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Topic Review
Transporters Expressed at the BBB
The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a highly selective and restrictive semipermeable network of cells and blood vessel constituents. All components of the neurovascular unit give to the BBB its crucial and protective function, i.e., to regulate homeostasis in the central nervous system (CNS) by removing substances from the endothelial compartment and supplying the brain with nutrients and other endogenous compounds. Many transporters have been identified that play a role in maintaining BBB integrity and homeostasis. The restrictive nature of the BBB provides an obstacle for drug delivery to the CNS. Drug transporters functionally expressed on various compartments of the BBB involve numerous proteins from either the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) or the solute carrier (SLC) superfamilies. 
  • 1.2K
  • 26 May 2021
Topic Review
Implications of Sphingolipid Metabolites in Kidney Diseases
Sphingolipids (SLs) are lipids with complex structures which were named after their sphinx-like structure by Thudichium in 1870. Lipids are major components of membranes in all eukaryotic cells determining the structural and functional integrity of cells. SLs are one of the important structural components of plasma membranes in all eukaryotes, but they also act as bioactive signaling molecules with numerous cellular physiological functions that include cell adhesion, cell proliferation, cell migration, inflammatory response and apoptosis. Sphingolipids, which act as a bioactive signaling molecules, are involved in several cellular processes such as cell survival, proliferation, migration and apoptosis. An imbalance in the levels of sphingolipids can be lethal to cells. Abnormalities in the levels of sphingolipids are associated with several human diseases including kidney diseases. Several studies demonstrate that sphingolipids play an important role in maintaining proper renal function. Sphingolipids can alter the glomerular filtration barrier by affecting the functioning of podocytes, which are key cellular components of the glomerular filtration barrier. 
  • 1.2K
  • 29 Apr 2022
Topic Review
The Hazards of Skin Glycation and Related Inhibitors
Skin saccharification, a non-enzymatic reaction between proteins, e.g., dermal collagen and naturally occurring reducing sugars, is one of the basic root causes of endogenous skin aging. During the reaction, a series of complicated glycation products produced at different reaction stages and pathways are usually collectively referred to as advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGEs cause cellular dysfunction through the modification of intracellular molecules and accumulate in tissues with aging. AGEs are also associated with a variety of age-related diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, renal failure (uremia), and Alzheimer’s disease. AGEs accumulate in the skin with age and are amplified through exogenous factors, e.g., ultraviolet radiation, resulting in wrinkles, loss of elasticity, dull yellowing, and other skin problems. 
  • 1.2K
  • 24 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. In about 0.5 percent of cases there is muscle weakness resulting in an inability to move. This can occur over a few hours to a few days. The weakness most often involves the legs but may less commonly involve the muscles of the head, neck and diaphragm. Many people fully recover. In those with muscle weakness about 2 to 5 percent of children and 15 to 30 percent of adults die. Another 25 percent of people have minor symptoms such as fever and a sore throat and up to 5 percent have headache, neck stiffness and pains in the arms and legs. These people are usually back to normal within one or two weeks. In up to 70 percent of infections there are no symptoms. Years after recovery post-polio syndrome may occur, with a slow development of muscle weakness similar to that which the person had during the initial infection. Poliovirus is usually spread from person to person through infected fecal matter entering the mouth. It may also be spread by food or water containing human feces and less commonly from infected saliva. Those who are infected may spread the disease for up to six weeks even if no symptoms are present. The disease may be diagnosed by finding the virus in the feces or detecting antibodies against it in the blood. The disease only occurs naturally in humans. The disease is preventable with the polio vaccine; however, multiple doses are required for it to be effective. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends polio vaccination boosters for travelers and those who live in countries where the disease is occurring. Once infected there is no specific treatment. In 2016, there were 37 cases of wild polio and 5 cases of vaccine-derived polio. This is down from 350,000 wild cases in 1988. In 2014 the disease was only spreading between people in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan . In 2015 Nigeria had stopped the spread of wild poliovirus but it reoccurred in 2016. Poliomyelitis has existed for thousands of years, with depictions of the disease in ancient art. The disease was first recognized as a distinct condition by the English physician Michael Underwood in 1789 and the virus that causes it was first identified in 1908 by the Austrian immunologist Karl Landsteiner. Major outbreaks started to occur in the late 19th century in Europe and the United States. In the 20th century it became one of the most worrying childhood diseases in these areas. The first polio vaccine was developed in the 1950s by Jonas Salk. It was hoped that vaccination efforts and early detection of cases would result in global eradication of the disease by 2018.
  • 1.2K
  • 10 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Nanotechnology for Eye Topical Drug Delivery
Topical drug delivery is one of the most challenging aspects of eye therapy. Eye drops are the most prevalent drug form because they are convenient and easy to apply by patients. However, conventional drug formulations are usually characterized by short retention time in the tear film, insufficient contact with epithelium, fast elimination, and difficulties in overcoming ocular tissue barriers. Not more than 5% of the total drug dose administered in eye drops reaches the interior ocular tissues. Drug-loaded nanoparticles/hydrogels do not enter cells via diffusion. The endocytosis pathway is related to the penetration of drug-loaded nanoparticles/hydrogels into the cell. The interactions between the nanoparticles and the cell membrane generate forces of different origins and lead to the membrane wrapping of the nanoparticles followed by cellular uptake.
  • 1.2K
  • 24 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Mental Disorders Diagnosed in Childhood
Mental disorders diagnosed in childhood are divided into two categories: childhood disorders and learning disorders. These disorders are usually first diagnosed in infancy, childhood, or adolescence, as laid out in the DSM-IV-TR and in the ICD-10. The DSM-IV-TR includes ten subcategories of disorders including mental retardation, Learning Disorders, Motor Skills Disorders, Communication Disorders, Pervasive Developmental Disorders, Attention-Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Tic Disorders, Elimination Disorders, and Other Disorders of Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence.
  • 1.2K
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Anti-Biofilm Treatments: Single and Combination Antibiotic Therapy
The public health challenge of antibacterial resistance has escalated considerably over recent decades. Of all potentially pathogenic species of bacteria those that form biofilm, complex surface-attached communities of bacteria held together by self-produced polysaccharide extracellular matrices, show heightened resistance to antibiotics. Foremost among these is Staphylococcus, in particular methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA). Determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum biofilm eradication concentration (MBEC) facilitates improved treatment of S. aureus biofilm infections. Although current approaches to combination therapy, typically using an antibiotic alongside an anti-biofilm agent, can achieve successful patient outcomes, complete removal of biofilm remains extremely difficult. Ongoing research aims to develop better means to address this important clinical concern.
  • 1.2K
  • 11 May 2022
Topic Review
Chromosomal instability in Fanconi anemia
Fanconi anemia (FA), a chromosomal instability syndrome, is caused by inherited pathogenic variants in any of 22 FANC genes, which cooperate in the FA/BRCA pathway. This pathway regulates the repair of DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs) through homologous recombination. In FA proper repair of ICLs is impaired and accumulation of toxic DNA double strand breaks occurs. To repair this type of DNA damage, FA cells activate alternative error-prone DNA repair pathways, which may lead to the formation of gross structural chromosome aberrations of which radial figures are the hallmark of FA, and their segregation during cell division are the origin of subsequent aberrations such as translocations, dicentrics and acentric fragments. The deficiency in DNA repair has pleiotropic consequences in the phenotype of patients with FA, including developmental alterations, bone marrow failure and an extreme risk to develop cancer.
  • 1.2K
  • 15 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Uremic Toxins Control in CKD
Uremic toxins (UTs) are mainly produced by protein metabolized by the intestinal microbiota and converted in the liver or by mitochondria or other enzymes. The accumulation of UTs can damage the intestinal barrier integrity and cause vascular damage and progressive kidney damage. Together, these factors lead to metabolic imbalances, which in turn increase oxidative stress and inflammation and then produce uremia that affects many organs and causes diseases including renal fibrosis, vascular disease, and renal osteodystrophy. This article is based on the theory of the intestinal–renal axis, from bench to bedside, and it discusses nonextracorporeal therapies for UTs, which are classified into three categories: medication, diet and supplement therapy, and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and other therapies. The effects of medications such as AST-120 and meclofenamate are described. Diet and supplement therapies include plant-based diet, very low-protein diet, probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, and nutraceuticals. The research status of Chinese herbal medicine is discussed for CAM and other therapies. This review can provide some treatment recommendations for the reduction of UTs in patients with chronic kidney disease.
  • 1.2K
  • 10 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Nutrition, Cognition and Aging
Consuming a balanced, nutritious diet is important for maintaining health, especially as individuals age. Several studies suggest that consuming a diet rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory components such as those found in fruits, nuts, vegetables, and fish may reduce age-related cognitive decline and the risk of developing various neurodegenerative diseases.
  • 1.2K
  • 01 Jun 2021
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