Topic Review
Reporting Bias in COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Clinical Trials
Relative risk reduction and absolute risk reduction measures in the evaluation of clinical trial data are poorly understood by health professionals and the public. The absence of reported absolute risk reduction in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials can lead to outcome reporting bias that affects the interpretation of vaccine efficacy. 
  • 167
  • 14 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Pharmaceutical Properties of Gabapentin
Gabapentin (GBP) is a common name for 1-(aminomethyl)cyclohexaneacetic acid (C9H17NO2, CAS Registry No. 60142-96-3), a GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) derivative and a popular active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). It has a molecular weight of 171.34 and two pKa values of 3.68 and 10.70.
  • 43
  • 13 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Discovering Amino Acid Transporter Inhibitors
Amino acid transporters are abundant amongst the solute carrier family and have an important role in facilitating the transfer of amino acids across cell membranes. Because of their impact on cell nutrient distribution, they also appear to have an important role in the growth and development of cancer. Naturally, this has made amino acid transporters a novel target of interest for the development of new anticancer drugs. 
  • 57
  • 05 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Development and Regulatory Approval of Biosimilars
Biological therapies have transformed high-burden treatments. As the patent and exclusivity period for biological medicines draws to a close, there is a possibility for the development and authorization of biosimilars. These products boast comparable levels of safety, quality, and effectiveness to their precursor reference products. Biosimilars, although similar to reference products, are not identical copies and should not be considered generic substitutes for the original. Their development and evaluation involve a rigorous step-by-step process that includes analytical, functional, and nonclinical evaluations and clinical trials. Clinical studies conducted for biosimilars aim to establish similar efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity, rather than demonstrating a clinical benefit, as with the reference product. 
  • 70
  • 29 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Cannabis for Potential Therapeutic Uses
Cannabis sativa has been utilized as a medicine and for recreational and spiritual purposes. Phytocannabinoids are a family of compounds that are found in the cannabis plant, which is known for its psychotogenic and euphoric effects; the main psychotropic constituent of cannabis is Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC). The pharmacological effects of cannabinoids are a result of interactions between those compounds and cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2, located in many parts of the human body. Cannabis is used as a therapeutic agent for treating pain and emesis. Some cannabinoids are clinically applied for treating chronic pain, particularly cancer and multiple sclerosis-associated pain, for appetite stimulation and anti-emesis in HIV/AIDS and cancer patients, and for spasticity treatment in multiple sclerosis and epilepsy patients. Medical cannabis varies from recreational cannabis in the chemical content of THC and cannabidiol (CBD), modes of administration, and safety. Despite the therapeutic effects of cannabis, exposure to high concentrations of THC, the main compound that is responsible for most of the intoxicating effects experienced by users, could lead to psychological events and adverse effects that affect almost all body systems, such as neurological (dizziness, drowsiness, seizures, coma, and others), ophthalmological (mydriasis and conjunctival hyperemia), cardiovascular (tachycardia and arterial hypertension), and gastrointestinal (nausea, vomiting, and thirst), mainly associated with recreational use. Cannabis toxicity in children is more concerning and can cause serious adverse effects such as acute neurological symptoms (stupor), lethargy, seizures, and even coma. 
  • 144
  • 29 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Causes and Risk Factors of Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a disorder that causes degeneration of the cells in the brain and it is the main cause of dementia, which is characterized by a decline in thinking and independence in personal daily activities. AD is considered a multifactorial disease: two main hypotheses were proposed as a cause for AD, cholinergic and amyloid hypotheses. Additionally, several risk factors such as increasing age, genetic factors, head injuries, vascular diseases, infections, and environmental factors play a role in the disease.
  • 231
  • 29 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Antibacterial Prodrugs to Overcome Bacterial Resistance
Prodrugs are pharmacologically inactive entities of active drugs that undergo biotransformation before eliciting their pharmacological effects. A prodrug strategy can be used to revive drugs discarded due to a lack of appropriate pharmacokinetic and drug-like properties, or high host toxicity. A special advantage of the use of the prodrug approach in the era of bacterial resistance is targeting resistant bacteria by developing prodrugs that require bacterium-specific enzymes to release the active drug. 
  • 74
  • 29 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Multicomponent Mixtures and Single Compounds from Lentinula edodes
Apart from the isolation of single substances, complexly composed products, so-called multicomponent mixtures (more than one constituent substances, MOCSs), are obtained from the natural materials. A multicomponent mixture contains numerous individual constituents with different functionalities. By using the example of Lentinula edodes (Berk.) Pegler, shiitake, it is shown that this is the case not only for plants but also for medicinal mushrooms. Lentinan, a polysaccharide isolated from the mycelium, is used as a single compound as part of an integrated tumor therapy.
  • 71
  • 28 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Current Application of DNSPEs in Drug Delivery
A drug nanocrystal self-stabilized Pickering emulsion (DNSPE) is a novel Pickering emulsion with drug nanocrystals as the stabilizer. As a promising drug delivery system, DNSPEs have attracted increasing attention due to their high drug loading capacity and ability to reduce potential safety hazards posed by surfactants or specific solid particles.
  • 68
  • 28 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Autophagy in Uveal Melanoma
Autophagy is a form of programmed cell degradation that enables the maintenance of homeostasis in response to extracellular stress stimuli. Autophagy is primarily activated by starvation and mediates the degradation, removal, or recycling of cell cytoplasm, organelles, and intracellular components in eukaryotic cells. Autophagy is also involved in the pathogenesis of human diseases, including several cancers. Autophagy mechanisms and mediators have emerged as promising therapeutic targets that could be used to develop new treatment options for uveal melanoma (UM).
  • 282
  • 28 Feb 2024
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