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Topic Review
Seed Waste from Custard Apple
Annona squamosa L. (custard apple or sugar apple), belonging to the Annonaceae family, is a small tree or shrub that grows natively in subtropical and tropical regions. Seeds of the custard apple have been employed in folk medicines because of the presence of bioactive chemicals/compounds such as alkaloids, flavonoids and phenolic compounds and acetogenins and cyclopeptides that are responsible for various biological activities. The seeds also show the presence of tannins, vitamin C, vitamin E and a higher content of amino acids. From investigations, it has been shown that the seeds of A. squamosa have considerable potential to be used as an antibacterial, hepatoprotective, antioxidant and antitumor/anticancer agent. Cyclosquamosin B, extracted from the custard apple seed, possesses vasorelaxant properties. Tocopherols and fatty acids, notably oleic acid and linoleic acid, are also found in the seed oil. A. squamosa seeds contain a high amount of annonaceous acetogenins compounds, which are potent mitochondrial complex I inhibitors and have high cytotoxicity. A survey primarily based on the nutritional, phytochemical and biological properties showed that A. squamosa seeds can be used for the discovery of novel products, including pharmaceutical drugs.
  • 1.7K
  • 01 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Fucoidan Structure
Fucoidans are complex polysaccharides derived from brown seaweeds. The search for novel and natural bioproduct derived drugs (due to toxicity issues associated with chemotherapeutic drugs) has led to an extensive study of fucoidan, as it has several bioactive characteristics. Among the various bioactivities of fucoidan, antidiabetic and anticancer properties have received extensive attention. However, the elucidation of the fucoidan structure and its biological activity is still vague. In addition, research has suggested that there is a link between diabetes and cancer; however, limited data exist where dual chemotherapeutic efforts are elucidated. This review provides an overview of glucose metabolism, which is the central process involved in the progression of both diseases. Potential therapeutic targets are highlighted and the relevance of fucoidan and its derivatives as a candidate for both cancer and diabetes therapy is shown.
  • 1.7K
  • 04 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Cathinones Mexedrone, α-PVP and α-PHP
Mexedrone, α-PVP and α-PHP are synthetic cathinones. They can be considered amphetamine-like substances with a stimulating effect. Actually, studies showing their impact on DNA are totally absent. 
  • 1.7K
  • 05 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench
Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench (EP)is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant, commonly known as purple coneflower and it belongs to the Asteraceae family. The Echinacea genus is originally from North America, in the United States, and its species are widely distributed throughout. There are nine different species of Echinacea, but only three of them are used as medicinal plants with wide therapeutic uses: Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench, Echinacea pallida (Nutt.) Nutt. and Echinacea angustifolia DC. Several significant groups of bioactive compounds with pharmacological activities have been isolated from Echinacea species. Numerous beneficial effects have been demonstrated about these compounds.
  • 1.7K
  • 20 May 2022
Topic Review
Honey and Propolis in Ocular Disease Treatment
Honey and propolis have recently become the key target of attention for treating certain diseases and promoting overall health and well-being. A high content of flavonoids and phenolic acids found in both honey and propolis contributes to the antioxidant properties to scavenge free radicals. Honey and propolis also exhibited antibacterial effects where they act in two ways, namely the production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and gluconic acids following the enzymatic activities of glucose oxidase, which exerts oxidative damage on the bacteria. Additionally, the anti-inflammatory effects of honey and propolis are mainly by reducing proinflammatory factors such as interleukins and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). Their effects on pain were discovered through modulation at a peripheral nociceptive neuron or binding to an opioid receptor in the higher center. The aforementioned properties of honey have been reported to possess potential therapeutic topical application on the exterior parts of the eyes, particularly in treating conjunctivitis, keratitis, blepharitis, and corneal injury. In contrast, most of the medicinal values of propolis are beneficial in the internal ocular area, such as the retina, optic nerve, and uvea. 
  • 1.6K
  • 02 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Papaverine and Its Mechanism of Action
Papaverine has been proven to be a high-value opioid alkaloid in the field of therapeutics either in solitude or in combination with other metabolites/molecules. Pharmacological research has revealed that papaverine demonstrates a variety of biological activities, including activity against erectile dysfunction, postoperative vasospasms, and pulmonary vasoconstriction, as well as antiviral, cardioprotective, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, neuroprotective, and gestational actions.
  • 1.6K
  • 07 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Drug–Food Interactions of DOACs
In recent years direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have become the anticoagulant treatment of choice. DOACs were initially considered drugs with no significant food interactions; however, clinical observations from daily practice have proved otherwise as interactions with food ingredients have been reported. Food, dietary supplements or herbs may contain substances that, when administered concomitantly with DOACs, can potentially affect the plasma concentration of the drugs. 
  • 1.6K
  • 27 Aug 2021
Topic Review
SLNs/NLCs Preparation Method
Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) are alternatives to other colloidal drug delivery systems, such as liposomes, emulsions, and polymeric nanoparticles. They have been produced using numerous methods.
  • 1.6K
  • 20 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Hybrid Drugs
Hybrid drugs, also termed “single molecule multiple targets” or “multiple ligands”, can be referred to as the most sophisticated form of combination therapy. They are designed utilizing molecular hybridization—a strategy of rational drug design which enables the fusing of one or more bioactive compounds or their pharmacophoric subunits into one molecule, which represents the preselected, desired features of original drugs. Obviously, connected entities should retain affinity to their specific targets and provide a superior therapeutic effect by amplification or exerting multifactorial biological activity. Such a single hybrid agent can modulate multiple targets involved in proliferation and efficiently destroy cancer cells.
  • 1.6K
  • 25 May 2021
Topic Review
Functionalization of Cyclodextrins
Cyclodextrins (CDs) are cyclic oligosaccharides bearing several glucopyranose residues connected by α-1,4 glycosidic bonds. Natural cyclodextrins contain six, seven, or eight glucopyranose units (α-, β- and γ-cyclodextrin, respectively) and are natural products, biodegradable, and generally lacking in toxicity. Cyclodextrins have toroidal shapes, with the smaller opening of the toroid (primary rim) corresponding to the C6-OH primary hydroxyls and the larger opening (secondary rim) to the C2-OH and C3-OH secondary hydroxyls. 
  • 1.6K
  • 17 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Cyanobacteria
Cyanobacteria (blue-green microalgae) are ubiquitous, Gram-negative photoautotrophic prokaryotes. They are considered as one of the most efficient sources of bioactive secondary metabolites.
  • 1.6K
  • 15 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Treating Delusional Disorder with Antipsychotics
Delusional disorder (DD) has been considered a treatment-resistant disorder, with antipsychotics acknowledged as the best. It is possible that the discovery of the right drug could turn treatment resistance into treatment response.
  • 1.6K
  • 29 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Drug Resistance in Cancer Chemotherapy
Cancer is one of the main causes of death worldwide. Despite the significant development of methods of cancer healing during the past decades, chemotherapy still remains the main method for cancer treatment. Multidrug resistance (MDR) is responsible for over 90% of deaths in cancer patients receiving traditional chemotherapeutics or novel targeted drugs. The mechanisms of MDR include elevated metabolism of xenobiotics, enhanced efflux of drugs, growth factors, increased DNA repair capacity, and genetic factors (gene mutations, amplifications, and epigenetic alterations). Rapidly increasing numbers of biomedical studies are focused on designing chemotherapeutics that are able to evade or reverse MDR.
  • 1.6K
  • 28 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Ciguatoxins in Fish
Ciguatoxins are very potent marine neurotoxins, that accumulate to toxic levels in edible fish in certain circumtropical areas, and are associated with ciguatera fish poisoning worldwide. Ciguatoxins are produced by specific benthic dinoflagellates, enter the marine food chain via herbivorous fish and invertebrates, and eventual are biotransformed in herbivorous, omnivorous, and carnivorous fishes to more poisonous forms. Ciguatoxins cause risks to human health at very low concentrations. To decrease the risk of ciguatera fish poisoning, it is important to know fishing areas with low concentrations of ciguatoxins, as well as to test fish tissue for toxins before consumption. Modern laboratories use several detection techniques, such as mouse bioassay, cell-based assays, receptor-binding assays, antibody-based immunoassays, electrochemical methods, and analytical techniques, to obtain information about the total toxicity of fish tissue samples, as well as to identify toxins and to determine the toxin profile. State-of-the-art ciguatoxin detection involves the combination of a cell-based assay or receptor-binding assay to screen total toxicity, and liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry to confirm toxins and provide toxin profiles. 
  • 1.6K
  • 25 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Aqueous Soluble Drug
The low water solubility of pharmacoactive molecules limits their pharmacological potential, but the solubility parameter cannot compromise, and so different approaches are employed to enhance their bioavailability. Pharmaceutically active molecules with low solubility convey a higher risk of failure for drug innovation and development. Pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and several other parameters, such as drug distribution, protein binding and absorption, are majorly affected by their solubility.
  • 1.6K
  • 20 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Fused Deposition Modeling and 3D Printing
The operating principle of 3D printing is the layer-by-layer fabrication of objects, using a digital design. Before printing, a 3D digital model of the object is created with a computer-aided design (CAD) software, offering the ability of designing various complex final structures. The structure is then “sliced” in 2D layers which are printed one by one, on top of each other, in order to finally afford the 3D object. Stereolithography, which is based on the selective photo-polymerization of a liquid resin, was the first technique developed for 3D printing technology. Two other methods have mainly been employed for printing polysaccharides: fused deposition modeling (FDM), mostly for cellulose and its derivatives, owing to the good processing window between their glass transition temperature and the onset of thermal degradation temperature; and extrusion-based printing, which is appropriate for hydrogels.
  • 1.5K
  • 11 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Childhood Asthma
Asthma is a complex and multifactorial respiratory disease with a high prevalence in the pediatric population. Variation in treatment response to asthma therapies has been described among patients, and difficult-to-treat asthma carries both high healthcare and socioeconomic burden to the patients and society. Omic studies can be used to discover the molecular mechanisms underlying asthma susceptibility and treatment response, contributing to a better knowledge and definition of asthma pathogenesis and therefore, to the development of precision medicine. This entry aims to summarize the recent findings of omic studies of treatment response in childhood asthma. Between 2018-2019 a total of 13 omic studies has been performed involving genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and the microbiome. These have been focused on the response to three common asthma medications: short-acting beta agonists, inhaled corticosteroids, and leukotriene receptor antagonists. Novel associations of different biomarkers with asthma treatment response have been described. However, stronger evidence and more consistent results are required to implement these molecular biomarkers into clinical practice by establishing the most appropriate therapy for each patient.
  • 1.5K
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
DNA Damage Response in Autoimmunity
The DNA damage response and repair (DDR/R) network, a sum of hierarchically structured signaling pathways that recognize and repair DNA damage, and the immune response to endogenous and/or exogenous threats, act synergistically to enhance cellular defence. On the other hand, a deregulated interplay between these systems underlines inflammatory diseases including malignancies and chronic systemic autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Recent data demonstrate accumulation of endogenous DNA damage in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from these patients, which is related to augmented formation of DNA damage and epigenetically regulated functional abnormalities of fundamental DNA repair mechanisms. Since endogenous DNA damage accumulation has serious consequences for cellular health, including genomic instability and enhancement of an aberrant immune response, these results can be exploited for understanding pathogenesis and progression of systemic autoimmune diseases, as well as for the development of new treatments.
  • 1.5K
  • 03 Nov 2020
Topic Review
The Coming of Age of Biosimilars
The first biosimilar, Sandoz’s Omnitrope  (human growth hormone), was approved in 2006 by both the FDA and EMA; it was approved by the FDA under the 505(b)(2) generic product legislation and by the EU as a biosimilar. Later, Sandoz received the first licensing of Zarzio/Zarxio (filgrastim) in 2015; this was the first biosimilar product approved under the 351(k) BLA legislation in the US. Biosimilars have come of age from 2005 to the present, with 84 approvals in the EU and 35 in the US, representing almost 90% of the world market. While the acceptance of biosimilars in the US is catching up with that in the EU, the cost benefits remain elusive due to the high development barrier and complex distribution system involved, mainly in the US. In the EU, the cost of biosimilars has already dropped 70% or more, and interchangeability is a routine in some European jurisdictions, unlike in the US, where a separate regulatory approval is required.
  • 1.5K
  • 27 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Blood-Brain Barrier
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) limits pharmacotherapy of several brain disorders. In addition to structural and metabolic characteristics of the BBB, the ATP-driven, drug efflux transporter P-glycoprotein (Pgp) is a selective gatekeeper of the BBB, and thus, a primary hindrance to drug delivery into the brain.
  • 1.5K
  • 26 Oct 2020
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