The Revaluation of Plant-Derived Terpenes to Fight Antibiotic-Resistant Infections

Abstract

The discovery of antibiotics has revolutionized the medicine and treatment of microbial infections. However, the current scenario has highlighted the difficulties in marketing new antibiotics and an exponential increase in the appearance of resistant strains. On the other hand, research in the field of drug-discovery has revaluated the potential of natural products as a unique source for new biologically active molecules and scaffolds for the medicinal chemistry. In this review, we first contextualized the worldwide problem of antibiotic resistance and the importance that natural products of plant origin acquire as a source of new lead compounds. We then focused on terpenes and their potential development as antimicrobials, highlighting those studies that showed an activity against conventional antibiotic-resistant strains.

Nanoformulations for Delivery of Pentacyclic Triterpenoids in Anticancer Therapies

“…Plants with a particularly high content of pentacyclic triterpenoids could be used in the medical treatment called ‘phytotherapy.’ The pentacyclic triterpenoids can be classified into three main groups: lupane (betulin, betulinic acid, and lupeol), oleanane (oleanolic acid, maslinic acid, erythrodiol, and β-amyrin) and ursane (ursolic acid, uvaol, and α-amyrin) [ 7 ]. Their chemical structures consist of five- and/or six-membered carbon rings [ 8 ]. The range of biological properties of triterpenoids includes anticancer, antiangiogenic, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antihyperlipidemic, antibacterial, hepatoprotective, and cardioprotective activities, among others.…”

Naturally-Occurring Alkaloids of Plant Origin as Potential Antimicrobials against Antibiotic-Resistant Infections

“…Another promising class of natural compounds from the plant kingdom is given by secondary metabolites. Many of these (e.g., tannins, terpenes, carotenoids, polyphenols and alkaloids) have already been characterized for their biological properties and relevance as potential new antimicrobials [27][28][29][30][31]. Furthermore, these molecules can serve as a chemical scaffold for the synthesis of libraries in order to identify markers for a specific detection or for the design of lead compounds with a desired biological activity [32][33][34].…”

Synthesis of Degraded Limonoid Analogs as New Antibacterial Scaffolds against Staphylococcus aureus

“…For this reason, NPs are still a potent source of inspiration in drug discovery [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. Among NPs, secondary metabolites from plants with terpene structures have proven numerous clinical trials and drugs [ 13 ]. Limonoids are tetranortriterpenoids isolated from Meliaceae and Rutaceae plants [ 14 ].…”