Therapeutic Potential of Iridoid Derivatives: Patent Review.

Iridoids belong to a family of monoterpenoids comprising the cyclopentan[c]-pyran system; this class of compounds offers a wide range of biological effects, namely antileishmanial, anticancer, antiplasmodial, and anti-inflammatory potency. To date, a large number of biologically active iridoid derivatives have been reported from various plant families, including Rubiaceae, Plantaginaceae, Scrophulariaceae, and Verbenaceae. Furthermore, iridoids have the potential to form conjugates with other anticancer, antidiabetic, antileishmanial, and antimalarial drugs which synergistically have the potential to increase their effects. Additionally, future research should focus on the synthesis of halo analogs as well as preparing homo dimers or heterodimers of iridoids, since these might quite conceivably possess an increased bioactivity.