Mini review: Chalcone derivatives as Antimalarial agent

Abstract

Malaria is a vector borne disease caused by plasmodium parasite. About 3.3 billion people, almost half of world population is at risk of malaria. In every year, about 250 million cases and nearly one million deaths are attributed to malaria. Malaria is a serious problem in Africa, where it is responsible for one in every five childhood deaths contributing to 20% of infant mortality. The arsenal of antimalarial drugs is limited and currently the most effective treatment against P. falciparum includes artemisinin combination therapies (ACT). The recent development of resistance against artemisinins poses a big threat to the current stride against malaria parasite. Chalcones are derivatives of 1, 3-diphenyl-2-propene-1-one, consisting of two aromatic rings linked by a three carbon α, β-unsaturated carbonyl system. Chalcones possess a wide range of pharmacological activities such as anti-oncogenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcerative, analgesic, antiviral, anti-mutagenic, and anti bacterial activities. Prenylatedchalcones, chromanochalcones, chromenochalcones, anti-hyperglycemic, antimalarial chromenodehydrochalcones, quinoxalinechalcones, quinolinylchalcones, chalcone sulphonamides, licochalcones and morachalcones have been reported to possess good antimalarial property. Some chalcones have also been reported to show fascinating antimalarial activities against chloroquine resistant P. falciparum strain. The methods of chalcone synthesis have been improved from the usual conventional methods to microwave assisted protocols leading to drastic reduction in time required for the synthesis and as well improved yield. The ease of synthesis and fascinating biological activities of chalcones prompted this review.