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The Trypanocidal Activity of Naphthoquinones: A Review
Naphthoquinones are compounds present in several families of higher plants. Their molecular structures confer redox properties, and they are involved in multiple biological oxidative processes. In folk medicine, especially among Indian populations, plants containing naphthoquinones have been employe...
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Molecular Diversity Preservation International
2009
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6255437/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19924086 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules14114570 |
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author | Ventura Pinto, Antônio Lisboa de Castro, Solange |
author_facet | Ventura Pinto, Antônio Lisboa de Castro, Solange |
author_sort | Ventura Pinto, Antônio |
collection | PubMed |
description | Naphthoquinones are compounds present in several families of higher plants. Their molecular structures confer redox properties, and they are involved in multiple biological oxidative processes. In folk medicine, especially among Indian populations, plants containing naphthoquinones have been employed for the treatment of various diseases. The biological redox cycle of quinones can be initiated by one electron reduction leading to the formation of semiquinones, unstable intermediates that react rapidly with molecular oxygen, generating free radicals. Alternatively, the reduction by two electrons, mediated by DT-diphorase, leads to the formation of hydroquinone. Lapachol, α-lapachone and β-lapachone, which are isolated from the heartwood of trees of the Bignoniaceae family, are examples of bioactive naphthoquinones. In this review, we will discuss studies investigating the activity of these natural products and their derivatives in the context of the search for alternative drugs for Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, a neglected illness that is endemic in Latin America. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6255437 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2009 |
publisher | Molecular Diversity Preservation International |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-62554372018-11-30 The Trypanocidal Activity of Naphthoquinones: A Review Ventura Pinto, Antônio Lisboa de Castro, Solange Molecules Review Naphthoquinones are compounds present in several families of higher plants. Their molecular structures confer redox properties, and they are involved in multiple biological oxidative processes. In folk medicine, especially among Indian populations, plants containing naphthoquinones have been employed for the treatment of various diseases. The biological redox cycle of quinones can be initiated by one electron reduction leading to the formation of semiquinones, unstable intermediates that react rapidly with molecular oxygen, generating free radicals. Alternatively, the reduction by two electrons, mediated by DT-diphorase, leads to the formation of hydroquinone. Lapachol, α-lapachone and β-lapachone, which are isolated from the heartwood of trees of the Bignoniaceae family, are examples of bioactive naphthoquinones. In this review, we will discuss studies investigating the activity of these natural products and their derivatives in the context of the search for alternative drugs for Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, a neglected illness that is endemic in Latin America. Molecular Diversity Preservation International 2009-11-10 /pmc/articles/PMC6255437/ /pubmed/19924086 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules14114570 Text en © 2009 by the authors; licensee Molecular Diversity Preservation International, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). |
spellingShingle | Review Ventura Pinto, Antônio Lisboa de Castro, Solange The Trypanocidal Activity of Naphthoquinones: A Review |
title | The Trypanocidal Activity of Naphthoquinones: A Review |
title_full | The Trypanocidal Activity of Naphthoquinones: A Review |
title_fullStr | The Trypanocidal Activity of Naphthoquinones: A Review |
title_full_unstemmed | The Trypanocidal Activity of Naphthoquinones: A Review |
title_short | The Trypanocidal Activity of Naphthoquinones: A Review |
title_sort | trypanocidal activity of naphthoquinones: a review |
topic | Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6255437/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19924086 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules14114570 |
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