Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 24, Issue 19, 2018

Plants and crops contain a staggering diversity of compounds, many of which have pharmacological activity towards a variety of diseases. These properties have been exploited by traditional and modern medicine providing important sources of healthcare to this day. The contribution of natural products (such as plant-derived) to the modern pharmacopeia is indeed significant; however, the process of identifying novel bio Read More

Neurodegenerative Diseases (ND) are a major threat to the aging population and the lack of a single preventive or disease-modifying agent only serves to increase their impact. In the past few years, protein misfolding and the subsequent formation of neurotoxic oligomeric/aggregated protein species have emerged as a unifying theme underlying the pathology of these complex diseases. Recently developed microbial g Read More

Our society is currently experiencing increased lifespan; one of the top causes for the high incidence of neurodegenerative disorders. The lack of effective treatments delaying or blocking disease progression has encouraged the active search for novel therapies. Many evidences support the protective role of phytochemicals in the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly (poly)phenols. In this review, we describ Read More

Polyphenols constitute a group of compounds that have been highly investigated for their beneficial effects against various pathologic and non-pathologic conditions and diseases. Among their multi-faceted properties, their anti-oxidant potential nominates them as ideal protective candidates for conditions characterized by elevated levels of oxidative stress, including aging and age-related diseases. The nematode C Read More

Nasopharyngeal Cancer (NPC) is a rare type of head and neck cancer that is mainly treated by radiotherapy, but sometimes it is radioresistant. Curcumin is a polyphenolic natural product with established anticancer effects in various human cancers. Recent studies have shown that curcumin has therapeutic and radiosensitizing effects on NPC cells. In fact, it has been found that curcumin can sensitize NPC cells to radiation thr Read More

Curcumin quite possibly represents one of the most diverse therapeutic agents yet isolated from natural sources. Therapeutic benefits of this extraordinary natural compound have been demonstrated during treatment of a variety of diseases, including cancer, inflammatory processes, immunological disorders, Diabetes, and oxidative stress often associated with hyperlipidemia. Due to its unique molecular chemical stru Read More

Polyphenols are natural compounds present in fruits and vegetables that can exert beneficial effects on human health and notably, on the cardiovascular system. Some of these compounds showed significant protective activities toward atherosclerosis, hypertension, myocardial infarction, anthracyclin-induced cardiomyopathy, angiogenesis as well as heart failure. Polyphenols can act through systemic effects as Read More

Hydroxytyrosol (HT) and its derivatives represent the minor components of Virgin Olive Oil (VOO) that are of great interest for their pharmacological properties and among the most widely researched natural antioxidant compounds. In this review, the occurrence and metabolic fate of HT and its precursors are presented prior to discussing its beneficial effects on health. Bioavailability studies show that the metab Read More

Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is one of the leading causes of decreased vision and blindness in developed countries. Diabetes-induced metabolic disorder is believed to increase oxidative stress in the retina. This results in deleterious change through dysregulation of cellular physiology that damages both neuronal and vascular cells. In this review, we first highlight the evidence of potential metabolic sources and pathways w Read More

In this non-comprehensive review, the potential of natural polyphenols as lead compounds for the design and synthesis of new molecules with potential application in several diseases was highlighted. Organic synthesis has been essential for the development of new analogues of naturally found polyphenols, providing a wide range of structural modifications for structure-activity relationship studies and improving or modula Read More

Polyphenols form a group of important natural bioactive compounds with numerous ascribed healthbeneficial attributes (e.g. antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and tumor-suppressing properties). Some polyphenols can also be used as natural dyes or plastic precursors. Notwithstanding their relevance, production of most of these compounds still relies on extraction from plant material, which for most of Read More