Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia.
Curr Top Med Chem. 2023;23(9):791-815. doi: 10.2174/1568026623666230126162419.
Parasitic diseases affect millions of people and animals, predominantly in the tropics, including visitors to tropical countries and other areas. Efficient and low-cost treatments for infections caused by various parasites are not yet available. Antiparasitic drugs have some drawbacks, such as toxicity and the development of resistance by parasites. This has motivated many researchers to focus on the discovery of safe, effective and affordable antiparasitic drugs, both among drugs already available for other diseases and new compounds synthesized or isolated from natural sources. Furthermore, steroid and triterpenoid compounds attract the attention of pharmacologists, chemists and biochemists owing to their broad application in the treatment of various diseases. Isolation of steroid and triterpenoid compounds from natural sources with antiparasitic efficacy is an attractive choice for scientists. On the other hand, these compounds can be transformed into more potent forms by modifying the basic skeleton. This review presents a collection of isolated and synthesized steroid and triterpenoid compounds from 2018 to 2021 that have been reported to be effective against certain parasitic protozoa and helminths. A total of 258 compounds have been identified with antimalarial, antitrypanosomal, antileishmanial, anti-Toxoplasma, and/or anthelmintic activity. The described investigations of antiparasitic compounds may be helpful for further drug development.
寄生虫病影响着数以百万计的人和动物，主要集中在热带地区，包括前往热带国家和其他地区的游客。目前还没有针对各种寄生虫感染的高效、低成本的治疗方法。抗寄生虫药物存在一些缺点，如毒性和寄生虫产生的耐药性。这促使许多研究人员专注于发现安全、有效和负担得起的抗寄生虫药物，包括已经可用于治疗其他疾病的药物和从天然来源合成或分离的新化合物。此外，甾体和三萜类化合物因其在治疗各种疾病方面的广泛应用而引起了药理学家、化学家以及生物化学家的关注。从具有抗寄生虫功效的天然来源中分离甾体和三萜类化合物是科学家的一个有吸引力的选择。另一方面，通过修饰基本骨架可以将这些化合物转化为更有效的形式。本综述介绍了 2018 年至 2021 年间从天然来源中分离和合成的甾体和三萜类化合物，这些化合物已被证明对某些寄生原生动物和蠕虫有效。共有 258 种化合物具有抗疟原虫、抗锥虫、抗利什曼原虫、抗弓形虫和/或驱虫活性。这些对抗寄生虫化合物的描述性研究可能有助于进一步开发药物。
