The development of structurally novel nucleoside analogues is an active area in medicinal chemistry, since these drugs have proven clinical efficacy for decades.Azanucleosides are nucleoside analogues in which the sugar moieties are composed of nitrogen-containing rings or chains. In recent years, many azanucleosides have demonstrated therapeutic potential. In this short review, we describe recent advancements in azanucleosides, which may translate in a better understanding of the molecular design, biological activity, structure-activity relationship, and their related mechanism of action. The information summarized in this paper should encourage medicinal chemists in their future efforts to create more potent and effective chemotherapeutic agents.

Chemical analysis of the aerial parts of Artemisia argyi H. Lév. & Vaniot led to the isolation of 6 lignans, including a new lignan glycoside, artemisiaside A, using various chromatographic techniques. Detailed spectroscopic (including 1D, 2D- nuclear magnetic resonance) and high resolution mass spectroscopy procedures, and electronic circular dichroism were used to ascertain the structural orientations of these compounds. The anti-inflammatory activities of compounds 1 to 6 were evaluated by measuring their inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) -induced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW264.7 LPS-activated macrophages. At 50 μM, compound 1 showed moderate anti-inflammatory activity with an inhibition rate of 61.2%.