Salamanders and caecilians, neglected from the chemical point of view

Abstract

Amphibians are a rich source of biologically active molecules, but the majority of Toxinology scientific articles devoted themselves to investigating the anurans, given its worldwide distribution, abundance, and diversity. On the other hand, only 8.6% of Caudata species and 7.1% of Gymnophiona species have some study. This review brings the most fascinating biological activities from skin, skin secretions, and isolated components of Caudata and Gymnophiona species including taste aversion, adhesive secretion, toxic effect in animals, and cytotoxic activity as well as described molecules such as biogenic amines, tetrodotoxins, steroidal alkaloids, proteins, antimicrobial peptides, and pheromones.

Keywords:

• Salamanders
• caecilians
• toxins
• skin secretion
• bioactive compounds

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Postgraduation Program in Animal Biology of the University of Brasilia for the institutional support. This study was supported by CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) and CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico).

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.