Current Drug Targets - Volume 18, Issue 6, 2017

Obesity is a metabolic, multifactorial disease that is underpinned by factors such as genetics, epigenetics, as well as high-energy food intake and sedentarism. Obesity is often associated with, and exacerbated by, other metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A hallmark of T2DM is failure of insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cell to regulate blood glucose disposal into peripheral tissues, such as skeletal m Read More

Diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions worldwide. Many dietary compounds have been found to exert health beneficial effects against different pathologies including diabetes. Most bioactive compounds have been identified in fruits and vegetables and their mechanisms of action explored both in vitro and in vivo. In particular, great interest has been given to polyphenols and especially to a specific subset of molecules, i.e. a Read More

Glibenclamide is widely used and remains a cornerstone and an effective antihyperglycemic drug. After the casual discovery of its hypoglycemic potential, this compound was introduced for diabetes treatment. However, the long-term side effects reveal that glibenclamide should be replaced by new molecules able to maintain the health of β-cells, protecting them from hyperstimulation/hyperexcitability, hyperinsulinemia, func Read More

HDL has long been known for its role in reverse cholesterol transport, thought in part to explain the well-recognized links between low levels of HDL-C and cardiovascular disease. The past decade has seen increasing evidence from epidemiological, basic science and early human intervention studies that HDL biology is more complex and may influence the onset and progression of type 2 diabetes. Research has id Read More

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are associated with the dysfunction of endothelium that regulates the contractile state of vascular walls and cellular composition. Recent large clinical trials indicated that lipid-modifying interventions decrease the risk of CVD in patients with hypercholesterolemia and in those with relatively normal levels of LDL cholesterol. They also highlighted lipid-independent role of well-established lipid-lowerin Read More

Bacterial respiratory infections are the main reason of morbidity and mortality among cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. In early childhood, the respiratory infections are due to Staphylococcus aureus and Haemophilus influenzae. In older CF patients, pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria like Achromobacter xylosoxidans, Burkholderia cepacia complex and especially Pseudomonas aeruginosa are more frequently seen. P. aeru Read More

Current therapeutic drugs for the treatment of bone loss-associated disorders such as osteoporosis and metastatic bone disease have limited clinical outcomes, namely in terms of efficiency and sustainability. Given the ageing of population in developed countries and the cumulative costs with treatment, bone loss-associated disorders represent a major socioeconomic burden worldwide. In this review, the therapeutic agen Read More

Oxidative stress is a pathological feature common to a multitude of neurological diseases. The production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is the main mechanism underlying this cellular redox imbalance. Antioxidants protect biological targets against ROS, therefore, they have been considered as attractive potential therapeutic agents to counteract ROS-mediated neuronal damage. However, despite encouraging in v Read More

Novel antineoplastic therapies have greatly improved cancer survival; nevertheless they are bringing in new forms of cardiomyopathy, that can often limit proper cancer treatments. Novel cardioprotective therapies are therefore needed, for improving clinical outcomes in cancer patients. In order to test novel therapeutic strategies, there is an increasing need for appropriate experimental models of chemotherapy-induced ca Read More

Graphene, a one-atom thick, two-dimensional sheets of sp2hybridized carbon atoms packed in a hexagonal lattice with a Caron-Carbon distance of about 0.142 nm. Its extended honeycomb network forms the basic building block of other important allotropes; it can be stacked to form 3-Dgraphite, rolled to form 1-D-nanotubes and wrapped to form 0-D-fullerenes. Long-range πconjugation in graphene results in its extraor Read More

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains one of the major leading causes of cancer related morbidity and mortality. Apart from the conventional anti-neoplastic agents, metformin, a biguanide anti-diabetic agent, has recently found to have anti-cancer property. Several studies observed the effect of metformin towards its anti-cancer effect on colon or colorectal cancer in diabetic patients. However, only a few studies showed its eff Read More