Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 20, Issue 7, 2013

As the incidence of skin tumors has been steadily growing, there is an urgent need for the preventive measures as well as the improved therapeutic approaches. In the last two decades, natural plant derived polyphenols (PPs, resveratrol, silibinin, green tea polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, etc.) have been drawing particular interest as emerging active substances in dermatological/ cosmeceutical compositions Read More

Excessive exposure to solar UVA and UVB radiation is widely considered to cause skin cancers such as squamous cell carcinoma and basalioma. Direct UVB damage to skin cell DNA as well as UV-induced chronic skin inflammation, accelerated keratinocyte proliferation, inhibited apoptosis, and immunosuppression seem to underlie the UV-induced carcinogenesis. Also, UVB induces cytochrome P450 subfamilies (CYP1A1 and Read More

Taxol (paclitaxel) and its derivatives are microtubule-stabilizing drugs widely used in the treatment of several types of cancer, including mammary, prostate, ovarian and non-small-cell lung carcinoma, as well as AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma and other types of tumor. Taxanes stabilize microtubules by enhancing their polymerization and inhibiting depolymerization. Microtubule dynamics are crucial to mitotic spindle for Read More

Nitrogen-containing bioactive alkaloids of plant origin play a significant role in human health and medicine. Several semisynthetic antimitotic alkaloids are successful in anticancer drug development. Gloriosa superba biosynthesizes substantial quantities of colchicine, a bioactive molecule for gout treatment. Colchicine also has antimitotic activity, preventing growth of cancer cells by interacting with microtubules, which cou Read More

Autoimmune diseases are the third largest category of illness in the industrialized world, following cardiovascular diseases and cancers. Among them, type 1 diabetes, also named autoimmune diabetes, afflicts 10 million people worldwide. This disease is caused by autoimmunity-mediated destruction of pancreatic β-cells, leading to insulin deficiency, hyperglycemia and complications. Currently, there is no cure for type 1 di Read More

Pentacyclic triterpenoids including the oleanane, ursane and lupane groups are widely distributed in many medicinal plants, such as Glycyrrhiza species, Gymnema species, Centella asiatica, Camellia sinensis, Crataegus species and Olea europaea, which are commonly used in traditional medicine for the treatment of diabetes and diabetic complications. A large number of bioactive pentacyclic triterpenoids, such as olean Read More

Microbial infectious diseases continue to be one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. It has been estimated that microbial species comprise about 60% of the Earth's biomass. This, together with the fact that their genetic, metabolic and physiological diversity is extraordinary, makes them a major threat to the health and development of populations across the world. Widespread antibiotic resistance, the emerg Read More

Marine organisms have been proven to be excellent sources of biologically active compounds against HIV. This review gives an overview of 132 natural products from marine sources obtained during the last decade (2002–2011), which exhibit anti-HIV activity toward different biological targets. Sponges contribute more than half of all anti-HIV natural products from marine organisms, mainly as alkaloids and cyclic depsip Read More