Current Bioactive Compounds - Volume 3, Issue 4, 2007

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an emerging treatment modality for cancer as well as non-cancer diseases. PDT involves administration of a photosensitizer in targeted tissues and photogeneration of cytotoxic reactive oxygen species that destroys tumor cells. Much effort has been paid to disperse hydrophobic photosensitizers molecularly in water, since self-aggregation of photosensitizers significantly reduces singlet oxy Read More

In the past 20 years, photosensitisers have found a niche in the photodynamic treatment of accessible tumours (PDT). Most of the therapeutics involved in this approach are porphyrin-based natural products or derivatives. However, there is a range of other photodynamic agents derived from natural sources - either via direct extraction/purification, or via semisynthesis - currently being trialled both for anticancer PDT and Read More

The use of natural compounds has recently been reconsidered in modern clinical practice. A further advancement of these compounds is represented by the possibility of using innovative drug delivery systems that can improve the biopharmaceutical features of the delivered compounds. This review examines the recent developments in the field of delivery of natural drugs belonging to several therapeutic clas Read More

Obesity and its comorbid conditions are increasing with an alarming rate throughout the world. The high incidence of obesity and scarcity of effective and reliable treatment have fuelled the development of anti-obesity drugs for many years. Different pharmacological approaches rely on four main lines of action- i) control of energy intake through modification of appetite; ii) control of energy expenditure through thermog Read More

The effects of the aqueous extract of Khaya senegalenis (Desr) A. Juss. (Meliaceae) (EAKS) were evaluated on the contractile activity of the guinea-pig Taenia coli. EAKS in a range of concentrations from 10-8mg/ml to 10-2mg/ml induced an increase of the spontaneous rhythmic contractions and of basal muscular tone, in a concentration-dependent manner (EC50: 6.10-4 mg/ml). With 10- 2mg/ml of the extract, maximal stimulatio Read More

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