Encyclopedia
Scholarly Community
Encyclopedia
Entry
Video
Image
Journal
Book
News
About
Log in/Sign up
Submit
Entry
Video
Image
and
or
not
All
${ type }
To
Search
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
WHO Critical Priority Pathogens
The rise of multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens has become a global health threat and an economic burden in providing adequate and effective treatment for many infections. This large-scale concern has emerged mainly due to mishandling of antibiotics (ABs) and has resulted in the rapid expansion of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Nowadays, there is an urgent need for more potent, non-toxic and effective antimicrobial agents against MDR strains. In this regard, clinicians, pharmacists, microbiologists and the entire scientific community are encouraged to find alternative solutions in treating infectious diseases cause by these strains. In its “10 global issues to track in 2021”, the World Health Organization (WHO) has made fighting drug resistance a priority.
2.2K
21 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Chromium
Chromium (Cr) is a common element in the Earth’s crust. It may exist in different oxidation states, Cr(0), Cr(III) and Cr(VI), with Cr(III) and Cr(VI) being relatively stable and largely predominant. Chromium’s peculiarity is that its behavior relies on its valence state. Cr(III) is a trace element in humans and plays a major role in glucose and fat metabolism. The beneficial effects of Cr(III) in obesity and types 2 diabetes are known. It has been long considered an essential element, but now it has been reclassified as a nutritional supplement. On the other hand, Cr(VI) is a human carcinogen and exposure to it occurs both in occupational and environmental contexts. It induces also epigenetic effects on DNA, histone tails and microRNA; its toxicity seems to be related to its higher mobility in soil and swifter penetration through cell membranes than Cr(III). The microorganisms Acinetobacter sp. Cr1 and Pseudomonas sp. Cr13 have been suggested as a promising agent for bioremediation of Cr(VI).
2.2K
22 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Arsenic metabolism, excretion, and toxicity
Arsenic is a global, naturally present pollutant found in drinking water that is consumed by millions of people throughout the world. Humans have evolved an arsenic methyltransferase present in high levels in the liver to expedite its excretion from the body. Most organisms have this enzyme. The enzyme generates monomethyl (MMA) and dimethyl arsenic (DMA). These methylated species are considered more toxic than arsenite, but they bind less tightly to proteins and thereby are excreted more rapidly from the body. Individuals who have been chronically exposed to arsenite were found to possess advantageous genotypes to metabolize arsenites. However, higher expression of AS3MT was found to yield more toxic MMA but lower amounts were still capable of metabolizing arsenite to DMA. This likely reflects the complex metabolic processes involving not only AS3MT, but antioxidants and upstream regulators of AS3MT, potentially transcription factor NRF2. This article discusses arsenic metabolism, excretion, toxicity, and the evolution of this enzyme across various species. The fact that so many organisms have evolved to possess this arsenite metabolizing enzyme is indicative of the widespread and ancient pollution of our drinking water by arsenite.
2.2K
09 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Anthocyanins
Anthocyanins are biologically active water-soluble plant pigments that are responsible for blue, purple, and red colors in various plant parts—especially in fruits and blooms. Anthocyanins have attracted attention as natural food colorants to be used in yogurts, juices, marmalades, and bakery products. Numerous studies have also indicated the beneficial health effects of anthocyanins and their metabolites on humans, including free-radical scavenging and antioxidant activity.
2.2K
23 Sep 2020
Topic Review
Chrysin
Pharmacological profile of phytochemicals has attracted much attention to their use in disease therapy. Since cancer is a major problem for public health with high mortality and morbidity worldwide, experiments have focused on revealing the anti-tumor activity of natural products. Flavonoids comprise a large family of natural products with different categories. Chrysin is a hydroxylated flavonoid belonging to the flavone category. Chrysin has demonstrated great potential in treating different disorders, due to possessing biological and therapeutic activities, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective, etc. Over recent years, the anti-tumor activity of chrysin has been investigated, and in the present review, we provide a mechanistic discussion of the inhibitory effect of chrysin on proliferation and invasion of different cancer cells. Molecular pathways, such as Notch1, microRNAs, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB), PI3K/Akt, MAPK, etc., as targets of chrysin are discussed. The efficiency of chrysin in promoting anti-tumor activity of chemotherapeutic agents and suppressing drug resistance is described. Moreover, poor bioavailability, as one of the drawbacks of chrysin, is improved using various nanocarriers, such as micelles, polymeric nanoparticles, etc. This updated review will provide a direction for further studies in evaluating the anti-tumor activity of chrysin.
2.1K
13 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Dexibuprofen
S-(+) enantiomer of ibuprofen (IBU) dexibuprofen (DXI) is known to be more potent than its R-(−) form and exhibits many advantages over the racemic mixture of IBU such as lower toxicity, greater clinical efficacy, and lesser variability in therapeutic effects. Moreover, DXI potential has been recently advocated to reduce cancer development and prevent the development of neurodegenerative diseases in addition to its anti-inflammatory properties.
2.1K
23 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Histamine H1 Receptor Antagonists
Histamine H1 receptor (H1 receptor) antagonists are widely prescribed medications to treat allergic diseases, while recently it has emerged that they show significant promise as anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents.
2.1K
03 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Radix Polygoni Multiflori
Radix Polygoni Multiflori (RPM), the dry root of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb. (Fam. Polygonaceae), has been used as a tonic and an anti-aging remedy for centuries. However, its safe and effective application in clinical practice could be hindered by its liver injury potential and lack of investigations on its hepatotoxicity mechanism.
2.1K
07 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Phenobarbital Pharmacokinetics in Neonates
Phenobarbital is a first-line treatment of various seizure types in newborns. Dosage individualization maximizing the proportion of patients with drug levels in therapeutic range or sufficient treatment response is still challenging. The available evidence on phenobarbital pharmacokinetics in neonates and its possible covariates suitable for individualization of initial drug dosing was therefore summarized.
2.1K
22 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Acetylsalicylic Acid History and Structure
Aspirin (ASA, acetylsalicylic acid ATC code: N02BA01, DrugBank ID: DB00945, brand names: Arthritis Pain, Aspi-Cor, Aspirin 81, Aspirin-Low, Bayer Plus, Bufferin, Ecortin, Eciprin, Miniprin, Vazalore), is one of the first drugs to be obtained by synthesis. It is regarded as, being the most used drug with the longest lasting commercial success.
2.0K
06 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Mangiferin
Mangiferin is a naturally occurring C-glucosylxantone that has substantial potential for the treatment of various diseases. It possesses antioxidant, anti-infection, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, cardiovascular, neuroprotective properties and it also increases immunity.
2.0K
10 Jan 2022
Topic Review
1,2,4-Triazoles
Compounds containing the 1,2,4-triazole ring in their structure are characterised by multidirectional biological activity.
2.0K
23 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Neurological Disorders
Neurological disorders are the most devastating and challenging diseases associated with the central nervous system (CNS). The blood-brain barrier (BBB) maintains homeostasis of the brain and contributes towards the maintenance of a very delicate microenvironment, impairing the transport of many therapeutics into the CNS and making the management of common neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), cerebrovascular diseases (CVDs) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), exceptionally complicated. Nanoparticle (NP) technology offers a platform for the design of tissue-specific drug carrying systems owing to its versatile and modifiable nature. The prospect of being able to design NPs capable of successfully crossing the BBB, and maintaining a high drug bioavailability in neural parenchyma, has spurred much interest in the field of nanomedicine. NPs, which also come in an array of forms including polymeric NPs, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), quantum dots and liposomes, have the flexibility of being conjugated with various macromolecules, such as surfactants to confer the physical or chemical property desired. These nanodelivery strategies represent potential novel and minimally invasive approaches to the treatment and diagnosis of these neurological disorders. Most of the strategies revolve around the ability of the NPs to cross the BBB via various influx mechanisms, such as adsorptive-mediated transcytosis (AMT) and receptor-mediated transcytosis (RMT), targeting specific biomarkers or lesions unique to that pathological condition, thereby ensuring high tissue-specific targeting and minimizing off-target side effects. In this article, insights into common neurological disorders and challenges of delivering CNS drugs due to the presence of BBB is provided, before an in-depth review of nanoparticle-based theranostic strategies.
2.0K
05 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Thin-Layer Chromatography Bioautography
Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) bioautography is a methodological technique that integrates the separation and analysis technology of TLC with biological activity detection technology, which is used to isolate, locate and evaluate the active constituents of natural creatures based on the guidance of activity.
2.0K
06 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Eugenol-based O/W Emulsion by Low-energy Emulsification
Emulsions are systems formed by two immiscible liquids, one of which is dispersed in the other as droplets with a relative stability. These have multiple applications, among them, in the formulation of pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. Its preparation requires generating a large interfacial area, which is usually attained by using the physicochemical formulation know-how on surfactant-oil-water (SOW) systems. Among the applications in the pharmaceutical industry, topical creams, and emulsions for intravenous and for oral administration can be found. Eugenol can be extracted from cloves (Syzygium aromaticum) by various methods, including steam distillation, hydrodistillation and Soxhlet extraction. Furthermore, emulsions based on eugenol can be obtained for a variety of applications, including as topical and oral anesthetic. Nanoemulsions can be formulated with a mixture of non-ionic surfactants Span 20/Tween 80 at an HLB of 11 to 13 and a total surfactant concentration of 4%, using the dilution phase transition method (so-called spontaneous emulsification) to attain stable O/W eugenol-based emulsions. Paraffin oil/eugenol ratio of 4/1 can be used to reach a final emulsion internal oil phase content of 10% with 4% surfactant and 86% aqueous phase. Different polymers are used as viscosifiers, including carboxymethylcellulose. Under these conditions, eugenol-based emulsions with an average droplet size of less than 2 μm can be attained, with topical and oral anesthetic characteristics.
1.9K
03 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Peer Reviewed
Ionic Liquids in Drug Delivery
Ionic liquids (ILs) are molten salts composed of a large organic cation and an organic/inorganic anion. The large dimensions of their ions lead to charge dispersion, which makes difficult the formation of a regular crystalline structure. Due to their unique properties, ILs have been applied in the crystallization of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), as solvents, co-solvents and emulsifiers in drug formulations, as pharmaceuticals (API-ILs) aiming liquid therapeutics, and in the development and/or improvement of drug-delivery-based systems.
1.9K
13 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Remote Monitoring of Vital Signs
Techniques for noncontact measurement of vital signs using camera imaging technologies have been attracting increasing attention. For noncontact physiological assessments, computer vision-based methods appear to be an advantageous approach that could be robust, hygienic, reliable, safe, cost effective and suitable for long distance and long-term monitoring. In addition, video techniques allow measurements from multiple individuals opportunistically and simultaneously in groups. This paper aims to explore the progress of the technology from controlled clinical scenarios with fixed monitoring installations and controlled lighting, towards uncontrolled environments, crowds and moving sensor platforms. We focus on the diversity of applications and scenarios being studied in this topic. From this review it emerges that automatic multiple regions of interest (ROIs) selection, removal of noise artefacts caused by both illumination variations and motion artefacts, simultaneous multiple person monitoring, long distance detection, multi-camera fusion and accepted publicly available datasets are topics that still require research to enable the technology to mature into many real-world applications.
1.9K
30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Biogenic Synthesis
Recent advances in the research of therapeutic plant and nanotechnology has been on the increase. Significantly in the green synthesis of metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) because of its numerous gains over conventional methods. Biological conventions for synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are through the use of nature’s biolaboratory such as plant, microorganisms, alga, carbohydrates and biopolymers . Medicinal plant is a choice natural reserve for different phytochemicals in the synthesis of biogenic MNPs. Thus, they are deemed a green, sustainable, and efficient route for the biosynthesis of MNPs owing to their benign and environmentally friendly nature. In this review we discussed the mode of synthesis strategies and the proposed mechanism of biocidal antibacterial activity of MNPs. The focus is on the synthesis and possible antibacterial mechanism of specific MNPs such as silver (Ag), gold (Au) and their bimetallic synthesized from plants. This is to give a synergistic view of the efficacy of plant mediated MNPs for the prospect of antibiotic development.
1.9K
17 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Silphium
The chemical composition of three Silphium species in the aspect of the possibility of their use for various purposes has been evaluated. The plant material of three Silphium species (S. perfoliatum, S. trifoliatum and S. integrifolium) was acquired from cultivation located in eastern Poland. The vegetative propagating material consisted of seeds and rhizomes. Content of protein (up to 22.9% in leaves of S. perfoliatum), amino acids (aspartic acid—up to 12.0%, glutamic acid—up to 9.5%, and leucine—up to 9.4%), fat (up to 4.2% in inflorescences of S. perfoliatum), cellulose (up to 42.9% in stems of S. trifoliatum), water-soluble sugars (up to 26.7% in rhizomes of S. perfoliatum) and mineral substances (ash up to 20.9% in stems of S. integrifolium, with significant levels of elements such as K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn) in the tested Silphium species can be an important criterion determining a positive evaluation of these plants as sources of alternative raw materials. The conducted research is meant to draw attention to the possibility of use of the biomass of three Silphium species as a potential source of ecological and renewable raw material for food, pharmaceuticals, feed and possibly also for energy generation purposes.
1.9K
02 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Euphorbia neriifolia Linn.
Medicinal plants have considerable potential as antimicrobial agents due to the presence of secondary metabolites. Researchers aim to summarize the classification, morphology, and ethnobotanical uses of Euphorbia neriifolia L. and its derived phytochemicals with the recent updates on the pharmacological properties against emerging infectious diseases, mainly focusing on bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic infections.
1.9K
14 Jul 2022
Page
of
53
Featured Entry Collections
>>
Featured Books
>>
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Chief Editor:
Kum Fai Yuen
Encyclopedia of COVID-19
Chief Editor:
Stephen Bustin
Encyclopedia of Fungi
Chief Editor:
Luis V. Lopez-Llorca
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
Chief Editor:
Sandro Serpa
Entry
Video
Image
Journal
Book
News
About
Log in/Sign up
New Entry
New Video
New Images
About
Terms and Conditions
Privacy Policy
Advisory Board
Contact
Partner
ScholarVision Creations
Feedback
Top
Feedback
×
Help Center
Browse our user manual, common Q&A, author guidelines, etc.
Rate your experience
Let us know your experience and what we could improve.
Report an error
Is something wrong? Please let us know!
Other feedback
Other feedback you would like to report.
×
Did you find what you were looking for?
Love
Like
Neutral
Dislike
Hate
0
/500
Email
Do you agree to share your valuable feedback publicly on
Encyclopedia
’s homepage?
Yes, I agree. Encyclopedia can post it.
No, I do not agree. I would not like to post my testimonial.
Webpage
Upload a screenshot
(Max file size 2MB)
Submit
Back
Close
×