Anti-infective Potential of Manzamine Alkaloids - A Review

From time immemorial, natural products have been used for the treatment of various diseases. Various natural products, their semisynthetic derivatives, and synthetic analogs have been explored for their anti-infective properties. One such group of natural compounds that has been widely explored is manzamine alkaloids. Manzamine alkaloids are complex natural compounds consisting of a β-carboline nucleus attached to a pentacyclic ring system; they were first isolated from a marine sponge during the 1980s.This review aims to provide a critical overview on the anti-infective potential of manzamine alkaloids.A comprehensive and exhaustive review of the literature on manzamine alkaloids, and their isolation, anti-infective properties, and mechanism of action, is presented.Various manzamine alkaloids have been isolated and have been found to exhibit potent antiinfective activities like antibacterial, antimalarial, antiviral, antifungal, antileishmanial, among others. These manzamine alkaloids exhibit their anti-infective activity by inhibiting targets like GSK-3β, MtSK.This present review along with structure-activity relationship study of manzamine alkaloids for their anti-infective activity will be useful for further development of semisynthetic manzamine analogs as potent anti-infective agents with better therapeutic potential and reduced toxicity.