Bioactive Metabolites from Fungi with Anti-Inflammatory and Antithrombotic Properties: Current Status and Future Perspectives for Drug Development

Bioactives of natural origin have recently gained a lot of ground in drug discovery due to their enormous structural diversity, diverse pharmacological activities, safety, and inherent binding capacity with other biomolecules. However, the high demand for new agents for the prevention and therapy of inflammation-related chronic disorders has not yet been sufficiently addressed by the drug discovery process. This gap highlights the relevance of intensifying studies to reach sustainable employment of the huge world biodiversity, such as microorganisms, including fungi of biotechnological and agro-food medical interest that can be easily cultured/engineered as sustainable sources of natural bioactives for drug development. Thus, fungi are important sources of such bioactive compounds studied and applied for different purposes, specifically, in the pharmaceutical area, such as the development of antibiotics, immunomodulators, immunosuppressants, enzyme inhibitors, and antiviral, hypercholesteremic, antineoplastic/antitumor, and anti-inflammatory agents. Within this chapter, several examples of bioactive metabolites produced by different fungi species with proven pharmacological effects and beneficial anti-inflammatory and antithrombotic potential are thoroughly reviewed. After recent updates in the field of “omics” and “one strain many compounds” (OSMAC) approaches, within this chapter the emerging use of fungal endophytes as strong unconventional sources of biologically active natural compounds with many producing pharmacologically valuable specific plant-derived anti-inflammatory products is also presented. Overall, this chapter explores the current and future perspectives of the use of fungal metabolites with potent anti-inflammatory and antithrombotic properties and subsequent health benefits with potential pharmaceutical applications as supplements and/or drugs.