Sesquiterpenoids from the sunflower family as potential anti-inflammatory candidates: a review

Abstract

Inflammation is an essential part of the immune response to injury and infection. Emerging evidence indicates that long-term low-grade inflammation is positively correlated with many diseases, such as cancer, metabolic disorders, and cardiovascular diseases. Due to common anti-inflammatory drugs are suitable for treating acute inflammation and cause severe adverse effects, new safe and effective drug candidates are urgently needed for treating chronic inflammation. Plants of the Asteraceae family have been widely used in traditional medicines for relieving fever symptoms and killing pathogens. The anti-inflammatory properties of sesquiterpenoids from plants in the Asteraceae family have attracted increasing attention in recent decades because of their structural complexity and potent bioactivities. Herein, we provide a comprehensive and up-to-date summary of sesquiterpenoids from the Asteraceae family with anti-inflammatory properties, including their drug likeness and druggability, as analyzed with the SwissADME and ADMETlab online tools. In the future, some sesquiterpenoids might serve as therapeutic agents to treat inflammation-associated diseases.