Antiparasitic effects of selected isoflavones on flatworms

Abstract

SummaryMedicinal plants have been successfully used in the ethno medicine for a wide range of diseases since ancient times. The research on natural products has allowed the discovery of biologically relevant compounds inspired by plant secondary metabolites, what contributed to the development of many chemotherapeutic drugs. Flavonoids represent a group of therapeutically very effective plant secondary metabolites and selected molecules were shown to exert also antiparasitic activity. This work summarizes the recent knowledge generated within past three decades about potential parasitocidal activities of several flavonoids with different chemical structures, particularly on medically important flatworms such as Schistosoma spp., Fasciola spp., Echinococcus spp., Raillietina spp., and model cestode Mesocestoides vogae. Here we focus on curcumin, genistein, quercetin and silymarin complex of flavonolignans. All of them possess a whole spectrum of biological activities on eukaryotic cells which have multi-therapeutic effects in various diseases. In vitro they can induce profound alterations in the tegumental architecture and its functions as well as their activity can significantly modulate or damage worm´s metabolism directly by interaction with enzymes or signaling molecules in dose-dependent manner. Moreover, they seem to differentially regulate the RNA activity in numbers of worm´s genes. This review suggests that examined flavonoids and their derivates are promising molecules for antiparasitic drug research. Due to lack of toxicity, isoflavons could be used directly for therapy, or as adjuvant therapy for diseases caused by medically important cestodes and trematodes.

Chirality Matters: Biological Activity of Optically Pure Silybin and Its Congeners

“…The antiparasitic activity of silymarin flavonolignans and some other flavonoids was recently reviewed by Faixová et al [159], demonstrating that some flavonoids and polyphenols can also be successfully used in parasitology-particularly on medically important flatworms such as Raillietina spp., Fasciola spp., Leishmania spp., Schistosoma spp., Echinococcus spp., and on the (model) cestode Mesocestoides vogae. Most of the existing papers worked with mixed preparations or with silymarin.…”

Evolutionary Adaptations of Parasitic Flatworms to Different Oxygen Tensions

“…Unlike their vertebrate hosts and their free-living counterparts [ 153 ], these organisms depend exclusively on this enzyme to carry out the reduction of GSSG and Trx-S 2 . Although it has been proposed that having an enzyme capable of reducing substrates belonging to two independent redox systems represents an evolutionary advantage [ 148 ], it is also possible to note that the dependence of parasitic flatworms on this enzyme makes it an excellent pharmacological target [ 154 , 155 , 156 , 157 , 158 , 159 , 160 , 161 ].…”

“…We previously reported that the in vivo inhibition of the TGR in T. crassiceps cysticerci is sufficient to compromise the viability of the parasite by altering its redox state and glutathione metabolism [ 165 ], which agrees with observations made when incubating schistosomula in the presence of anti TGR iRNA [ 166 ]. Due to its importance, TGR has been crystallized [ 167 ], promoting the search for drugs capable of inhibiting it [ 154 , 155 , 156 , 157 , 158 , 159 , 160 , 161 ].…”

Structural Design, Synthesis and Antioxidant, Antileishmania, Anti-Inflammatory and Anticancer Activities of a Novel Quercetin Acetylated Derivative

“…In parasitic diseases, flavonoids are a high interest group. This is due to their low toxicity in hosts and several mechanisms by which they can modulate pathologically altered processes during infections [6]. Flavonoids have multiple targets for treating leishmaniasis and include targets, such as arginase, ribonucleotide reductase and topoisomerase II [7,8].…”