Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Aug 9;25(16):3619.
doi: 10.3390/molecules25163619.

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

Bruno Casciaro  1 , Laura Mangiardi  1   2 , Floriana Cappiello  3 , Isabella Romeo  1   2 , Maria Rosa Loffredo  3 , Antonia Iazzetti  2 , Andrea Calcaterra  2 , Antonella Goggiamani  2 , Francesca Ghirga  1 , Maria Luisa Mangoni  3 , Bruno Botta  2 , Deborah Quaglio  2
Affiliations
Review

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

Bruno Casciaro et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance is now considered a worldwide problem that puts public health at risk. The onset of bacterial strains resistant to conventional antibiotics and the scarcity of new drugs have prompted scientific research to re-evaluate natural products as molecules with high biological and chemical potential. A class of natural compounds of significant importance is represented by alkaloids derived from higher plants. In this review, we have collected data obtained from various research groups on the antimicrobial activities of these alkaloids against conventional antibiotic-resistant strains. In addition, the structure-function relationship was described and commented on, highlighting the high potential of alkaloids as antimicrobials.

Keywords: alkaloids; antibiotic resistance; antimicrobials; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; natural products; plant-derived alkaloids; structure–activity relationship; vancomycin-resistant enterococci.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of true- and proto-alkaloids. The amino acidic skeleton derived from the natural precursor is in bold.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic representation of pseudo-alkaloids. The carbon skeleton derived from the natural precursor is in bold.
Scheme 1
Scheme 1
The 14 subgroups of alkaloids.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Beneficial modifications of the indole alkaloids-based skeleton.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Beneficial modifications of the isoquinoline alkaloids based skeleton.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Read A.F., Woods R.J. Antibiotic resistance management. Evol. Med. Public Health. 2014;2014:147. doi: 10.1093/emph/eou024. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cassini A., Hogberg L.D., Plachouras D., Quattrocchi A., Hoxha A., Simonsen G.S., Colomb-Cotinat M., Kretzschmar M.E., Devleesschauwer B., Cecchini M., et al. Attributable deaths and disability-adjusted life-years caused by infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the EU and the European Economic Area in 2015: A population-level modelling analysis. Lancet Infect. Dis. 2019;19:56–66. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30605-4. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Golkar Z., Bagasra O., Pace D.G. Bacteriophage therapy: A potential solution for the antibiotic resistance crisis. J. Infect. Dev. Ctries. 2014;8:129–136. doi: 10.3855/jidc.3573. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Guo Y., Song G., Sun M., Wang J., Wang Y. Prevalence and Therapies of Antibiotic-Resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. Front. Cell Infect. Microbiol. 2020;10:107. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00107. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gross M. Antibiotics in crisis. Curr. Biol. 2013;23:R1063–R1065. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.11.057. - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms