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Topic Review
Biography
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.
2.0K
11 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Type 2 Diabetes and P450
The most frequent form of diabetes is type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) which is often part of a metabolic syndrome (hyperglycaemia, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, abdominal obesity) that usually requires the use of several medications from different drug classes to bring each of these conditions under control. T2DM is associated with an increase in inflammatory markers such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). Higher levels of IL-6 and TNF-α are associated with a downregulation of several drug metabolizing enzymes, especially the cytochrome P450 (P450) isoforms CYP3As and CYP2C19. A decrease in these P450 isoenzymes may lead to unexpected rise in plasma levels of substrates of these enzymes. It could also give rise to a mismatch between the genotypes determined for these enzymes, the predicted phenotypes based on these genotypes and the phenotypes observed clinically. This phenomenon is described as phenoconversion. Phenoconversion typically results from either a disease (such as T2DM) or concomitant administration of medications inducing or inhibiting (including competitive or non-competitive inhibition) a P450 isoenzyme used by other substrates for their elimination. Phenoconversion could have a significant impact on drug effects and genotypic-focused clinical outcomes.
657
11 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Oral Bioavailability and Regulatory Aspects
Oral bioavailability refers to the extent a substance or drug becomes completely available to systemic circulation or to its intended biological destination(s) via the oral route. High oral bioavailability reduces the amount of a drug necessary to achieve a desired pharmacological effect, therefore reducing the risk of side-effects and toxicity. Low oral bioavailability results in low efficacy and is a major reason for drug candidates failing to reach the market. Hence, oral bioavailability is one of the most important properties in drug design and development.
551
11 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Encapsulation of Interferon
Interferons (IFNs) are cytokines involved in the immune response that act on innate and adaptive immunity. These proteins are natural cell-signaling glycoproteins expressed in response to viral infections, tumors, and biological inducers and constitute the first line of defense of vertebrates against infectious agents. They have been used in different presentations for several therapy applications. However, their administration has presented difficulties due to the molecules’ size, sensitivity to degradation, and rapid elimination from the bloodstream. An alternative to overcome these drawbacks is to formulate drug delivery systems to provide adequate therapeutic concentrations for these cytokines, decrease their toxicity and prolong their half-life in the circulation.
619
09 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Thiophene-Based Compounds
Thiophene derivatives provide useful intermediaries in various areas of science and industry, with a wide range of applications, and therapeutic properties. Thiophene derivatives attract both great academic interest, and interest from the agrochemical, pharmaceutical, and dye industries, as well. As to their biological and pharmacological applications, thiophene derivatives possess remarkable properties as antipsychotic, antianxiety, antifungal, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory agents. The present work provides an update on the role of thiophene-based derivatives in inflammation processes.
1.5K
09 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Plants Secondary Metabolites
Plant secondary metabolites were reported to inhibit carbohydrate metabolizing enzymes, possess kinase activating capacity, thereby affecting all the metabolic pathways of carbohydrate, lipid and protein, and can intervene in the insulin-signaling pathway, inflammatory response, and oxidative stress and restore molecular aberrations leading to insulin resistance and glucose intolerance.
1.1K
09 Oct 2021
Topic Review
RNA-Dependent RNA-Polymerase (RdRp)
RdRp is an attractive target for developing therapies for COVID-19 as it plays a crucial role in the replication of SARS-CoV-2 (Scheme 1) and is well conserved between coronaviruses (RNA viruses).
542
09 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Parthenin
Parthenin, a sesquiterpene lactone of pseudoguaianolide type, is the representative secondary metabolite of the tropical weed Parthenium hysterophorus (Asteraceae). It accounts for a multitude of biological activities, including toxicity, allergenicity, allelopathy, and pharmacological aspects of the plant. Thus far, parthenin and its derivatives have been tested for chemotherapeutic abilities, medicinal properties, and herbicidal/pesticidal activities. However, due to the lack of toxicity-bioactivity relationship studies, the versatile properties of parthenin are relatively less utilised. The possibility of exploiting parthenin in different scientific fields (e.g., chemistry, medicine, and agriculture) makes it a subject of analytical discussion. It is important to highlight that the toxic nature of parthenin can be overcome by thoroughly understanding its structural basis, designing suitable derivatives, and deciding the appropriate doses.
812
09 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Engineering Drug Delivery Systems
Engineering drug delivery systems (DDS) aim to release bioactive cargo to a specific site within the human body safely and efficiently. Hydrogels have been used as delivery matrices in different studies due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and versatility in biomedical purposes. Microparticles have also been used as drug delivery systems for similar reasons. The combination of microparticles and hydrogels in a composite system has been the topic of many research works. These composite systems can be injected in loco as DDS. The hydrogel will serve as a barrier to protect the particles and retard the release of any bioactive cargo within the particles. Additionally, these systems allow different release profiles, where different loads can be released sequentially, thus allowing a synergistic treatment. The reported advantages from several studies of these systems can be of great use in biomedicine for the development of more effective DDS.
750
04 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Developments on 14-Oxygenated-N-methylmorphinan-6-ones
Adequate pain management, particularly chronic pain, remains a major challenge associated with modern-day medicine. Current pharmacotherapy offers unsatisfactory long-term solutions due to serious side effects related to the chronic administration of analgesic drugs. Morphine and structurally related derivatives (e.g., oxycodone, oxymorphone, buprenorphine) are highly effective opioid analgesics, mediating their effects via the activation of opioid receptors, with the mu-opioid receptor subtype as the primary molecular target. However, they also cause addiction and overdose deaths, which has led to a global opioid crisis in the last decades. Therefore, research efforts are needed to overcome the limitations of present pain therapies with the aim to improve treatment efficacy and to reduce complications.
385
30 Sep 2021
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