Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 13, Issue 21, 2013

The present review reports the antifungal activity of mushroom extracts and isolated compounds including high (e.g. peptides and proteins) and low (e.g. sesquiterpenes and other terpenes, steroids, organic acids, acylcyclopentenediones and quinolines) molecular weight compounds. Most of the studies available on literature focused on screening of antifungal activity of mushroom extracts, rather than of isolated compounds. Read More

Global industrialization and agricultural development are related to the release of various pollutants into the environment including huge amounts of free radicals, which are associated with the occurrence of various destructive diseases and disorders. Due to different rates of metabolic activity and oxygen consumption, organisms, organs and tissues have distinct protective antioxidant systems and defence mechanisms. Althoug Read More

Cyclodextrins are usually used in antifungal formulations as auxiliary substances to improve solubility, stability, or other physicochemical properties of the active compound. Nevertheless, more and more research and practical use results indicate that cyclodextrins might also act as active compounds in pharmaceutical formulations. The biological effects of cyclodextrins, important for their use within antimycotic formulatio Read More

The last two decades are characterized by major increases in the incidence of systemic fungal infections caused by the yeast Candida albicans, particularly in immunocompromised patients. On the other hand it was observed the increased number of pathogenic microorganisms with multiple resistance to drugs. Also there is a big variety of drugs for the treatment of candidiasis, only two drugs are used for the treatment of inf Read More

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a modern medical condition characterized by central obesity, hyperglycaemia, hypercholesterolemia and hypertension. The beneficial effects of mushrooms in lowering the symptoms of MS were known from both traditional and conventional medicine. Edible mushrooms, their extracts, polysaccharide fractions and isolated compounds possessed hypoglycaemic, cholesterol and triglyceride low Read More

This review covers the 2003-2012 literature data published for antitumor natural products from marine-derived fungi. The focus is on new and highly potent cytotoxic compounds, together with details related to the relevant fungal species. It describes 22 promising bioactives, originating mainly from symbiotic fungi. The chemical structures of all highlighted organic molecules are briefly discussed.

Fungi are an important group of microorganisms. They are studied due to their significant impact on the environment, industry and human health. In relation to biological aspects, biogeochemical cycling of elements, the world of nature would not be possible without the contribution of fungi as the primary decomposers of organic material. On the other hand, food decay by the fungi spoilage causes considerable economic losse Read More

Mycotherapy is defined as the study of the use of extracts and compounds obtained from mushrooms as medicines or health-promoting agents. The present review updates the recent findings on anticancer/antitumor agents derived from mushroom extracts and their metabolites. The increasing number of studies in the past few years revealed mushroom extracts as potent antitumor agents. Also, numerous studies we Read More