Current topics in medicinal chemistry
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Dental diseases are perhaps the most prevalent infection-related diseases in humans. Biofilm is involved in almost every infectious disease compromising oral health, notably caries, periodontal disease, gingivitis, endodontic infections and peri-implantitis. Current therapies of biofilm-derived oral infections lack sensitivity; they are not species-specific and kill pathogenic species as well as commensal species, which are protective against the formation of pathogenic biofilms. ⋯ Thus, like in many other medicinal fields, phage therapy offers new horizons to dentistry, both therapeutics and research. The present review presents the etiology of common oral diseases, characterization of the infection and the treatment challenges of phage therapy in dentistry. Recent findings and development in the use of phages for prevention, control, and treatment of oral infections as well as possibilities of engineering the oral microbiome are discussed.
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Increased investments and development of new technologies in drug discovery have barely improved the outcome of medicinal entities in the drug discovery market from a long time. Minimal success rates of drug approvals, poor safety profiles, and long development processes are some of many hurdles encountered in the drug discovery field. ⋯ Promising results of drug repurposing in different therapeutic areas have encouraged the scientific community to discover new drugs for different diseases using this methodology. Herein, we provide a general overview of structurally and functionally diverse approved drugs that have been repurposed as anti-cancer drugs.
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Review Meta Analysis
Ginkgo Biloba for Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Ginkgo biloba is a natural medicine used for cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. The objective of this review is to explore the effectiveness and safety of Ginkgo biloba in treating mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. ⋯ Ginkgo biloba is potentially beneficial for the improvement of cognitive function, activities of daily living, and global clinical assessment in patients with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease. However, due to limited sample size, inconsistent findings and methodological quality of included trials, more research are warranted to confirm the effectiveness and safety of ginkgo biloba in treating mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.
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Review
Cardiac biomarkers in the identification of future risk in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common and disabling disease and the third leading cause of global mortality behind ischemic heart disease and stroke. Acute exacerbations of COPD accelerate lung function decline affecting the quality of life of COPD patients and moreover, remain the major contributors to morbidity and mortality of these patients. ⋯ Such molecules have been successfully used in cardiovascular diseases and therefore, cardiac biomarkers have attracted attention for their potential use in COPD. The present review summarizes the available evidence for the use of the most important cardiac biomarkers in the evaluation of COPD severity, outcomes and management.
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Each year, a huge number of new cases accounts of TB with added problems due to multidrug resistant TB varieties. Globally, TB is one of the top causes of loss of life among people living with HIV who are more likely than others to get TB infection. Current TB treatment includes long term administration of cocktail of drugs; hence, the development of an alternative armamentarium against TB is the primary requirement. ⋯ The present report covers the discovery of a diarylquinoline TB drug, bedaquiline, its antituberculosis effects and mode of action. Clinical studies conducted on bedaquiline which brought it to the accelerated FDA acceptance have been described. This report is of great attention for therapeutic apothecaries working in TB medication growth in terms of creating further diarylquinoline applicants with a wide variety of antimycobacterial results.