Antibacterial and Antifungal Alkaloids from Asian Angiosperms: Distribution, Mechanisms of Action, Structure-Activity, and Clinical Potentials

Mazdida Sulaiman; Khoshnur Jannat; Veeranoot Nissapatorn; Mohammed Rahmatullah; Alok K Paul; Maria de Lourdes Pereira; Mogana Rajagopal; Monica Suleiman; Mark S Butler; Mohammed Khaled Bin Break; Jean-Frédéric Weber; Polrat Wilairatana; Christophe Wiart

doi:10.3390/antibiotics11091146

Antibacterial and Antifungal Alkaloids from Asian Angiosperms: Distribution, Mechanisms of Action, Structure-Activity, and Clinical Potentials

Antibiotics (Basel). 2022 Aug 24;11(9):1146. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics11091146.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.
² Department of Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering, University of Development Alternative, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh.
³ School of Allied Health Sciences and World Union for Herbal Drug Discovery (WUHeDD), Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand.
⁴ School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia.
⁵ CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials & Department of Medical Sciences, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal.
⁶ Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia.
⁷ Institute for Tropical Biology & Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu 88400, Malaysia.
⁸ MSBChem Consulting, Brisbane, QLD 4005, Australia.
⁹ Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Hail, Hail 81411, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁰ UFR Sciences Pharmaceutiques, INRAE, Bordeaux INP, UR ŒNOLOGIE, EA 4577, USC 1366, ISVV, Université de Bordeaux, 210 Chemin de Leysotte, 33882 Villenave d'Ornon, France.
¹¹ Department of Clinical Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.

Abstract

The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria and fungi requires the development of antibiotics and antifungal agents. This review identified natural products isolated from Asian angiosperms with antibacterial and/or antifungal activities and analyzed their distribution, molecular weights, solubility, and modes of action. All data in this review were compiled from Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, ChemSpider, PubChem, and a library search from 1979 to 2022. One hundred and forty-one antibacterial and/or antifungal alkaloids were identified during this period, mainly from basal angiosperms. The most active alkaloids are mainly planar, amphiphilic, with a molecular mass between 200 and 400 g/mol, and a polar surface area of about 50 Å², and target DNA and/or topoisomerase as well as the cytoplasmic membrane. 8-Acetylnorchelerythrine, cryptolepine, 8-hydroxydihydrochelerythrine, 6-methoxydihydrosanguinarine, 2'-nortiliacorinine, pendulamine A and B, rhetsisine, sampangine, tiliacorine, tryptanthrin, tylophorinine, vallesamine, and viroallosecurinine yielded MIC ≤ 1 µg/mL and are candidates for the development of lead molecules.

Keywords: Asia; alkaloids; antibacterial; antifungal; medicinal plants.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This project was funded by a grant from the Malaysian Ministry of Education (FRGS/1/2018/ WAB07/UNIM/02/1, Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia) and Project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, UIDB/50011/2020, UIDP/50011/2020 & LA/P/0006/2020, financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC (PIDDAC).