Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology - Volume 13, Issue 1, 2012

It is a pleasure to recognize the present milestone of 12 years of continuous publication for this journal, Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology (CPB). CPB has grown beyond expectations and is now among the top five in the field of molecular biotechnology in terms of Impact Factor. CPB was originally conceived as a primary review journal in which top areas of research in the fields of pharmaceutical biotechnology and alli Read More

Several diseases clustering metabolic syndrome (such as arterial hypertension, type 2 diabates mellitus, dyslipidemia and central obesity) have been shown to favour atherogenesis and the increase of acute cardiovascular events [1]. Evidence from both basic research and clinical studies has validated these “classical” cardiovascular risk factors as crucial targets for treatments to reduce atherosclerosis and its complicatio Read More

Myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke are relevant clinical issues in Western Countries for morbidity and mortality. In the last decades, great interest has been paid to the identification of non-traditional risk factors for a better stratification of patients and to recognize those at higher risk, who might particularly benefit from a more aggressive approach. In this field, C-reactive protein (CRP) is the most extensively studied novel Read More

Connexins are members of a large family of transmembrane proteins that oligomerize to form connexons or hemichannels, and connexons of adjacent cells dock to make gap junction channels. These channels allow the exchange of ions and small metabolites between the cytosol and extracellular space, or between the cytosols of neighbouring cells. Connexins are important in cardiovascular physiology; they support c Read More

The fundamental role of the inflammatory activation in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis is now widely established. Different strategies for positive modulation of these processes have been proposed, but the clinical results have been contradictory and sometimes, due to safety issues, a specific therapeutic approach has been withdrawn before reaching the final acceptation of the regulatory agencies. The reasons for the Read More

Cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis and the dreaded complication myocardial infarction, represent the major cause of death in western countries. It is now generally accepted that chemokines tightly control and modulate all the events which lead to initiation and progression of cardiovascular diseases, making them very attractive therapeutic targets for the pharmaceutical industry. Various studies showed unt Read More

Coronary and carotid arterial occlusion due to thrombosis after atherosclerotic plaque rupture is the major cause of myocardial and cerebral infarction. Together these acute events represent the leading cause of death worldwide. Early reperfusion is the best method to salvage the ischemic organ; however, it leads to additional damage known as reperfusion injury. A large number of experimental studies has been p Read More

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease that involves formation of atherosclerotic lesions characterized by deposition of lipids and cell debris in the arterial wall, fibrosis and recruitment of various cell types including smooth muscle, endothelial, immune and foam cells. Progressive enlargement of the atherosclerotic plaques together with development of necrosis, intraplaque hemorrhage and ulceration results into r Read More

3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors (also known as statins) are drugs active in the blockade of cholesterol synthesis and thus lowering cholesterol serum levels. Since their discovery, experimental evidence showed that statins strongly reduced atherogenesis and the risk of acute ischemic complications, such as acute myocardial infarction and stroke. More recently, direct anti-at Read More

Inflammation drives atherosclerosis. Toll-like receptor-2 and -4 are so far the strongest candidates for initiating innate immune signalling in atherosclerosis. Their signalling has implications for lesion development, foam cell formation, inflammation, matrix degradation and ischemia-reperfusion. The repertoire of TLR agonists is expanding. They collectively represent a conglomerate of structurally diverse molecular p Read More

The introduction of effective and potent treatments for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection resulted in prolonged survival and better quality of life of HIV-infected patients. However, the longer survival and the anti-HIV medication side effects caused the emergence of new clinical issues, such as the increase in cardiovascular risk, favored by multiple factors, partly related to HIV infection itself, partly to the anti-HIV Read More

Myocardial ischemia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. Although restoration of blood flow after prolonged ischemia is essential for cardiomyocytes salvation and to limit myocardial damage and cardiac dysfunction, reperfusion itself exacerbates myocardial injury. Considerable evidence attributes reactive oxygen species (ROS), produced either by the myocardium itself or by infiltrating inflammator Read More

Natural products, obtained from plant, animal, marine as well as mineral sources, have been used by mankind since antiquity for the prevention and amelioration of a multitude of illnesses. Cancer remains one of the most serious challenges in health care in the modern world and the use of natural products has gained widespread recognition as an important therapeutic strategy. It was a few decades earlier that the National Read More

Natural products have been found to be useful in the treatment of several diseases across the ages. In this article, we review the use of natural products, obtained from dietary sources, as lead compounds in developing novel therapeutic agents. These compounds have shown tremendous promise in the prevention and as well as treatment of a variety of chronic ailments. In addition, to being patentable and biocompatible, t Read More

Research over the past decade has provided convincing evidence to support the premise that phytochemicals from the diet offer protection against cancer risk. A large number of dietary phytochemicals have been demonstrated to exhibit anticancer activities by interfering with multiple signaling pathways aberrant in cancer. These agents target a plethora of cellular molecules and molecular pathways including xenobiotic-metabol Read More

Even though conventional cancer therapies, comprising surgery and chemo- and radiotherapy, play an important role in the treatment of most solid tumours, successful therapeutic outcome is often limited due to high toxicity and related side-effects, as well as the development of multi-drug resistances. Therefore, there is need for new therapeutic strategies not only to obtain higher treatment efficacy, but also for the reducti Read More

Triterpenoids are ubiquitous in the plant kingdom. Recent evidences support the beneficial effects of naturallyoccurring triterpenoids against several types of human diseases, including various cancers. Here, we have summarized the potential of triterpenoids belonging to the lupane, oleanane, ursane, and cucurbitacin groups, and their beneficial effects based on both laboratory and clinical investigations. Anticancer p Read More

Vitamin E is well known as an antioxidant, with 8 natural isoforms, such as α-, bgr;-, γ- and δ-tocopherols and α-, β-, gamma;- and δ-tocotrienols. It has been suggested that both tocopherols and tocotrienols have anti-tumor effects due to the antioxidant effect. The results of several studies have indicated that the tocotrienols may have a stronger bioactivity than the tocopherols. Both types have shown antiproliferative, proapopto Read More

Selenium (Se), an essential trace element, has also been identified as an anticarcinogenic agent, with supporting evidence from epidemiological studies, clinical intervention trials, preclinical intervention studies (animal cancer models) and cell culture studies. Natural organic and inorganic sources of Se as well as synthetic organoselenium compounds have been shown to be effective; safety and efficacy factors favour the o Read More

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and accounts for approximately 8 million deaths per year worldwide. Although there is an increasing number of therapeutic options available for patients with cancer, their efficacy is time-limited and non-curative. Approximately 50-60% cancer patients in the United States utilize agents derived from different parts of plants or nutrients (complemen Read More

Recently nontoxic natural compounds are getting immense importance for the prevention of diseases of different etiology. Natural product provitamin A “carotenoids”, largely α-carotene, β-carotene, and β-cryptoxanthin, are typical constituents of orange/red/yellow colored fruits and green vegetables. Different in vitro and in vivo studies have shown that carotenoids possess the capacity to scavenge DNA damaging fre Read More

Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world reported to have multiple health benefits. Preventive and therapeutic benefits of tea polyphenols include enhanced general well being and anti-neoplastic effects. The pharmacologic action of tea is often attributed to various catechins present therein. Experiments conducted in cancer cell lines and animal models demonstrate that tea polyphenols protect agai Read More

Consumption of fruit and vegetables is associated with a decreased risk of several cancers, particularly colorectal cancer, possibly linked to their phytochemical content, which is of interest due to several proposed health benefits, including potential anticancer activity. Epidemiological data suggests that cancers of the digestive tract are most susceptible to dietary modification, possibly due to being in direct contact with bioa Read More

In chronic liver diseases caused by oxidative stress (alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, drug- and chemical-induced hepatic toxicity), the antioxidant medicines such as silymarin can have beneficial effect. Liver cirrhosis, non-alcoholic fatty liver and steatohepatitis are risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Insulin resistance and oxidative stress are the major pathogenetic mechanisms leading the hepatic Read More

Primary liver cancer, also known as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is one of the most lethal cancers having worldwide prevalence. Although most HCC cases are reported in the developing countries of Asia and Africa, there has been an alarming increase in HCC cases in Western Europe as well as United States. Chronic liver diseases, viral hepatitis, alcoholism as well as dietary carcinogens, such as aflatoxins and nitrosoamines, Read More

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), one of the most common cancers in the world, is a leading cause of cancerrelated mortality. HCC develops most frequently in the background of oxidative stress and chronic hepatic inflammation due to viral infections, alcohol abuse as well as exposure to environmental and dietary carcinogens. As the prognosis of HCC is extremely poor and mostly unresponsive to current chemotherapeuti Read More

Over the last few years, samples from the marine environment have been screened for a variety of compounds with different biological activities. Among all marine organisms, sponges represent one of the most promising sources of leads in the research of new cancer drugs. However, there are few reports on screening Brazilian marine sponges for biological activities. In the following review, the current status of natural prod Read More

The aberrant activation of the wingless (Wnt) signaling pathway is a key element involved in carcinogenesis as Wnt regulates a variety of cellular processes including proliferation, differentiation, survival, apoptosis and cell motility. Upon Wnt receptor activation, the canonical “Wnt/beta-catenin” as well as the non canonical “Wnt/planar cell polarity, Wnt/Ca2+” pathways are activated. This offers multiple possibilities to tar Read More

High intake of dietary phytochemicals, non-nutritive compounds found in vegetables and fruits, has been associated with a decreased risk of various types of cancer. With the introduction of new “omics” research approaches, technologies providing large scale and holistic data on biological responses to dietary or environmental factors, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the preventive action of ind Read More

Secondary metabolites of higher plants exert numerous effects on tumorigenesis, on tumor cells in vitro, tumors in experimental animals in vivo, interact with anti-cancer drugs, thus affecting positively or negatively their efficacy, and protect normal tissues of the host organism against adverse effects of anti-cancer therapies. The industrial development of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products based on secondary Read More