Medicinal fungi: a source of antiparasitic secondary metabolites

Regions with a tropical climate are frequently affected by endemic diseases caused by pathogenic parasites. More than one billion people worldwide are exposed directly to tropical parasites. The literature cites several antiparasitic metabolites obtained from medicinal plants or via synthetic pathwa...

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Published inApplied microbiology and biotechnology Vol. 102; no. 14; pp. 5791 - 5810
Main Authors Lenzi, Juliana, Costa, Tania Maria, Alberton, Michele Debiasi, Goulart, Juliane Araújo Greinert, Tavares, Lorena Benathar Ballod
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.07.2018
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Antiparasitic agents
Biodiversity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biotechnology
Evaluation
Fungi
Health aspects
Life Sciences
Medicinal plants
Metabolites
Microbial Genetics and Genomics
Microbiology
Mini-Review
Molecular chains
Parasites
Parasitic diseases
Pharmaceutical industry
Protozoa
Secondary metabolites
Vectors
Macrofungi
Protozoa
Antiparasitic molecules
Natural products
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Summary:Regions with a tropical climate are frequently affected by endemic diseases caused by pathogenic parasites. More than one billion people worldwide are exposed directly to tropical parasites. The literature cites several antiparasitic metabolites obtained from medicinal plants or via synthetic pathways. However, fungi produce a diversity of metabolites that play important biological roles in human well-being. Thus, they are considered a potential source of novel natural agents for exploitation in the pharmaceutical industry. In this brief review article, we will provide an overview of the current situation regarding antiparasitic molecules derived from filamentous fungi, in particular, those which are effective against protozoan parasites, such as Plasmodium , Trypanosoma , and Leishmania , vectors of some neglected tropical diseases. Diseases and parasitic agents are described and classified, and the antiparasitic properties of natural compounds produced by the fungi of the phyla Basidiomycota and Ascomycota are reviewed herein, in order to explore a topic only sparsely addressed in the scientific literature.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
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ObjectType-Review-1
ISSN:0175-7598
1432-0614
DOI:10.1007/s00253-018-9048-8