Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 17, Issue 5, 2010

St. John's Wort (SJW) has been used medicinally for over 5,000 years. Relatively recently, one of its phloroglucinol derivatives, hyperforin, has emerged as a compound of interest. Hyperforin first gained attention as the constituent of SJW responsible for its antidepressant effects. Since then, several of its neurobiological effects have been described, including neurotransmitter re-uptake inhibition, the ability to increase in Read More

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding single-stranded RNAs with about 21˜ 23 nucleotides in length, which originate from encoding genes in nucleus. In most cases miRNAs play an inhibitory role in gene expression in a posttranscriptional level by partially complementary binding to the 3' unstranlated region (UTR) of target mRNAs. Large bodies of evidence have shown that miRNAs were involved in various diseases, such a Read More

Glucocorticoids (GC) play a fundamental role in controlling physiologic homeostasis and, when present in excess, can have a detrimental impact on glucose control, blood pressure and lipid levels. The oxidoreductase 11β- hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) mainly catalyzes the intracellular regeneration of active GCs (cortisol, corticosterone) from inert inactive 11-keto forms (cortisone) in liver, adipose tissue and Read More

Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is caused by infection with the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) estimates that currently 7.7 million of people have Trypanosoma cruzi infection in the 21 endemic countries from the southern and southwestern United States to central Argentina and Chile. The only approved therapeutics for the treatment of Chagas di Read More

Primary prevention of osteoporosis must aim at increasing bone mass acquisition before late adolescence. During pubertal years both genders reach peak bone acquisition, though males develop a greater skeletal mass. This dimorphism is largely regulated by endocrine factors, with critical roles played by gonadal steroids, growth hormone and insulin growth factor-1, amongst the most important. Menstrual history is a surro Read More

Since its discovery in the early 1960's, abscisic acid (ABA) has received considerable attention as an important phytohormone, and more recently, as a candidate medicinal in humans. In plants it has been shown to regulate important physiological processes such as response to drought stress, and dormancy. The discovery of ABA synthesis in animal cells has generated interest in the possible parallels between its role in plant an Read More

Thioredoxin (Trx) is the major cellular protein disulfide reductase in a broad range of organisms, including humans. Trx, together with glutaredoxin (Grx), plays critical roles in the regulation of cellular protein redox homeostasis. Reduced thioredoxin transfers reducing equivalents to disulphides in target proteins, leading to reversible oxidation of its active centre dithiol to a disulphide. The resulting disulphide bridge is, in turn, red Read More