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Phytotherapy Research : PTR Feb 2020Aloe-emodin is a naturally anthraquinone derivative and an active ingredient of Chinese herbs, such as Cassia occidentalis, Rheum palmatum L., Aloe vera, and Polygonum... (Review)
Review
Aloe-emodin is a naturally anthraquinone derivative and an active ingredient of Chinese herbs, such as Cassia occidentalis, Rheum palmatum L., Aloe vera, and Polygonum multiflorum Thunb. Emerging evidence suggests that aloe-emodin exhibits many pharmacological effects, including anticancer, antivirus, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiparasitic, neuroprotective, and hepatoprotective activities. These pharmacological properties lay the foundation for the treatment of various diseases, including influenza virus, inflammation, sepsis, Alzheimer's disease, glaucoma, malaria, liver fibrosis, psoriasis, Type 2 diabetes, growth disorders, and several types of cancers. However, an increasing number of published studies have reported adverse effects of aloe-emodin. The primary toxicity among these reports is hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity, which are of wide concern worldwide. Pharmacokinetic studies have demonstrated that aloe-emodin has a poor intestinal absorption, short elimination half-life, and low bioavailability. This review aims to provide a comprehensive summary of the pharmacology, toxicity, and pharmacokinetics of aloe-emodin reported to date with an emphasis on its biological properties and mechanisms of action.
Topics: Aloe; Animals; Anthraquinones; Cassia; Fallopia multiflora; Humans; Rheum
PubMed: 31680350
DOI: 10.1002/ptr.6532 -
Natural Product Reports Mar 2022Covering: up to the end of July, 2021Anthraquinone-fused enediynes (AFEs) are a subfamily of enediyne natural products. Dynemicin A (DYN A), the first member of the AFE... (Review)
Review
Covering: up to the end of July, 2021Anthraquinone-fused enediynes (AFEs) are a subfamily of enediyne natural products. Dynemicin A (DYN A), the first member of the AFE family, was discovered more than thirty years ago. Subsequently, extensive studies have been reported on the mode of action and the interactions of AFEs with DNA using DYN A as a model. However, progress in the discovery, biosynthesis and clinical development of AFEs has been limited for a long time. In the past five years, four new AFEs have been discovered and significant progress has been made in the biosynthesis of AFEs, especially on the biogenesis of the anthraquinone moiety and their tailoring steps. Moreover, the streamlined total synthesis of AFEs and their analogues boosts the preparation of AFE-based linker-drugs, thus enabling the development of AFE-based antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). This review summarizes the discovery, mechanism of action, biosynthesis, total synthesis and preclinical studies of AFEs.
Topics: Anthraquinones; Biological Products; Enediynes
PubMed: 34672308
DOI: 10.1039/d1np00054c -
Mini Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry 2021Rhein, an anthraquinone derivative, has been employed widely, especially for the treatment of intractable diseases like diabetic nephropathy, arthritis, and cancer in a... (Review)
Review
Rhein, an anthraquinone derivative, has been employed widely, especially for the treatment of intractable diseases like diabetic nephropathy, arthritis, and cancer in a unique action mechanism. In the last decades, considerable efforts have been made in structural modification of rhein. This paper reviewed patents on pharmacological activity and therapeutic application of rhein and its derivatives from 1978 to 2018. Particularly, an analysis of patents was made, with the top 10 most valuable patents presented, and the interpretation of the legal status of patents was given. Given the properties of superior pharmacological activity, rich resources, cheap price, low toxicity, and mature extraction process, it is believed that an in-depth investigation on rhein and its derivatives is worth trying.
Topics: Animals; Anthraquinones; Arthritis; Cell Line, Tumor; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical; Diabetic Nephropathies; Drug Design; Humans; Inflammation; Inhibitory Concentration 50; Neoplasms
PubMed: 33167832
DOI: 10.2174/1389557520666201109120855 -
Toxins Nov 2020This review, covering the literature from 1966 to the present (2020), describes naturally occurring fungal bioactive anthraquinones and analogues biosynthesized by the... (Review)
Review
This review, covering the literature from 1966 to the present (2020), describes naturally occurring fungal bioactive anthraquinones and analogues biosynthesized by the acetate route and concerning several different functionalized carbon skeletons. Hydrocarbons, lipids, sterols, esters, fatty acids, derivatives of amino acids, and aromatic compounds are metabolites belonging to other different classes of natural compounds and are generated by the same biosynthetic route. All of them are produced by plant, microorganisms, and marine organisms. The biological activities of anthraquinones and analogues comprise phytotoxic, antibacterial, antiviral, anticancer, antitumor, algicide, antifungal, enzyme inhibiting, immunostimulant, antiplatelet aggregation, cytotoxic, and antiplasmodium activities. The review also covers some practical industrial applications of anthraquinones.
Topics: Animals; Anthraquinones; Fungi; Humans
PubMed: 33198270
DOI: 10.3390/toxins12110714 -
Journal of the American Chemical Society Oct 2021The C-10-C-4a bond cleavage of anthraquinone is believed to be a crucial step in fungal seco-anthraquinone biosynthesis and has long been proposed as a classic...
The C-10-C-4a bond cleavage of anthraquinone is believed to be a crucial step in fungal seco-anthraquinone biosynthesis and has long been proposed as a classic Baeyer-Villiger oxidation. Nonetheless, genetic, enzymatic, and chemical information on ring opening remains elusive. Here, a revised questin ring-opening mechanism was elucidated by gene disruption, enzymatic analysis, and O chasing experiments. It has been confirmed that the reductase GedF is responsible for the reduction of the keto group at C-10 in questin to a hydroxyl group with the aid of NADPH. The C-10-C-4a bond of the resultant questin hydroquinone is subsequently cleaved by the atypical cofactor-free dioxygenase GedK, giving rise to desmethylsulochrin. This proposed bienzyme-catalytic and dioxygenation-mediated anthraquinone ring-opening reaction shows universality.
Topics: Anthraquinones
PubMed: 34586791
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c07182 -
Marine Drugs May 2021The marine ecosystem, populated by a myriad of animals, plants, and microorganisms, is an inexhaustible reservoir of pharmacologically active molecules. Among the... (Review)
Review
The marine ecosystem, populated by a myriad of animals, plants, and microorganisms, is an inexhaustible reservoir of pharmacologically active molecules. Among the multiple secondary metabolites produced by marine sources, there are anthraquinones and their derivatives. Besides being mainly known to be produced by terrestrial species, even marine organisms and the uncountable kingdom of marine microorganisms biosynthesize anthraquinones. Anthraquinones possess many different biological activities, including a remarkable antitumor activity. However, due to their peculiar chemical structures, anthraquinones are often associated with toxicological issues, even relevant, such as genotoxicity and mutagenicity. The aim of this review is to critically describe the anticancer potential of anthraquinones derived from marine sources and their genotoxic and mutagenic potential. Marine-derived anthraquinones show a promising anticancer potential, although clinical studies are missing. Additionally, an in-depth investigation of their toxicological profile is needed before advocating anthraquinones as a therapeutic armamentarium in the oncological area.
Topics: Animals; Anthraquinones; Antineoplastic Agents; Aquatic Organisms; Cell Line, Tumor; Humans; Mutagens; Neoplasms
PubMed: 34068184
DOI: 10.3390/md19050272 -
The Journal of Organic Chemistry Mar 2020Readily available acrylamide naphthoquinones can be converted into the corresponding aza-anthraquinones using 6π-photoelectrocyclization reactions. Not only do these...
Readily available acrylamide naphthoquinones can be converted into the corresponding aza-anthraquinones using 6π-photoelectrocyclization reactions. Not only do these reactions not proceed thermally but, as demonstrated here, they can also be used to generate a range of aza-anthraquinone and aza-tetracycline derivatives including the natural products griffithazanone A and marcanine A. Several of the aza-anthraquinones generated in this work showed antibacterial activity.
Topics: Anthraquinones; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Biological Products; Naphthoquinones
PubMed: 32072812
DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.9b03417 -
Phytomedicine : International Journal... Mar 2023Hypericin is a prominent secondary metabolite mainly existing in genus Hypericum. It has become a research focus for a quiet long time owing to its extensively... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Hypericin is a prominent secondary metabolite mainly existing in genus Hypericum. It has become a research focus for a quiet long time owing to its extensively pharmacological activities especially the anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, anti-viral and neuroprotective effects. This review concentrated on summarizing and analyzing the existing studies of hypericin in a comprehensive perspective.
METHODS
The literature with desired information about hypericin published after 2010 was gained from electronic databases including PubMed, SciFinder, Science Direct, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases and Wan Fang DATA.
RESULTS
According to extensive preclinical and clinical studies conducted on the hypericin, an organized and comprehensive summary of the natural and artificial sources, strategies for improving the bioactivities, pharmacological activities, drug combination of hypericin was presented to explore the future therapeutic potential of this active compound.
CONCLUSIONS
Overall, this review offered a theoretical guidance for the follow-up research of hypericin. However, the pharmacological mechanisms, pharmacokinetics and structure activity relationship of hypericin should be further studied in future research.
Topics: Humans; Anthraquinones; Anthracenes; Neoplasms; Photochemotherapy
PubMed: 36689857
DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2023.154654 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Dec 2023Anthraquinones are bioactive natural products, which are often found in medicinal herbs. These compounds exert antioxidant-related pharmacological actions including... (Review)
Review
Anthraquinones are bioactive natural products, which are often found in medicinal herbs. These compounds exert antioxidant-related pharmacological actions including neuroprotective effects, anti-inflammation, anticancer, hepatoprotective effects and anti-aging, etc. Considering the benefits from their pharmacological use, recently, there was an upsurge in the development and utilization of anthraquinones as reactive oxygen species (ROS) regulators. In this review, a deep discussion was carried out on their antioxidant activities and the structure-activity relationships. The antioxidant mechanisms and the chemistry behind the antioxidant activities of both natural and synthesized compounds were furtherly explored and demonstrated. Due to the specific chemical activity of ROS, antioxidants are essential for human health. Therefore, the development of reagents that regulate the imbalance between ROS formation and elimination should be more extensive and rational, and the exploration of antioxidant mechanisms of anthraquinones may provide new therapeutic tools and ideas for various diseases mediated by ROS.
Topics: Humans; Antioxidants; Reactive Oxygen Species; Anthraquinones; Structure-Activity Relationship
PubMed: 38138627
DOI: 10.3390/molecules28248139 -
Molecular Biology Reports May 2024Natural medicines are a valuable resource for the development of new drugs. However, factors such as low solubility and poor bioavailability of certain constituents have... (Review)
Review
Natural medicines are a valuable resource for the development of new drugs. However, factors such as low solubility and poor bioavailability of certain constituents have hindered their efficacy and potential as pharmaceuticals. Structural modification of natural products has emerged as an important research area for drug development. Phosphorylation groups, as crucial endogenous active groups, have been extensively utilized for structural modification and development of new drugs based on natural molecules. Incorporating phosphate groups into natural molecules not only enhances their stability, bioavailability, and pharmacological properties, but also improves their biological activity by altering their charge, hydrogen bonding, and spatial structure. This review summarizes the phosphorylation mechanism, modification approaches, and biological activity enhancement of natural medicines. Notably, compounds such as polysaccharides, flavonoids, terpenoids, anthraquinones, and coumarins exhibit increased antioxidation, anticancer, antiviral, immune regulatory, Antiaging, enzyme inhibition, bacteriostasis, liver protection, and lipid-lowering effects following phosphorylation modification.
Topics: Biological Products; Phosphorylation; Humans; Animals; Flavonoids; Polysaccharides; Antioxidants; Anthraquinones
PubMed: 38802698
DOI: 10.1007/s11033-024-09596-1