title: Recent Trends in Pharmacological Activity of Alkaloids in Animal Colitis: Potential Use for Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
abstract: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic and disrupted inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. IBD have two main conditions, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and have been extensively investigated in recent years. Antibiotics derived from salicylates, steroids, immunosuppressors, and anti-TNF therapy are part of the therapeutic arsenal for IBD. However, very often patients stop responding to treatments over the time. In this context, searching for alternative agents is crucial for IBD clinical management. Natural products derived from medicinal plants are an interesting therapeutic alternative, since several studies have proven effective treatments in animal models of intestinal inflammation. Several naturally occurring compounds are potent antioxidants, both as free radical scavengers and as modulators of antioxidant enzymes expression and activity. A number of natural compounds have also been proved to inhibit the release of proinflammatory cytokines, decreasing the activation of nuclear factorκB (NF-κB), which is important to the inflammatory response in IBD. The alkaloids are substances of a very diverse class of plant secondary metabolites; an extensive list of biological activities has been attributed to alkaloids, such as being anticholinergic, antitumor, diuretic, antiviral, antihypertensive, antiulcer, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory. In the present work, studies on the pharmacological activity of alkaloids in experimental models of IBD were reviewed.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Department of Structural and Functional Biology, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Cristina
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8509-8670
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Alves de Almeida
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Department of Structural and Functional Biology, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Felipe Meira
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7875-0691
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: de-Faria
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medical Sciences, Department of Pharmacology, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ricardo José
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0183-0666
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Dunder
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Department of Structural and Functional Biology, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luis Paulo Bognoni
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4897-6171
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Manzo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, Department of Structural and Functional Biology, University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alba Regina Monteiro
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Souza-Brito
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biotechnology, Department of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Goiás, Catalão, GO, Brazil.
authors.forename: Anderson
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Luiz-Ferreira