Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 27, Issue 5, 2020

Chagas disease is an infectious tropical disease included within the group of neglected tropical diseases. Though historically endemic to Latin America, it has lately spread to high-income countries due to human migration. At present, there are only two available drugs, nifurtimox and benznidazole, approved for this treatment, both with considerable side-effects (which often result in treatment interruption) and limited Read More

Praziquantel (PZQ) is the drug of choice for treating infection with worms from the genus Schistosoma. The drug is effective, cheap and has few side effects. However, despite its use in millions of patients for over 40 years its molecular mechanism of action remains elusive. Early studies demonstrated that PZQ disrupts calcium ion homeostasis in the worm and the current consensus is that it antagonises voltage-gated cal Read More

Leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis occur primarily in undeveloped countries and account for millions of deaths and disability-adjusted life years. Limited therapeutic options, high toxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs and the emergence of drug resistance associated with these diseases demand urgent development of novel therapeutic agents for the treatment of these dreadful diseases. In the last decades, different in silico met Read More

In this paper, we review the history of Dengue, the mechanism of infection, the molecular characteristics and components of Dengue, the mechanism of entry to the target cells, cyclization of the genome and replication process, as well as translation of the proteins for virus assembly. The major emphasis of this work is on natural products and plant extracts, which were used for as palliative or adjuvant treatment of De Read More

Background: The enzyme trans-enoyl-[acyl carrier protein] reductase (InhA) is a central protein for the development of antitubercular drugs. This enzyme is the target for the pro-drug isoniazid, which is catalyzed by the enzyme catalase-peroxidase (KatG) to become active. Objective: Our goal here is to review the studies on InhA, starting with general aspects and focusing on the recent structural studies, with emphasis on the c Read More

Paediatric Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a life-threatening and infectious disease in which the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is mainly transmitted through Mother-To- Child Transmission (MTCT) during pregnancy, labour and delivery, or breastfeeding. This review provides an overview of the distinct therapeutic alternatives to abolish the systemic viral replication in paediatric HIV-1 infection. Numer Read More

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) form a group of diseases that are strongly associated with poverty, flourish in impoverished environments, and thrive best in tropical areas, where they tend to present overlap. They comprise several diseases, and the symptoms vary dramatically from disease to disease, often causing from extreme pain, and untold misery that anchors populations to poverty, permanent disability, and d Read More