Antiviral and Antimicrobial Heterocyclic Agents
Corresponding author: [email protected]
Abstract
Infectious diseases continue to pose a major threat to global public health despite significant advances in modern medicine. The increasing prevalence of bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections, coupled with the rapid emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), has reduced the effectiveness of many conventional therapeutic agents. This growing challenge has created an urgent need for the discovery of novel and more effective antimicrobial and antiviral drugs. Heterocyclic compounds, characterized by the presence of one or more heteroatoms such as nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur within their ring structures, have become indispensable in medicinal chemistry because of their remarkable structural diversity and broad spectrum of biological activities. Numerous clinically successful drugs used to treat infectious diseases contain heterocyclic scaffolds that enhance target selectivity, improve pharmacokinetic properties and reduce toxicity. Advances in synthetic chemistry, computational drug design, artificial intelligence and structure-based drug discovery have further accelerated the identification and optimization of new heterocyclic molecules with potent antimicrobial and antiviral activities. This review highlights the significance of heterocyclic compounds in combating infectious diseases, discusses their mechanisms of action, explores important classes of antimicrobial and antiviral heterocycles, and outlines recent developments, current challenges and future opportunities in this rapidly evolving field.
Author Affiliations
- 1 Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Dr. Kolpe Institute of Pharmacy, Kolpewadi, Maharashtra, India.