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A Brief History of Terpenoids
Published in Dijendra Nath Roy, Terpenoids Against Human Diseases, 2019
Milena Campelo Freitas de Lima, Larissa Sousa da Silva, Larissa Silveira Moreira Wiedemann, Valdir F. da Veiga
The triterpenes make up another class of terpenes with several descriptions of bioactivity, from digitalic cardiotonic glycosides and saponins to the recently observed action of betulinic acid derivatives in HIV. They are very common in plant extracts from the families Celastraceae and Rubiaceae but are abundantly produced in resins from the botanical family Burseraceae. About 4,000 triterpenes have been described, isolated from natural sources, mainly from plants. The biological activities are wide, from antimicrobial and anti-tumour, to analgesic and anti-inflammatory (Santos et al., 2016). Some pentacyclic alcohols, such as lupeol and the amyrins, have a huge incidence in resins from the Burseraceae family, including the genera Protium and Bursera. The ancient oil resins from these genera are known in human history as incense and myrrh, with several pharmacological properties already studied, mainly the anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties (Maia et al., 2000; Santos et al., 2016).
Evaluation of cytotoxic potential, oral toxicity, genotoxicity, and mutagenicity of organic extracts of Pityrocarpa moniliformis
Published in Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, 2019
Tamiris Alves Rocha, Danielle Feijó de Moura, Marllyn Marques da Silva, Talita Giselly dos Santos Souza, Maria Aparecida da Conceição de Lira, Dayane de Melo Barros, Alexandre Gomes da Silva, Rafael Matos Ximenes, Emerson Peter da Silva Falcão, Cristiano Aparecido Chagas, Francisco Carlos Amanajás de Aguiar Júnior, Noêmia Pereira da Silva Santos, Marcia Vanusa da Silva, Maria Tereza dos Santos Correia
Thus, organic extracts of P. moniliformis provide a quantitative elevation of viable macrophages compared to controls. Among the bioactive compounds of P. moniliformis that display the capacity to protect the immune system, the following stand out: flavonoids, saponins, triterpenes and steroids, indicating potential capacity to become therapeutic drugs due to their influence on the defenses of the phagocytic system, acting to combat infections and chronic diseases (Khajanchi and Banerjee 2017). The action of flavonoids on B and T lymphocytes, macrophages, natural killer (NK) cells, basophils, neutrophils, eosinophils, and monocytes are well known (Cerqueira et al. 2003; Chirumbolo 2010; Middleton, Kandaswami, and Theoharides 2000). Several studies were carried out that report the activity of flavonoids in the activation of T lymphocytes (CD8) and cytotoxic NK cells. However, it is not known whether any single mechanism of action exists that may clarify this phenomenon, although it is presumed to be due to inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX), since prostaglandins (PGs) are able to eliminate T lymphocytes (Havsteen 2002). Saponins have been extensively studied and have demonstrated a strong adjuvant potential that appears to be related to their ability to induce cytokine production. (Mathias 2018; Singh and O’Hagan 2003). Triterpenes and steroids also exhibited numerous advantages such as anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and immune system protection (Quílez, García-Lorda, and Salas-Salvado 2003).