Validation of Anti‑pyretic‑Derived Natural Products and Their Potentials for Drug Discovery

Abstract

Fever is a complicated process that occurs in response to infection and inflammatory diseases, stimulating the immune system that may cause severe biological changes in the human body. Hence, anti-pyretic agents are prescribed to reduce elevated body temperature in order to maintain thermal homeostasis and protect the brain from damage. Additionally, there is always a growing need for safe and effective anti-pyretic drugs derived from natural products, especially that anti-pyretic pathways have been investigated well in previous literature. Many animal models are established for assessing anti-pyretic candidates resulting in two types of anti-pyretics. They are the endogenous anti-pyretics that act as a defense mechanism for temperature regulation and the exogenous anti-pyretics. The current article discusses the main anti-pyretic pathways, models for assessing anti-pyretics, metabolomics applications in anti-pyretic assays, and screening of anti-pyretic and analgesic natural products. Screening of plant-derived natural products and active principles with anti-pyretic, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic activities, in addition to their mechanism of action and validation methods, is described in the current article. Hence, this review could contribute to the introduction of a site-specific and safe naturally derived anti-pyretic medications with potential therapeutic qualities compared to currently available synthetic anti-pyretics.