Current medicinal chemistry
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Allergic diseases constitute a major health issue worldwide. Mainstay treatment constitutes allergen avoidance and pharmacotherapy for symptom relief, but allergen immunotherapy offers advantages of specific treatment with long lasting efficacy, and being able to modify the course of the disease. Conventional immunotherapy involves the subcutaneous injection of gradually increasing amounts of allergen extract but the use of current whole allergen extracts is restricted by the risk of adverse IgE-mediated events especially for potent allergens such as peanut and latex and for asthmatics. ⋯ Evidence suggests that oral dendritic cells play a key role in inducing tolerance especially when allergen is taken up via Fc receptor bound IgE. This suggests that although both would target allergen-specific T cells, allergen formulations may differ with respect to IgE epitopes for optimal SLIT compared with SCIT. Identification of the molecular nature of the allergen-DC receptor interaction is required to determine whether short peptides or recombinant allergen preparations and of suitable adjuvants specifically tailored for the sublingual route will allow the development of improved allergen formulations and delivery strategies for efficacy of treatment whilst decreasing IgE-mediated adverse effects.
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Coronary heart disease (CHD) remains the greatest killer in the Western world, and although the death rate from CHD has been falling, the current increased prevalence of major risk factors including obesity and diabetes, suggests it is likely that CHD incidence will increase over the next 20 years. In conjunction with preventive strategies, major advances in the treatment of acute coronary syndromes and myocardial infarction have occurred over the past 20 years. In particular the ability to rapidly restore blood flow to the myocardium during heart attack, using interventional cardiologic or thrombolytic approaches has been a major step forward. ⋯ GPX and TxnRed are selenocysteine dependent enzymes, and their activity is known to be dependent upon an adequate supply of dietary selenium. Moreover, various studies suggest that the supply of selenium as a cofactor also regulates gene expression of these selenoproteins. As such, dietary selenium supplementation may provide a safe and convenient method for increasing antioxidant protection in aged individuals, particularly those at risk of ischemic heart disease, or in those undergoing clinical procedures involving transient periods of myocardial hypoxia.
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On undergoing an operation under general anesthesia, we tend to lose consciousness, and on recovering from the anesthetic effect, we realize a memory loss during the operation, but do remember the happenings before the operation. It implies that the anesthesia deprivers us of short-term memory without affecting long-term memory. Drosophila melanogaster is known to be an excellent model for genetic studies related to general anesthesia and memory. ⋯ Memory and adhesion pathways of the anesthetic action are developed in the Drosophila melanogaster model. Many mutants of general anesthesia and those of memory are overlapped suggesting that common molecules and signal pathways are involved in both phenomena. In this review, we will describe the relation between anesthesia and memory, especially highlighting the interaction between the general anesthetics and STM and MTM processes in Drosophila, especially concentrating on the cAMP/PKA signaling and molecular adhesion pathways.
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Review
Recent advances in computational prediction of drug absorption and permeability in drug discovery.
Approximately 40%-60% of developing drugs failed during the clinical trials because of ADME/Tox deficiencies. Virtual screening should not be restricted to optimize binding affinity and improve selectivity; and the pharmacokinetic properties should also be included as important filters in virtual screening. ⋯ Recent developments in the prediction of drug absorption, especially with the application of new machine learning methods and newly developed software are also discussed. Future directions for research are outlined.
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The increase in diagnostic imaging procedures that require infusion of intravenous radiographic contrast has led to a parallel increase in the incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN). Since CIN accounts for a significant increase of hospital-acquired renal failure, length of stay and mortality, several additive strategies to prevent CIN are presently advocated, including N-acetylcysteine (NAC), sodium bicarbonate, theophylline or fenoldopam, and peri-procedural hemofiltration/hemodialysis. ⋯ Since NAC has only few side-effects, we presently advise NAC as an additive preventive measure in the intensive care setting. Theophylline or sodium bicarbonate hydration are viable options, either in conjunction NAC or as alternatives.