Subject:
All Disciplines Arts & Humanities Biology & Life Sciences Business & Economics Chemistry & Materials Science Computer Science & Mathematics Engineering Environmental & Earth Sciences Medicine & Pharmacology Physical Sciences Public Health & Healthcare Social Sciences
Sort:
Most Viewed Latest Alphabetical (A-Z) Alphabetical (Z-A)
Filter:
All Topic Review Biography Peer Reviewed Entry Video Entry
Topic Review
Copper in the Human Body
Copper, an essential trace element found in the brain, liver, and kidneys, enables the body to form red blood cells, maintain bone health, and can help prevent cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. Copper is also a key element in maintaining lung function as it plays a vital role in metabolic processes such as cellular respiration.
  • 3.4K
  • 26 Jan 2021
Topic Review
CYP3A4
CYP3A4 is a low specificity isoenzyme of the CYPs family, which contributes to the metabolism of approximately 50% of all marketed drugs. Induction or inhibition of CYP3A4 activity results in the varied oral bioavailability and unwanted drug-drug, drug-food, and drug-herb interactions.
  • 3.3K
  • 01 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Methotrexate
Methotrexate (MTX), a structural analogue of folic acid, that inhibits cell division (mainly in the S phase of the cell cycle) is commonly used for the treatment of many cancers as well for severe and resistant forms of autoimmune pathologies and inflammatory disorders. This paragraph of clinical overview presents state of knowledge with regards to different pathways of MTX active transport system, mechanisms of action and its applications as immunosuppressive drug and anticancer agent.  
  • 3.2K
  • 28 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Oxadiazole
Nowadays, an increasing number of heterocyclic-based drugs found application in medicinal chemistry and, in particular, as anticancer agents. In this context, oxadiazoles—five-membered aromatic rings—emerged for their interesting biological properties
  • 3.1K
  • 29 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Glutamatergic System in Depression
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a heterogeneous neuropsychological disorder characterized by a combination of symptoms that negatively impact the productivity and well-being of inflicted patients, including impairments in cognition, emotional regulation, memory, motor function, motivation, and possible suicidal ideation. Glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. It plays an important role in several physiological functions.
  • 2.9K
  • 11 May 2022
Topic Review
Plants as anti-inflammatory drugs
Plants represent the main source of molecules for the development of new drugs, which intensifies the interest of transnational industries in searching for substances obtained from plant sources, especially since the vast majority of species have not yet been studied chemically or biologically, particularly concerning anti-inflammatory action. Anti-inflammatory drugs can interfere in the pathophysiological process of inflammation, to minimize tissue damage and provide greater comfort to the patient. Therefore, it is important to note that due to the existence of a large number of species available for research, the successful development of new naturally occurring anti-inflammatory drugs depends mainly on a multidisciplinary effort to find new molecules. Although many review articles have been published in this regard, the majority presented the subject from a limited regional perspective.
  • 2.9K
  • 25 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Pharmaceutical Hydrates Analysis
This entry discusses a set of instrumental and computational methods that are used to characterize hydrated forms of APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients). The focus has been put on highlighting advantages as well as on presenting some limitations of the selected analytical approaches. This has been performed in order to facilitate the choice of an appropriate method depending on the type of the structural feature that is to be analyzed, that is, degree of hydration, crystal structure and dynamics, and (de)hydration kinetics. The presented techniques include X-ray diffraction (single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD)), spectroscopic (solid state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (ssNMR), Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy), thermal (differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)), gravimetric (dynamic vapour sorption (DVS)), and computational (molecular mechanics (MM), Quantum Mechanics (QM), molecular dynamics (MD)) methods. Further, the successful applications of the presented methods in the studies of hydrated APIs as well as studies on the excipients’ influence on these processes have been described in many examples.
  • 2.9K
  • 19 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Quinolones
Fluoroquinolones (FQs) are arguably among the most successful antibiotics of recent times. They have enjoyed over 30 years of clinical usage and become essential tools in the armoury of clinical treatments. FQs target the bacterial enzymes DNA gyrase and DNA topoisomerase IV, where they stabilise a covalent enzyme-DNA complex in which the DNA is cleaved in both strands. This leads to cell death and turns out to be a very effective way of killing bacteria. However, resistance to FQs is increasingly problematic, and alternative compounds are urgently needed.
  • 2.6K
  • 25 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Natural Compounds as Ferroptosis Inducers
Ferroptosis is classified as a non-canonical cell death mechanism. To date, several natural compounds have been discovered to induce ferroptosis in different cancer models.
  • 2.6K
  • 25 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Inflammatory Pain Study in Animal-Models
Pain is an easily recognized sensation that is experienced by humans and animals alike. However, the process behind the production of the pain experience is a complex pathway that requires parallel integration of both the emotional and sensory experiences together with noxious perceptual information registered by multiple layers of our brain structure with the purpose of defending our body from harm’s way. Here, the complete protocol that is being adapted for inflammatory pain study in animals induced by different phlogogenic agents and different assessment methods were elaborated along with the underlying mechanism of actions. This provides a concise idea and improves our scientists’ understanding of inflammatory pain management in future research.
  • 2.6K
  • 05 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Phospholipids
Phospholipids are unique and versatile molecules. They are of natural occurrence and the main components in cellular membranes. Arranged as a lipid bilayer, phospholipids play a significant role in the structure and functionality of biological membranes. They are amphiphilic and consist of a hydrophilic headgroup and a lipophilic/hydrophobic tail.
  • 2.5K
  • 04 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Medicinal Value of Chicory
Cichorium intybus L., commonly named chicory, is a perennial herbal plant of the dandelion family Asteraceae, mainly seen with bright blue flowers, and seldom pink or white. Generally distributed in Asia and Europe, all the plants’ parts were traditionally used in medicinal preparations due to their considerable contents of antioxidant phytochemicals thought to have a beneficial impact in preventing and treating various illnesses such as fever, diarrhea, jaundice, and gallstones. Different chicory types are grown for their salad leaves, chicons, or roots, and regularly used for inulin extraction, for preparing coffee substitutes, or for feeding livestock. This entry is based on a literature review and highlights the beneficial and therapeutic action of chicory extracts and their confirmed or hypothesized mechanism of action in diabetes, hepatic disorders, and cardiovascular disease, as indicated by the results of in vivo and in vitro studies, on cell lines, human and animal models.
  • 2.5K
  • 10 May 2021
Topic Review
Medicinal Value of Dandelion
The genus Taraxacum is part of the Asteraceae family of the Cichorioideae subfamily, Lactuceae tribe. This plant's geographical distribution is usually around the warm areas of the Northern Hemisphere and its users have been cherishing it for its curative properties since ancient times. Reports show that traditional medicine practitioners used Taraxacum officinale L. for treating dyspepsia, spleen, liver disorders, hepatitis, and anorexia. Aqueous extracts of dandelion were also used traditionally through Asia, Europe, and North America for treating different types of cancer like leukemia and breast cancer, even if their working mechanisms were unknown. The main reported components of dandelions consist of phenolic acids (chicoric, caffeic, and chlorogenic acids), terpenes (taraxacoside, ainslioside, taraxinic acid), and storage carbohydrates (inulin), which are thought to be accountable for the plant’s health-related properties. This entry is based on a literature review and highlights the beneficial and therapeutic action of dandelion extracts and their confirmed or hypothesized mechanism of action in diabetes, hepatic disorders, and cardiovascular disease, as indicated by the results of in vivo an in vitro studies, on cell lines, human and animal models.
  • 2.5K
  • 10 May 2021
Topic Review
The Mechanisms of Clozapine-Induced Neutropenia
Despite its severe adverse effects, such as agranulocytosis, clozapine is the primary treatment for treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Clozapine is the gold standard for treatment-resistant schizophrenia. It was discovered over a half-century ago by researchers at Wander AG, a Swiss pharmaceutical company. After a decade, the use of clozapine began to fade away due to its alarming side effect but was re-introduced in the year 1989 for the treatment of refractory psychosis. Numerous comparative studies between clozapine and other antipsychotics have reported superior efficacy of clozapine in treatment-resistant schizophrenia.
  • 2.4K
  • 10 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Ketamine and Driving, Cognitive, and Motor Ability
Ketamine is a medication that has many medical purposes but also has been used illicitly by people for its dissociative properties. While driving under the influence of drugs, drivers are more likely to be involved in and cause more accidents than drivers who do not drive under the influence.  A study with ketamine and a ketamine-like medication, rapasitnel, showed that those who were given ketamine experienced more sleepiness and had decreased self-reported motivation and confidence in their driving abilities. Moreover, there seem to be significant differences in the acute versus persistent effects of ketamine, as well as the anesthetic versus subanesthetic doses, both in terms of effects and outcomes. These divergent effects complicate the clinical uses of ketamine, specifically involving driving, drowsiness, and cognitive abilities. 
  • 2.4K
  • 16 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Pseudoephedrine
Pseudoephedrine (PSE) is a drug with a long history of medical use; it is helpful in treating symptoms of the common cold and flu, sinusitis, asthma, and bronchitis.
  • 2.4K
  • 29 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Nanomaterials Combined with Bacteriocins
Bacteriocins are antimicrobial peptides or proteinaceous materials produced by bacteria against pathogens. These molecules have high efficiency and specificity and are equipped with many properties useful in food-related applications, such as food preservatives and additives, as well as biomedical applications, such as serving as alternatives to current antibacterial, antiviral, anti-cancer, and antibiofilm agents. Despite their advantages as alternative therapeutics over existing strategies, several limitations of bacteriocins, such as the high cost of isolation and purification, narrow spectrum of activity, low stability and solubility, and easy enzymatic degradation, need to be improved. Nanomaterials are promising agents in many biological applications. They are widely used in the conjugation or decoration of bacteriocins to augment the activity of bacterioc-ins or reduce problems related to their use in biomedical applications. Therefore, bacteriocins combined with nanomaterials have emerged as promising molecules that can be used in various biomedical applications.
  • 2.3K
  • 11 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Conventional Liposomal Formulation Methods
Liposome-based drug delivery systems are nanosized spherical lipid bilayer carriers that can encapsulate a broad range of small drug molecules (hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs) and large drug molecules (peptides, proteins, and nucleic acids). They have unique characteristics, such as a self-assembling bilayer vesicular structure. There are various methods used in the preparation of lipid-based nanocarriers such as liposomes. The method of preparation affects critical parameters such as size of vesicle and size distribution, permeability, lamellarity, and entrapment efficiency. Entrapment of compounds is performed by two main techniques; passive loading where drug entrapment occurs during the liposome formation, and active loading where drug entrapment is after the liposome formation.
  • 2.2K
  • 15 May 2023
Topic Review
Lipid Metabolism in COVID-19
The current Coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 pandemic has infected over two million people and resulted in the death of over one hundred thousand people at the time of writing this review. The disease is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2). Even though multiple vaccines and treatments are under development so far, the disease is only slowing down under extreme social distancing measures that are difficult to maintain. SARS-COV2 is an enveloped virus that is surrounded by a lipid bilayer. Lipids are fundamental cell components that play various biological roles ranging from being a structural building block to a signaling molecule as well as a central energy store. The role lipids play in viral infection involves the fusion of the viral membrane to the host cell, viral replication, and viral endocytosis and exocytosis. Since lipids play a crucial function in the viral life cycle, we asked whether drugs targeting lipid metabolism, such as statins, can be utilized against SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses. In this review, we discuss the role of lipid metabolism in viral infection as well as the possibility of targeting lipid metabolism to interfere with the viral life cycle.
  • 2.2K
  • 28 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Natural Compounds and Autophagy Modulation
Autophagy is a vacuolar, lysosomal degradation pathway for injured and damaged protein molecules and organelles in eukaryotic cells, which is controlled by nutrients and stress responses. Dysregulation of cellular autophagy may lead to various diseases such as neurodegenerative disease, obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and malignancies. Recently, natural compounds have come to attention for being able to modulate the autophagy pathway in cancer prevention, although the prospective role of autophagy in cancer treatment is very complex and not yet clearly elucidated. Numerous synthetic chemicals have been identified that modulate autophagy and are favorable candidates for cancer treatment, but they have adverse side effects. Therefore, different phytochemicals, which include natural compounds and their derivatives, have attracted significant attention for use as autophagy modulators in cancer treatment with minimal side effects.
  • 2.2K
  • 30 Nov 2020
  • Page
  • of
  • 53
Featured Entry Collections
>>

Featured Books

>>
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of COVID-19
Encyclopedia of Fungi
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
ScholarVision Creations
Feedback