title: A fruitful decade from 2005 to 2014 for anthraquinone patents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Anthraquinones are aromatic compounds whose structures are related to anthracene (parent structure: 9,10-dioxoanthracene) for which various methods for their synthesis have been developed. In the past decade (2005 - 2014), much work has been done regarding anthraquinone chemistry in order to discover new compounds related to this scaffold as anticancer, antibacterial, antidiabetic, antiviral, anti-HCV, antifibrotic, fungicidal and anti-inflammatory agents.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review covers the patents on therapeutic activities of anthraquinones and their derivatives in the years between 2005 and 2014. A large portion of the therapeutic applications that were reported in international patents will be presented and discussed. Although a large number of patents have been registered over the last decade, this review is focused on important patents related to cancer, inflammation, infectious diseases, diabetic conditions and hepatitis C.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The tricyclic planar ring system of anthraquinones displays a wide range of important pharmaceutical properties. By linking active anthraquinone analogs to other important pharmacophores or conjugates such as oximes, N-heterocycles, benzodiazepines or glycosyl ethers, their anticancer potential is enhanced. The ability of anthraquinone analogs to become more prominent as novel pharmaceutical agents may further be enhanced by fusing functionalized heterocyclic rings onto established anthraquinone cores.
authors.affiliation: a 1 University of Nizwa, UoN Chair of Oman's Medicinal Plants and Marine Natural Products , P.O. Box 33, Birkat Al Mauz, Nizwa 616, Sultanate of Oman Hidayat110@gmail.com ; aharrasi@unizwa.edu.om.
authors.forename: Hidayat
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Harrasi
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Rawahi
authors.forename: Ivan R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Csuk
authors.forename: Ishtiaq
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Afzah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Ghulam
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Abbas
authors.forename: Najeeb Ur
authors.initials: NU
authors.lastname: Rehman
authors.forename: Riaz
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ullah
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000880:Anthraquinones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D010330:Patents as Topic
chemical_list: D000880:Anthraquinones
keywords: anthraquinone; anti-HCV; anti-inflammatory; antibacterial; anticancer; antidiabetic; antifibrotic; antiviral; apoptosis; fungicidal