Infectious diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms, such as
bacteria viruses,or fungi, and can be spread, directly or indirectly, from one person to
another. Among these diseases, AIDS, tuberculosis, influenza, hepatitis and neglected
tropical diseases, such as dengue and malaria, stand out. On the other hand, emerging
infectious diseases are infections that have recently appeared in a population or those
whose incidence or geographical range is rapidly increasing and / or threatens to
increase in the near future. Since the 1970's, approximately 40 infectious diseases have
been discovered, including SARS, MERS, Ebola, Chikungunya, avian and swine flu,
and, most recently, Zika. The transmission modes for the different existing infectious
diseases vary greatly, among them the most common are through water and food,
vectors, zoonosis (diseases transmitted by animals), sexual transmission, blood, air and
soil. Anti-infective drugs development and the remarkable eradication of smallpox in
the 1980’s, following a global immunization campaign led by the WHO (World Health
Organization), generated the hope that infectious diseases could be controlled and even
eliminated. However, the current perception that infectious diseases continue to emerge
and re-emerge (including the possibility of bioterrorism), highlights the future
challenges in infectious diseases research. The modern medicine needs new antiinfective
drugs in order to treat specific drug-resistant infections at the same time as the
drug development pipeline is almost dry. Thus, the development of new drugs and antiinfective
compounds is needed, such as the use of plant-derived latex, which is well
studied and present great potential. Therefore, the objective of the present chapter is to
give an overview regarding the use of plant-derived latices as anti-infective
compounds, as well as to point out new perspectives on this matter.
Keywords: Anti-infective, Enzymes, Plant latex, Secondary metabolites,
Traditional knowledge
