Topic Review
Animal Lectins
Animal lectins are proteins with carbohydrate recognition activity. Galectins, the β-galactoside binding lectins, are expressed in various cells and have been reported to regulate several immunological and physiological responses. Recently, some galectins have been reported to regulate some viral infections, including influenza A virus (IAV); however, the mechanism is still not fully understood.
  • 614
  • 31 May 2021
Topic Review
CAR-T Therapy
Chimeric antigen receptor-T (CAR-T) therapy targeting CD19 has revolutionised the treatment of advanced acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The success of CAR-T therapy in the first two indications led to the initiation of a large number of studies testing CAR-T therapy in different haematologic tumours such as acute myelogenous leukaemia (AML), Hodgkin’s disease (HD), chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), multiple myeloma (MM), as well as different solid tumours. Notwithstanding, this did not prohibit further development of this new therapy to treat other malignancies.
  • 590
  • 31 May 2021
Topic Review
Food–Drug Interactions with Fruit Juices
Fruit juices contain a large number of phytochemicals that, in combination with certain drugs, can cause food–drug interactions that can be clinically significant and lead to adverse events. The mechanisms behind such interactions are in most cases related to phytochemical interference with the activity of cytochrome P450 metabolizing enzymes (CYPs) or drug transporters. Moreover, alterations in their activity can have a clinical relevance if systemic exposure to the drug is decreased or increased, meaning that the pharmacological drug effects are suboptimal, or the drug will cause toxicity. In general, the common pharmacokinetic parameters found to be altered in food–drug interactions regarding fruit juices are the area under the concentration–time curve, bioavailability, and maximum plasma concentration. In most cases, the results from the drug interaction studies with fruit juices provide only limited information due to the small number of subjects, which are also healthy volunteers. Moreover, drug interactions with fruit juices are challenging to predict due to the unknown amounts of the specific phytochemicals responsible for the interaction, as well as due to the inter-individual variability of drug metabolism, among others. Therefore, this work aims to raise awareness about possible pharmacological interactions with fruit juices. 
  • 1.3K
  • 29 May 2021
Topic Review
Human Drug-Drug Interactions
Patients suffering from complex diseases (infectious diseases, oncology) or several conditions (co-morbidities) require combination therapies of different drugs. Combining different drugs will potentially lead to drug-drug interactions, influencing the efficacy and safety of the treatment. Development of novel drugs that are intended to be used in combination should consider drug-drug interactions as early as possible. Even with limited data, drug-drug interactions in humans can be predicted using model-informed drug discovery and development (MID3). The concept to utilize and integrate data from in vitro combination experiments combined with preclinical in vivo data on the exposure-response relationships of the drugs in combination through a computational model-informed approach, is introduced here with tuberculosis as case study.
  • 698
  • 29 May 2021
Topic Review
Beta-Blockers and Cancer
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. After diagnosis, cancer treatment may involve radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery. Several of the approaches used to treat cancer also attack normal cells and, thus, there is the need for more effective treatments that decrease the toxicity to normal cells and increase the success rates of treatment. The use of beta-blockers in cancer has been studied for their antagonist action on the adrenergic system through inhibition of beta-adrenergic receptors. Besides regulating processes such as blood pressure, heart rate, and airway strength or reactivity, beta-blockers block mechanisms that trigger tumorigenesis, angiogenesis, and tumor metastasis.
  • 802
  • 28 May 2021
Topic Review
Semisolid Drug Products
Due to complex interdependent relationships affecting their microstructure, topical semisolid drug formulations face unique obstacles to the development of generics compared to other drug products.
  • 664
  • 26 May 2021
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
Aldose Reductase (AR, ALR2)
Aldose reductase (AR, ALR2), the first enzyme of the polyol pathway, is implicated in the pathophysiology of diabetic complications. Aldose reductase inhibitors (ARIs) thus present a promising therapeutic approach to treat a wide array of diabetic complications. 
  • 1.0K
  • 26 May 2021
Topic Review
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung disease primarily characterized by the presence of airflow limitation and inflammation, due to elevated inflammatory cells, especially neutrophils, in the lungs.
  • 553
  • 26 May 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.
  • 1.3K
  • 25 May 2021
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