Boron-containing compounds: chemico-biological properties and expanding medicinal potential in prevention, diagnosis and therapy

Abstract

Although uncertainties exist about the mechanism of action of BCCs, increasing evidence about their toxicological profile strongly suggests that many can be safely administered to humans. Even stronger evidence exists regarding the capacity of BCCs to reach multiple targets that are involved in the treatment of common diseases. It seems fair to say that some BCCs will reach the market for medicinal use in the near future, not only for targeting microbial or neoplastic systems but also for acting on cell-signaling processes involved in many other disorders.

Current data regarding the structure-toxicity relationship of boron-containing compounds

“…There has been a rapid expansion of the use of BCCs in the biomedical field in the last few years (Pizzorno, 2015;Del Rosso, 2014;Soriano-Ursúa, 2014a). This is due to the improvement found in the properties of some medicinal compounds when boron moieties are added (Soriano-Ursúa, 2014a), such as increased affinity for the corresponding receptor and improved efficacy (Soriano-Ursúa, 2015;Zhang, 2015).…”

“…1), have been considered as potential therapeutic agents (Das, 2013;Soriano-Ursúa, 2014a). Some of these BCCs have potential as preventive agents or antiseptics, or in the control of vector-borne disease.…”

“…In diagnosis, BCCs have a potential role as selective fluorescent probes that can detect or measure proteins, pH-changes, neurotransmitters, pharmacokinetic parameters, and so on (Amin, 2013;Soriano-Ursúa, 2014a;Zhong, 2015).…”

“…New BCCs have recently been tested as anticancer, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anticoagulant and antidiabetic agents, while others have been suggested for the treatment of cardiovascular, central nervous system, lung and metabolic diseases as well as inflammatory processes (Das, 2013;Soriano-Ursúa, 2014a). Therefore, the increase in the number of studies on the biological activity of BCCs has led to an accumulation of knowledge in this field, as well as the successful synthesis and testing of some BCCs for medicinal purposes.…”

Boron and its compounds: current biological research activities

“…In fact, since the year 2000, the numbers of studies on the medicinal use of boron-containing compounds have by far exceeded the numbers of reports on boron-related toxicity (Farfán-García et al 2016). For instance, boron-containing structures may influence inotropic and metabotropic receptors, enzyme-linked receptors, and cytoplasmic and nuclear receptors (Soriano-Ursúa et al 2014). The administration of boric acid to humans in quantities of 20-60 mg/day has been found effective for arthritis treatment (Travers et al 1990), and specific boron-containing compounds appear to reduce certain types of neoplasia (Scorei and Popa 2010).…”