Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 25, Issue 7, 2018

Background: New-generation antidepressants (NGAs) are the latest additions to the clinician's arsenal in the fight against depression. After the introduction of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a plethora of other groups followed, identified by their main mechanisms of activity: serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI); serotonin modulators and stimulators (SMS); serotonin antagonists and reuptak Read More

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains a major challenge for Public Health systems and corresponds to the replacement of renal functional tissue by extra-cellular matrix proteins such as collagens and fibronectin. There is no efficient treatment to date for CKD except nephroprotective strategies. The cannabinoid system and more specifically the cannabinoid receptors 1 (CB1) and 2 (CB2) may represe Read More

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is still a major health problem worldwide. The current available antiviral drugs for the treatment of chronic HBV infection do not achieve satisfactory results. Thus, it is desirable to develop novel anti-HBV drugs based on the recent advances of basic research on molecular biology of HBV. HBV nucleocapsid assembly is now considered as a potential target of anti-HBV therapy. Structural and fun Read More

Background: Autophagy is a cellular pathway with the ability to maintain cell homeostasis through the elimination of damaged or useless cellular components, and its deregulation may initiate or aggravate different human diseases. Flavonoids, a group of plant metabolites, are able to modulate different molecular and cellular processes including autophagy. Objective: To review the effects of flavonoids on autophagy pa Read More

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been developed as an alternative modality for the management of neoplastic and nonneoplastic diseases. It is a minimally invasive treatment that involves the interaction of a non-toxic photosensitizer (PS), light and molecular oxygen to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), resulting in the destruction of unwanted cells and tissues. Discovery and development of new PSs with optimized Read More

Background: Obesity is a global epidemic throughout the world. There is thus increasing interest in searching for natural bioactive compounds with anti-obesity effect. A number of marine compounds have been regarded as potential sources of bioactive compounds and are associated with an anti-obesity effect. Objective: Marine-derived compounds with anti-obesity effect and their current applications, methods and indicators Read More