Antileishmanial Activity of Lignans,
Neolignans, and Other Plant Phenols
Jiˇ rí Pospíšil, Daniela Konrádová, and Miroslav Strnad
Contents
1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
2
Leishmaniasis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
3
Secondary Metabolites of the Shikimate Pathway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
3.1
Phenolics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
3.2
Phenylpropanoids and Their Impact on Human Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
3.3
Bioactive Lignans and Neolignans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
4
Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
1 Introduction
Small specialized molecules not essential for life, yet “the game changers in the
survival fight” is a simplified definition for plant secondary metabolites (SMs) [1].
Compared with the generally uniform pathways leading toward primary metabolites, some SM biosynthesis pathways differ across the plant kingdom. Indeed, the
production and occurrence of SMs within plants is a compromise of the plant’s needs
and the surrounding environment. Consequently, the secondary plant metabolome
is always time and place specific [2–4]. Although SMs are not directly involved in
J. Pospíšil · D. Konrádová (B) · M. Strnad
Laboratory of Growth Regulators, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Experimental
Botany & Palacký University, Šlechtitel˚ u 27, CZ-78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic
e-mail: koutska.dan@gmail.com
J. Pospíšil
e-mail: j.pospisil@upol.cz
M. Strnad
e-mail: miroslav.strnad@upol.cz
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
A. D. Kinghorn, H. Falk, S. Gibbons, Y. Asakawa, J.-K. Liu, V. M. Dirsch (eds.),
Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products, Vol. 115,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64853-4_3
115
Neolignans, and Other Plant Phenols
Jiˇ rí Pospíšil, Daniela Konrádová, and Miroslav Strnad
Contents
1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
2
Leishmaniasis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
3
Secondary Metabolites of the Shikimate Pathway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
3.1
Phenolics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
3.2
Phenylpropanoids and Their Impact on Human Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
3.3
Bioactive Lignans and Neolignans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
4
Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
1 Introduction
Small specialized molecules not essential for life, yet “the game changers in the
survival fight” is a simplified definition for plant secondary metabolites (SMs) [1].
Compared with the generally uniform pathways leading toward primary metabolites, some SM biosynthesis pathways differ across the plant kingdom. Indeed, the
production and occurrence of SMs within plants is a compromise of the plant’s needs
and the surrounding environment. Consequently, the secondary plant metabolome
is always time and place specific [2–4]. Although SMs are not directly involved in
J. Pospíšil · D. Konrádová (B) · M. Strnad
Laboratory of Growth Regulators, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Experimental
Botany & Palacký University, Šlechtitel˚ u 27, CZ-78371 Olomouc, Czech Republic
e-mail: koutska.dan@gmail.com
J. Pospíšil
e-mail: j.pospisil@upol.cz
M. Strnad
e-mail: miroslav.strnad@upol.cz
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
A. D. Kinghorn, H. Falk, S. Gibbons, Y. Asakawa, J.-K. Liu, V. M. Dirsch (eds.),
Progress in the Chemistry of Organic Natural Products, Vol. 115,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64853-4_3
115