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Saponins as Potential Antiprotozoal Agents

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Book cover Antiprotozoal Drug Development and Delivery

Part of the book series: Topics in Medicinal Chemistry ((TMC,volume 39))

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Abstract

The sphere of natural products is an abundant source for discovery of therapeutic drugs for the treatment of neglected parasitic diseases. Various classes of chemical substances displayed antiprotozoal activity, such as alkaloids, terpenoids, saponins, and flavonoids. The highly functional saponins are found predominantly in plants and are frequently consumed in foods, beverages, and medicines. This class of chemical substance has structurally one or more glycoside moieties linked to a triterpenoid or steroid. Saponins demonstrated to be very valuable therapeutic targets whose potential is still to be explored and that may be useful for the development of new antiprotozoal drugs options.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by PROEP-CNPq (grant number 407856/2017-0), CAPES and UFAM. J.D.C. and M.M.H.A. thank Fiocruz for their fellowships. A.C.B.M. thanks CNPq for fellowship.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This chapter does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Produtos Naturais, Farmanguinhos, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Ana Claudia F. Amaral, Aline de S. Ramos, Maíra Martins H. de Almeida, Jefferson D. da Cruz, Danielle L. de Oliveira & Ana Clara B. Maria

  2. Programa de Pós-graduação Acadêmico em Pesquisa Translacional em Fármacos e Medicamentos, Farmanguinhos, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Ana Claudia F. Amaral, Maíra Martins H. de Almeida & Jefferson D. da Cruz

  3. Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Niterói, RJ, Brazil

    José Luiz P. Ferreira

  4. Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAM), Manaus, AM, Brazil

    Aimee A. de Oliveira & Jefferson R. de A. Silva

  5. Departamento de Produtos Naturais e Alimentos, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Igor A. Rodrigues

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Biotechnology Center-Bioinovar, Biocatalysis, Bioproducts and Bioenergy Unit, Institute of Microbiology Paulo de Góes, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Alane Beatriz Vermelho

  2. Polo Scientifico, Laboratorio di Ch, University of Florence, Neurofarba Department, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

    Claudiu T. Supuran

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Amaral, A.C.F. et al. (2021). Saponins as Potential Antiprotozoal Agents. In: Vermelho, A.B., Supuran, C.T. (eds) Antiprotozoal Drug Development and Delivery. Topics in Medicinal Chemistry, vol 39. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/7355_2021_141

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