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Terpenoids As Therapeutic Drugs and Pharmaceutical Agents

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Abstract

Terpenoids, also referred to as terpenes, are the largest group of natural compounds. Many terpenes have biological activities and are used for the treatment of human diseases. The worldwide sales of terpene-based pharmaceuticals in 2002 were approximately US $12 billion. Among these pharmaceuticals, the anticancer drug Taxol® and the antimalarial drug Artimesinin are two of the most renowned terpene-based drugs. All terpenoids are synthesized from two five-carbon building blocks. Based on the number of the building blocks, terpenoids are commonly classified as monoterpenes (C10), sesquiterpenes (C15), diterpenes (C20), and sesterterpenes (C25). These terpenoids display a wide range of biological activities against cancer, malaria, inflammation, and a variety of infectious diseases (viral and bacterial). In last two decades, natural-product bioprospecting from the marine environment has resulted in hundreds of terpenoids with novel structures and interesting bioactivities, with more to be discovered in the future. The problem of supply is a serious obstacle to the development of most terpenoid compounds with interesting pharmaceutical properties. Although total chemical synthesis plays a less important role in the production of some terpenoid drugs, it has contributed significantly to the development of terpenoid compounds and terpene-based drugs by providing critical information on structure-activity relationships (SAR) and chiral centers as well as generating analog libraries. Semisynthesis, on the other hand, has played a major role in the development and production of terpenoid-derived drugs. Metabolic engineering as an integrated bioengineering approach has made considerable progress to produce some terpenoids in plants and fermentable hosts. Cell culture and aquaculture will provide a solution for the supply issue of some valuable terpenes from terrestrial and marine environments, respectively. Recent advances in environmental genomics and other “-omics” technologies will facilitate isolation and discovery of new terpenoids from natural environments. There is no doubt that more terpenoid-based clinical drugs will become available and will play a more significant role in human disease treatment in the near future.
... Terpenoids, like many other natural compounds, have biological properties that have been utilized in the treatment and prevention of human diseases (Wang et al., 2005). The cellular and molecular bases of a wide range of terpenoid compounds and their derivatives have been studied in relation to their pharmacological activities; these activities have included the analgesic, sedative, antitumor, antiinflammatory, antioxidative, antiaggregatory, and anticoagulative qualities of monoterpenes, sesqui-, di-, tri-, and tetra terpenes and their glycosides (Kokkiripati et al., 2011(Kokkiripati et al., , 2013Zhao et al., 2016). ...
... Few of the compounds that were analyzed demonstrated efficacy against cancer, malaria, and a range of infectious viral and bacterial diseases. Two examples of multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical industries that rely heavily on natural products are Taxol, a diterpenoid drug, and artemisinin, a sesquiterpene lactone, which is an antimalarial drug (Wang et al., 2005). Studies have revealed the molecular underpinnings of several terpene-based FIGURE 8.6 Meroterpenoids breakdown into C-3 epimeric mixes of their derivatives chromane and chromene (Gaysinski et al., 2015;Yang et al., 2018). ...
... Among the many roles they play, from contributing cellular functions to participating in their primary structure, they are regarded as the most diverse family of natural products [132,133]. Moreover, its antibacterial activity against Salmonella sp., Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Helicobacter pylori, E. coli, Enterococcus faecalis, and S. aureus have been reported by several groups [134,135]. Terpens has lipophilic characteristics that enable them to easily penetrate in to bacterial cell wall, disrupting their membrane and hindering important cellular processes. ...
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... Phytochemical compounds are responsible for the biological activities of medicinal plants. "Terpenoids have displayed activity against malaria, cancer, inflammation and various infectious diseases" (Wang et al, 2005). Compounds such as alkaloids, steroids, glycosides and tannins possess a wide broad of biological capacities justifying the use of these plants in traditional medicine in Gabon for the treatment of several ailments. ...
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... They have found usage as disinfectants for medical equipment and surfaces or are used to prevent nosocomial infection due to their bactericidal and fungicidal effects. 121 Essential oils are difficult to handle which restricts their use in the textile sector, however, microencapsulation is a technology which uses capsulated essential oils for impregnation on textiles thus controlling their release rate which extends their antimicrobial effect. Various essential oils are used for antimicrobial textiles some compounds along with their encapsulated materials are listed in the Table 4. 6.2. ...
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... biological activities against cancer, malaria, inflammation and a variety of infectious diseases. (12) Sugars that contain aldehyde groups that are oxidised to carboxylic acids are classified as reducing sugars. They provide energy and serve as the basic building blocks for carbohydrate storage and are excellent scavengers for metal ions. ...
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