Venom as therapeutic weapon to combat dreadful diseases of 21st century: A systematic review on cancer, TB, and HIV/AIDS
Cancer and infectious diseases are the preeminent causes of human morbidities and mortalities worldwide. At present, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, and gene therapy are considered as predominant options in order to treat cancer. But these therapies provide inadequate consequences by af...
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| Other Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Artículo |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micpath.2018.09.003 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0882401018313901 |
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| Summary: | Cancer and infectious diseases are the preeminent causes of human morbidities and mortalities worldwide. At
present, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, and gene therapy are considered as predominant options
in order to treat cancer. But these therapies provide inadequate consequences by affecting both the normal and
tumor cells. On the other hand, tuberculosis (TB), and HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infections are
significant threats, causing over a million mortalities each year. The extensive applications of antibiotics have
caused the microbes to acquire resistance to the existing antibiotics. With the emerging dilemma of drug resistant
microbes, it has become imperative to identify novel therapeutic agents from natural sources as emphatic
alternative approach. Over the past few decades, venoms derived from several reptiles, amphibians, and arthropods
including snakes, scorpions, frogs, spiders, honey bees, wasps, beetles, caterpillars, ants, centipedes,
and sponges have been identified as efficient therapeutics. Venoms constitute plethora of bioactive components,
particularly peptides, enzymes, and other chemical entities, which exhibit a large array of anticancer and antipathogenic
activities. This review highlights the panorama of bioactive components of animal venoms divulging
the anticancer, anti-tubercular, and anti-HIV activities. In a nutshell, this context discloses the decisive role of
animal venoms as alternative natural resources to combat these deadly diseases of 21st century, and propounding
the plausible development of new therapeutic drugs in the present era. |
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