21(22):2046-2069. doi: 10.2174/1568026621666210915121348.
Naphthoquinones are a class of aromatic compounds relevant for their chemical characteristics, structural properties, and biological activity. These compounds are found in nature with a wide range of effects, highlighting their antibacterial, antifungal, and antiprotozoal properties. Additionally, naphthoquinones are used as a scaffold to obtain new derivatives with pharmacological potential, mainly compounds against parasitic diseases.
The purpose of this work was to carry out a comprehensive review of naphthoquinones and their derivatives obtained from both natural and synthetic sources, also, to analyze their biological activity against Leishmania spp. (Leishmaniasis), Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas disease), Plasmodium falciparum (Malaria), Toxoplasma gondii (Toxoplasmosis), and Toxocara canis (Toxocariasis). All of these agents are responsible for relevant diseases worldwide.
Natural naphthoquinones, such as plumbagin, diospyrin, burmanin, lapachol, lawsone and psychorubrin, show an antiprotozoal activity similar or enhanced antiprotozoal activity to reference drugs. Some naphthoquinones obtained by synthesis or semi-synthesis showed better biological activity or less toxic effects than natural compounds.
In this review, natural and synthetic naphthoquinones showed antiparasitic activity, in most cases, with improved results than current drugs currently used in clinical trials. A modification of their structure with different functional groups can enhance their biological effects, improve solubility, and reduce undesirable side effects. Therefore, naphthoquinones are important molecules in the development of new chemotherapeutic agents against parasitic diseases.
萘醌类化合物是一类具有重要化学特性、结构特性和生物活性的芳香族化合物。这些化合物在自然界中广泛存在，具有多种作用，突出了其抗菌、抗真菌和抗原生动物的特性。此外，萘醌类化合物被用作获得具有药理潜力的新衍生物的支架，主要是针对寄生虫病的化合物。
本工作旨在对天然和合成来源的萘醌及其衍生物进行全面综述，分析其对利什曼原虫属（利什曼病）、克氏锥虫（恰加斯病）、疟原虫（疟疾）、刚地弓形虫（弓形体病）和犬弓首蛔虫（犬弓蛔虫病）的生物活性。所有这些病原体都在世界范围内导致了相关疾病。
天然萘醌，如白花丹醌、二蒽醇、丁烯素、拉帕醌、洛索酚和紫穗槐-4，7-二烯，具有类似或增强的抗原生动物活性，与参考药物相当。一些通过合成或半合成获得的萘醌显示出比天然化合物更好的生物活性或更少的毒副作用。
在本综述中，天然和合成的萘醌表现出抗寄生虫活性，在大多数情况下，比目前在临床试验中使用的药物效果更好。用不同的官能团对其结构进行修饰可以增强其生物效应、提高溶解度并减少不良的副作用。因此，萘醌类化合物是开发针对寄生虫病的新型化学治疗药物的重要分子。
