Phenolics and Terpenoids; the Promising New Search for Anthelmintics: A Critical Review

Abstract

Ailments caused by helminth parasites are global causing different types of clinical complications with permanent and long term morbidity in humans. Although huge advances have been made in medical sciences the effectiveness of available anthelmintics are still quite limited. Starting from the 50's, most importance was given to synthetic compounds for developing remedies from them, however, the traditional knowledge of medicine of different countries continued to provide us clues against this widespread health problem. Natural products or structural analogs with diverse structures are always been the major sources for discovering new therapeutics and in recent past different active compounds have also been identified form these plant sources having anthelmintic properties. Although compounds of diverse chemical nature and classes were identified, most active ones belong to either phenol or terpene in broad chemical nature. The mechanism of action of these phytotherapeutics is usually multi-targeted and can act against the helminth parasites through diverse spectrum of activities. In this review we summarized the effective anthelmintics belong to either phenolics or terpenoids and highlighted the major way of their effectiveness. This also highlights the recent development of new therapeutic strategies against helminth parasites in the light of recent advances of knowledge. In addition, developing efficient strategies to promote apoptosis and disturbing redox status in them by natural products can provide us a clue in antifilarial drug developmental research and crucial unmet medical need.

Polyphenol enriched ethanolic extract of Cajanus scarabaeoides (L.) Thouars exerts potential antifilarial activity by inducing oxidative stress and programmed cell death

“…Our experimental data clearly revealed that EECs mainly triggers the oxidative stress by upregulating the pro-oxidants (Superoxide O - 2 , H 2 O 2 , MDA) and depleting the antioxidants (GSH, GST, catalase, and SOD). The nematode antioxidant system protects the parasites from the host induced oxidative stress and it is the main reason behind the prolonged survival of the parasites inside the host [32, 33]. The elevation of the level of pro-oxidants is considered detrimental to the parasites as free radical chain reactions damage all sorts of cellular biomolecules [32, 33].…”

“…The nematode antioxidant system protects the parasites from the host induced oxidative stress and it is the main reason behind the prolonged survival of the parasites inside the host [32, 33]. The elevation of the level of pro-oxidants is considered detrimental to the parasites as free radical chain reactions damage all sorts of cellular biomolecules [32, 33]. From this investigation it has been clear that EECs increases the production ROS and decreases antioxidant responses- both results together limit the survival of the parasite.…”

“…From this investigation it has been clear that EECs increases the production ROS and decreases antioxidant responses- both results together limit the survival of the parasite. Induction of oxidative stress is also coupled to the apoptotic pathway activation [32, 33]. In fact, ROS generated from membrane lipid peroxidation can directly activate CED pathway in the filarial nematode [20, 32, 33].…”

Plant-Based Natural Products for the Discovery and Development of Novel Anthelmintics against Nematodes

“…Phenolic compounds comprise a broad chemical class, several of whose members show anthelmintic activity (for recent reviews see [102,103]). The activity in phenolic acids increases with the number of hydroxyl groups [101].…”

Anthelmintic Activity of Yeast Particle-Encapsulated Terpenes

“…Another significant advantage of terpenes is their putative modes of action, worked out in their use as fungicides and bactericides. Terpenes have general membrane-disrupting capabilities, resulting in chemo-osmotic stress and the generalized death of their targets [28,29].…”