The mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana, Linn.) is a tropical fruit cultivated in the tropical forests of Southeast Asian countries. It is recognized as the queen of fruits due to its unique color, aroma, and flavor. It has been used for centuries in Southeastern Asian traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases. Many functional molecules with high medicinal value are obtained from the pericarp of mangosteen fruit, whose major constituent is xanthone α-mangostin. Several studies have been carried out over the last decades to further investigate and understand the pharmacological properties associated with the plant and its main chemical constituents, belonging to the class of xanthones. In addition, numerous in vitro and in vivo studies related to mangosteen have been published, indicating its importance and its potential application in medicinal chemistry. Prenylated xanthones, which include α-mangostin, are secondary metabolites particularly common in plants belonging to the Clusiaceae family. These substances have been intensively investigated for their potential as biologically active agents. This article describes a critical analysis of published data related to the properties of α-mangostin, aiming to provide a more detailed view of its potential as a chemotherapeutic agent for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. Garcinia mangostana Linn. Linn countries color aroma flavor diseases αmangostin. αmangostin α mangostin. mangostin α-mangostin constituents xanthones addition chemistry αmangostin, mangostin, family agents

Chagas disease is a neglected tropical disease caused by the hemoflagellated parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (Kinetoplastida). The only available drug to treat chagasic patients in Brazil, the nitroheterocycle benznidazole, is effective solely during the acute phase of the infection. There is accordingly a need to develop new therapeutic tools for the treatment of Chagas disease. This work reports the synthesis, trypanocidal evaluation and human serum albumin (HSA) interactions of a novel series of 1,2,4-triazoles. The new derivatives were synthesized via microwave irradiation in good yields. Most compounds showed toxic effects against T. cruzi with low toxicity to host cells. Three S-alkylated-triazoles showed the best activity profile against amastigotes, with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 3.95 ± 1.41, 4.15 ± 0.92 and 3.61 ± 0.65 µmol L-1, respectively. The interaction between HSA and 3-[(1E,3E)-4-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-yl)buta-1,3-dien-1-yl]-5-(butylthio)-4-cyclohexyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-1,2,4-triazole was investigated using multiple spectroscopic techniques and molecular docking, revealing that serum albumin is a potential endogenous carrier to this compound in the human bloodstream.

ABSTRACT One of the main obstacles to the treatment of Chagas disease is the genetic and phenotypical variance displayed by T. cruzi strains, resulting in differences in morphology, virulence, pathogenicity and drug susceptibility. To better understand the role of glycoconjungates in Chagas disease, we performed the molecular characterization of the O-linked chains from mucins and glycoinositolphospholipids (GIPLs) of the Silvio X10 clone 1 strain. We demonstrated the presence of a β-galactofuranose (β-Galf) unity linked to the O-4 position of the α-N-acetylglucosamine (α-GlcNAc)O-4 in Tc-mucins. GIPLs analysis showed that the lipidic portion is exclusively composed of ceramide and the PI-oligossacharidic portion contains the Man4(AEP)GlcN-Ins-PO4 core, substituted by ethanolamine-phosphate (EtNP) on the third distal mannose from inositol, which may or may not have a terminal β Galf unity. These results confirm the classification of the Silvio X10/1 strain in group T. cruzi I. Again, it is noted that the study of T. cruzi surface glycoconjugates confirm the molecular results and the hypothesis that surface glycoconjugates may be interesting biomarker for the differentiation of trypanosomatid strains.