Medicinal plants have been used in traditional medicines all over the world to treat human diseases throughout human history. Many of the medicinal plants have frequently become food and nutrition plants. A more sophisticated investigation resulted in discovering numbers of biologically important secondary metabolites of plants. Pentacyclic triterpenoids represent an important group of the plant secondary metabolites that have emerged as having top biological importance. While the most widespread plant triterpenoids and a majority of their semisynthetic derivatives have been reviewed quite often, other plant pentacyclic triterpenoids and their derivatives have so far been less frequently studied. Therefore, attention has been focused on selected pentacyclic triterpenoids, namely on arjunolic acid, asiatic acid, α- and β-boswellic acids, corosolic acid, maslinic acid, morolic acid, moronic acid, and the friedelane triterpenoids, and on different derivatives of the selected triterpenoids in this review article. A literature search was made in the Web of Science for the given keywords, covering the required area of secondary plant metabolites and their semisynthetic derivatives starting in 2023 and ending in February 2025. The most recently published findings on the biological activity of the selected triterpenoids, and on the structures and the biological activity of their relevant derivatives have been summarized therein. Even if cytotoxicity of the compounds has mainly been reviewed, other biological effects are mentioned if they appeared in the original articles in connection with the selected triterpenoids and their derivatives, listed above. A comparison of the effects of the parent plant products and their derivatives has also been made.

• Keywords
• antimicrobial activity, antiviral activity, biological activity, cytotoxicity, nano-material, pentacyclic plant triterpenoid, signaling pathways, structural modifier,
• MeSH
• Phytochemicals chemistry   pharmacology   MeSH
• Plants, Medicinal chemistry   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Molecular Structure MeSH
• Pentacyclic Triterpenes * chemistry   pharmacology   MeSH
• Triterpenes * chemistry   pharmacology   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Phytochemicals MeSH
• Pentacyclic Triterpenes * MeSH
• Triterpenes * MeSH

A series of more than 20 new amides of oleanolic acid and ursolic acid with selected aromatic amines were synthesized, and the structures of all compounds were analyzed and elucidated. Moreover, the compounds were subjected to the cytotoxicity assays in four cancer cell lines (CCRF-CEM, MCF7, HeLa, and G-361), using normal human fibroblasts (BJ) as reference cells for determining the toxicity of the investigated compounds. The 1,10-phenanthroline derivatives 4a, 4b, 5a, and 5b showed the highest cytotoxicity in all four cancer cell lines, but they were comparably toxic in human fibroblasts. The most promising results were achieved with 14a and 14b showing high cytotoxicity in the cancer cell lines and no toxicity in human fibroblasts. They were subjected to the investigation of the in vitro cell apoptosis, resulting in a confirmation of activation of apoptotic pathways in the CCRF-CEM cell line. The structure-activity relationships were documented by the cytotoxicity of 14a vs. 16a, and of 14b vs 16b, showing reverse effects in CCRF-CEM and MCF7 cancer cell lines. To investigate nanoassembly, initial screening of the target compounds by ultraviolet (UV) spectrometry was performed. Compounds 9b, 13b, 16b, and 17b, soluble both in methanol and in water, were selected for a more detailed investigation by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) microscopy and were found to form spherical nanoassemblies, frequently interconnected in small agglomerates and/or loose networks, while the other target compounds of this series showed no nanoassembling based on the TEM imaging. For each investigated compound, the nanoassemblies formed in methanol were substantially bigger than those formed in water.

• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Cancer represents one of the most important and often fatal threats in the human population. Regarding the natural products, the purine scaffold appears in the purine bases in nucleic acids. Purine and its natural derivatives display a number of pharmacological effects. Previous investigations revealed that different compounds bearing the purine scaffold in their molecules belong to a group of potent agents for cancer treatment. Therefore, this review focuses on summarizing recently designed agents for potential cancer treatment bearing the purine scaffold as the key structural motif in the molecules. The reviewed structures clearly show the advantages and disadvantages of different substituents of the key scaffold that affect the final cytotoxic effects of the studied structures. The structure-activity relationship analysis shows a summary of different but potent compounds mentioned in this review and identifies the compounds receiving priority importance due to their high cytotoxicity and exceptional physicochemical characteristics. The effects of metal coordination, the formation of convenient conjugated molecules, and supramolecular self-assembly resulting in the production of biologically active nanovesicles and other nanoassemblies are also demonstrated. The reviewed original studies clearly showed the possible advantages of (a) metal ion coordination, (b) the formation of conjugates, and (c) designing smart and biocompatible nanoassemblies for biological activity in comparison with the characteristics of the parent compounds. This review is based on the most recent articles published in the last two years, 2023-2024, and it represents work with a highly interdisciplinary nature. Even if these original articles are not too numerous within the given period, the investigations published therein have clearly documented the importance of the purine scaffold in pharmacology and in medicinal and supramolecular chemistry.

• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH

The results of the most recent investigation of triterpenoid-based antiviral agents namely in the HIV-1 and HSV-1 treatment were reviewed and summarized. Several key historical achievements are included to stress consequences and continuity in this research. Most of the agents studied belong to a series of compounds derived from betulin or betulinic acid, and their synthetic derivative is called bevirimat. A termination of clinical trials of bevirimat in Phase IIb initiated a search for more successful compounds partly derived from bevirimat or designed independently of bevirimat structure. Surprisingly, a majority of bevirimat mimics are derivatives of betulinic acid, while other plant triterpenoids, such as ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, glycyrrhetinic acid, or other miscellaneous triterpenoids, are relatively rarely involved in a search for a novel antiviral agent. Therefore, this review article is divided into three parts based on the leading triterpenoid core structure.

• Keywords
• HIV-1, HSV-1, antiviral activity, maturation inhibitor, plant triterpenoid, structure modifier,
• MeSH
• Antiviral Agents pharmacology   MeSH
• Betulinic Acid MeSH
• Pentacyclic Triterpenes pharmacology   MeSH
• Plants MeSH
• Triterpenes * pharmacology   chemistry   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Antiviral Agents MeSH
• bevirimat MeSH Browser
• Betulinic Acid MeSH
• Pentacyclic Triterpenes MeSH
• Triterpenes * MeSH

Saponins represent important natural derivatives of plant triterpenoids that are secondary plant metabolites. Saponins, also named glycoconjugates, are available both as natural and synthetic products. This review is focused on saponins of the oleanane, ursane, and lupane types of triterpenoids that include several plant triterpenoids displaying various important pharmacological effects. Additional convenient structural modifications of naturally-occurring plant products often result in enhancing the pharmacological effects of the parent natural structures. This is an important objective for all semisynthetic modifications of the reviewed plant products, and it is included in this review paper as well. The period covered by this review (2019-2022) is relatively short, mainly due to the existence of previously published review papers in recent years.

• Keywords
• glycoconjugate, lupane, oleanane, pharmacological effects, saponin, ursane,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH