Topic Review
Australian Tropical Medicinal Plants
Australian tropical plants have been a rich source of food (bush food) and medicine to the first Australians (Aboriginal people), who are believed to have lived for more than 50,000 years. Plants such as spreading sneezeweed (Centipeda minima), goat’s foot (Ipomoea pes-caprae), and hop bush (Dodonaea viscosa and D. polyandra) are a few popular Aboriginal medicinal plants.
  • 691
  • 01 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Yersinia Species
Yersinia spp. are non-spore-forming Gram-negative bacilli. They comprise only three species known to cause disease in humans, namely Y. pestis, Y. enterocolitica and Y. pseudotuberculosis. Since infective endocarditis (IE) is rarely caused by Yersinia, the management of these infections can be problematic due to the lack of experience.
  • 654
  • 25 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Microbiota of Sand Flies
Sand flies are a significant public health concern in many parts of the world where they are known to transmit agents of several zoonotic diseases to humans, such as leishmaniasis. Vector control remains a key component of many anti-leishmaniasis programs and probably will remain so until an effective vaccine becomes available. The sand fly gut microbiota has emerged as an encouraging field for the exploration of vector-based disease control. In particular, the gut microbiome was previously reported to either enhance or inhibit parasite activity depending on the species of bacteria and, thus, has the potential to alter vector competence. 
  • 603
  • 17 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine
The chloroquine family of antimalarials has a long history of use, spanning many decades. Despite this extensive clinical experience, novel applications, including use in autoimmune disor-ders, infectious disease, and cancer, have only recently been identified. While short term use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine is safe at traditional therapeutic doses in patients without pre-disposing conditions, administration of higher doses and for longer durations are associated with toxicity, including retinotoxicity. Additional liabilities of these medications include pharmacokinetic profiles that require extended dosing to achieve therapeutic tissue concentrations. To improve chloroquine therapy, researchers have turned toward nanomedicine reformulation of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to increase exposure of target tissues relative to off-target tissues, thereby improving the therapeutic index.
  • 566
  • 19 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Isatin-Based Scaffolds
Isatin, chemically an indole-1H-2,3-dione, is recognised as one of the most attractive therapeutic fragments in drug design and development. The template has turned out to be exceptionally useful for developing new anticancer scaffolds, as evidenced by the increasing number of isatin-based molecules which are either in clinical use or in trials. Apart from its promising antiproliferative properties, isatin has shown potential in treating Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) not only as a parent core, but also by attenuating the activities of various pharmacophores.
  • 535
  • 06 May 2022
Topic Review
Leishmaniasis
Leishmaniasis is a tropical and subtropical poverty-related disease caused by an intracellular parasite belonging to the genus Leishmania. Humans are generally infected via the bite of a sandfly, mostly Phlebotomus and Lutzomyia, around the world. According to reliable reports, 0.7–1 million new cases of the disease are notified annually, and 12–15 million people are now infected with the disease in different parts of the world. 
  • 500
  • 19 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Phytoextracts as Crop Biostimulants and Natural Protective Agents
Plants are the basic source of food, energy and dietary fibers for mankind. However, the production of cereal crops affected due to various biotic and abiotic factors due to anthropogenic activities. Fungal pathogens are responsible for plant diseases and cause high economic losses. Synthetic fungicides, which are toxic and harmful to the environment, are used to control plant diseases caused by fungal pathogens; the trend is shifting towards healthy, safe and sound ecofriendly control of fungal pathogens. Phytoextracts of Beta vulgaris, Moringa oleifera, Citrus sinensis, Melia azedarach and Azadirachta indica significantly inhibited the fungal growth and spore germination.
  • 450
  • 17 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Microfluidics and Plasmodium
Malaria is caused by a protozoan parasite called Plasmodium. Four different species of Plasmodium cause human infections: P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. ovale and P. vivax. Worldwide, the most prevalent species is P. falciparum (around 96%), which is the most lethal species (300,000 deaths worldwide in 2017), and P. vivax, which has the most extensive geographical distribution.
  • 445
  • 26 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Efficacy and Effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines
The major determinants of vaccine acceptance are vaccine safety and efficacy. Most COVID-19 vaccines have mild side effects, such as pain at the site of injection, tiredness, headache, fever, or shivering for 1–2 days after vaccination. Very rare side effects include allergic reactions and blood clotting problems, the latter affecting a small number of people who had the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. Vaccine efficacy is defined as the degree to which a vaccine prevents disease, and possibly, also its transmission under ideal and controlled circumstances; this is determined by comparing a vaccinated group with a placebo group in a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Vaccine effectiveness also refers to how well the vaccine performs in the real world based on observational studies.
  • 397
  • 04 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Eumycetoma Medical Treatment
Mycetoma is a neglected tropical disease that is associated with poor communities and socioeconomically impaired individuals in the tropical and sub-tropical areas. Interestingly, the disease is caused by either bacteria (actinomycetoma) or fungus (eumycetoma). The latter form of the disease, eumycetoma, is the most common type in Africa. Eumycetoma is characterized by a prolonged disease duration and low cure rate. The effective case management of eumycetoma largely depends on the accurate diagnosis and identification of the causative agent to the species level and evaluating its susceptibility to the available drugs.
  • 369
  • 23 Mar 2022
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