Current Drug Discovery Technologies - Volume 17, Issue 3, 2020

Although the major role of Nrf2 has long been established as a transcription factor for providing cellular protection against oxidative stress, multiple pieces of research and reviews now claim exactly the opposite. The dilemma - “to activate or inhibit” the protein requires an immediate answer, which evidently links cellular metabolism to the causes and purpose of cancer. Profusely growing cancerous cells have prolific energy re Read More

Background: Melasma is a skin pigmentation disorder that remains resistant to available therapies. The exact cause of melasma is unknown. Histamine is an inflammatory factor. Its involvement in pigmentation is obscure. The aim of this study is to introduce an herbal antihistamine H2 receptor which is effective in these disorders. Methods: This is a review study by searching the electronic databases and also Persian Me Read More

Atherosclerosis is a chronic arterial disease characterized by vascular inflammation, accumulation of lipids in the arterial wall, and formation and growth of atherosclerotic plaques followed by ischemia. In subclinical atherosclerosis, cholesterol retention in subendothelial cells leads to induction of local inflammation, generation of foam cells and lesion formation, followed by a chain of other pathogenic events. Atherosclerotic pro Read More

Natural compounds have always played a key role in drug discovery. Anthocyanins are secondary metabolites belonging to the flavonoids family responsible for the purple, blue, and red colour of many vegetables and fruits. These phytochemicals have attracted the interest of researchers for their important implications in human health and for their use as natural colorants. Many in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated the p Read More

CD36 is a multifunctional glycoprotein, expressed in different types of cells and known to play a significant role in the pathophysiology of the host. The structural studies revealed that the scavenger receptor consists of short cytosolic domains, two transmembrane domains, and a large ectodomain. The ectodomain serves as a receptor for a diverse number of endogenous and exogenous ligands. The CD36-specific ligan Read More

From ancient times, medicinal plants have been usually utilized to treat many disorders, but today, interest in these herbs is again aroused, because of their fewer side effects and low-cost. In traditional medicine, for many diseases, various medicinal herbs have been suggested so far. Drimia maritime, also named squill, is an important medicinal plant for the treatment of many diseases, especially respiratory diseases. Read More

Objective: Hypertension is an important risk factor that causes many deaths in the world every year. Researchers continue to undertake studies to find an effective drug for reducing blood pressure. One of the phytochemicals that recently attracted the attention of researchers is resveratrol-polyphenol, found in grapes. The purpose of this systematic review is to investigate the effect of resveratrol as a cardioprotective agent Read More

Background: Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the sedative-hypnotic potential of hydroalcoholic extract (HAE) of Cuscuta epithymum and its fractions. Method: HAE and its fractions including: water fraction (WF), ethyl acetate fraction (EAF) and n-hexan fraction (NHF) were i.p administered to male mice and 30 min later pentobarbital (30 mg/kg, i.p.) was injecte Read More

Background: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) δ is expressed universally in the entire tissues, particularly in those concerned with the lipid metabolism. PPAR δ stimulation alters body’s energy fuel preference to fat from glucose and shows up as an emerging pharmacological target for the treatment of metabolic disorders. Methods: A new series of cinnamic acid derivatives was synthesized and evaluated for t Read More

Background and Objectives: Multiple-Drug-Resistance (MDR) among bacteria is an imminent problem and alternative therapies are seen as a future abode. Agarwood Oil (AO) is described to possess antimicrobial activity besides many other medicinal utilities. This paper discusses the antimicrobial activity of AO on MDR and non-MDR strains of microbes of 69 genera isolated from clinical and non-clinical samples. Metho Read More

Background: Although antibiotic-induced hepatotoxicity is recoverable with mild impairment, and some cases were reported to cause morbidity. However, an adjuvant is essential in reducing such incidences. Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the protective effect of ascorbic acid on antibiotic induced liver toxicity using liver slices. Method: Fresh liver slices were incubated with different concentrations of sulfametho Read More

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is an infection disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) bacteria. One of the main causes of mortality from TB is the problem of Mtb resistance to known drugs. Objective: The goal of this work is to identify potent small molecule anti-TB agents by machine learning, synthesis and biological evaluation. Methods: The On-line Chemical Database and Modeling Environment (OCHEM) wa Read More

Background: The main aim of this work was to develop stable (>2 years) doxycycline formulation, at clinically relevant concentrations and using clinically relevant formulation. Doxycycline has a MMP- inhibitory effects that is important for the treatment of various oral mucosal conditions. Therefore, protecting doxycycline from degradation in aqueous formulation requires halting or prevention of oxidation and epimerisatio Read More

Background: Lamivudine is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor used to treat HIV and hepatitis B. It is primarily cleared by the kidney with renal secretion mediated by OCT2 and MATE. Objective: To use PBPK modeling to assess the impact of renal impairment on lamivudine pharmacokinetics using the Simcyp® Simulator. Methods: The model incorporated the Simcyp® Mechanistic Kidney Model option to pre Read More

Background: Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) has become the most common age-dependent disease of dementia. The trademark pathologies of AD are the presence of amyloid aggregates in neurofibrils. Recently phytochemicals being considered as potential inhibitors against various neurodegenerative, antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral diseases in human beings. Objective: This study targets the inhibition of BACE- Read More