Current pharmaceutical design
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There is growing interest in the relationship between cannabis and psychosis. The link between cannabis use and psychosis comprises three distinct relationships: acute psychosis associated with cannabis intoxication, acute psychosis that lasts beyond the period of acute intoxication, and persistent psychosis not time-locked to exposure. Experimental studies reveal that cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and synthetic cannabinoids reliably produce transient positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms in healthy volunteers. ⋯ However, cannabinoids are neither necessary nor sufficient to cause a persistent psychotic disorder. More likely cannabinoids are a 'component cause' interacting with other known (family history) and unknown factors to result in psychosis outcomes. While more research is needed to better understand the relationship between cannabinoid use and psychosis, and the neural underpinnings of this link, clinicians should be mindful of the potential risk of psychosis especially in vulnerable populations, including adolescents and those with a psychosis diathesis.
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been recognized among the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in young adults. Traditionally, the diagnosis of TBI has been based on neuroimaging. However, a significant portion of insulted patients appear to be apparently asymptomatic. ⋯ In addition to this, assessment of white matter abnormalities and white matter integrity by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) have emerged as promising sensitive neuroimaging methods of silent TBI. An integrated research is needed to fully understand the interplay between all the aforementioned indices and DTI. The potential diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic values of the all aforementioned indices will be analyzed in the proposed review.
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Review Historical Article
A panoramic view of chronic liver diseases and natural remedies reported in Traditional Persian Medicine.
Regarding limited effectiveness of many hepatic medical approaches, seeking for novel treatment strategies is crucial to improve outcomes. Hence, the current study aims to compile a concise but critical review over reported liver diseases and related medicinal plants from the Persian medicine perspectives. To this end, five main pharmaceutical manuscripts of Persian medicine from 9th-18th A. ⋯ However, none of them have been examined clinically. Besides historical clarification, the current investigation compiled an evidence- based study on reported liver herbal remedies from the standpoints of Persian scholars. Conducting attributable clinical trials against the backdrops of proven in vitro and in vivo studies may result in new treatment discoveries for liver diseases.
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The snake is the symbol of medicine due to its association with Asclepius, the Greek God of medicine, and so with good reasons. More than 725 species of venomous snakes have toxins specifically evolved to exert potent bioactivity in prey or victims, and snakebites constitute a public health hazard of high impact in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and parts of Oceania. Parenteral administration of antivenoms is the mainstay in snakebite envenoming therapy. ⋯ This could minimize the use of animals and bring forward more effective therapies for snakebite envenomings. In this review, current stateof- the-art in biopharmaceutical antitoxin development is presented together with an overview of available bioinformatics and structural data on snake venom toxins. This growing body of scientific and technological tools could define the basis for introducing a rational drug design approach into the field of snakebite envenoming therapy.
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The circadian clock is a biological system that allows organisms to adapt to temporal constraints of the environment. It governs all body functions. The circadian clock has an endogenous period and entrains to the external day by the means of timing cues, also called "zeitgebers". ⋯ Circadian desynchrony may be a factor in many diseases. This review presents literature in which the impact of circadian desynchrony on disease development - with a special focus on critical illness - has been addressed. The treatment options that have so far been investigated are also presented.