Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology - Volume 19, Issue 3, 2018

Background: The gastrointestinal tract harbours a diverse bacterial community that contributes to health and disease. A number of studies have demonstrated that the gut microbiota plays a critical role in the metabolism of serotonin. Methods: Microbial-derived metabolites, such as bile acids and short-chain fatty acids, are reported to affect the production of serotonin which, in turn, directly or indirectly regulates gut motility. Read More

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease mainly caused by high-fat diets and sudden feed changes, vitamin and energy deficiency, and inflammatory processes. Fatty liver leads to cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma as well as liver failure. Lifestyle-modifying such as weight loss and a healthy diet have an inverse correlation with the risk of fatty liver. The promising effect of Read More

Background: Pentoxifylline (PTX) is a drug commonly used in the treatment of intermittent claudication. However, numerous research groups report that PTX also may potentially be used in the anticancer therapy following one of the main trends in the nowadays medicine – combined anticancer therapy. Scope of Review: The review concentrates on the reports revealing the potential use of PTX in cancer treatment. Ma Read More

Background: The purpose of this study was to develop an innovative surfactant-free lipidbased formulation (LF) for improving oral bioavailability of loratadine based on using solid particles colloidal silicon dioxide (CSD) as emulsifier and solid carrier. Methods: Loratadine was dissolved in oil solution with the aid of co-solvent and LF formulations were prepared by a simple adsorption and milling technique. The LF Powder was Read More

Background: Transcriptional regulation is a very important and pivotal function in myriad biological responses. Thus, methods to determine transcriptional activity are required in not only basic medical research but also in drug discovery. We established novel reporter constructs using human secreted embryonic alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) and Epstein-Barr virus nuclear antigen (EBNA) 1, which can maintain constructs Read More

Background: The effect of milking menaquinone-7 (MK-7) with biocompatible organic solvents on MK-7 production in B. subtilis fermentation was studied. Periodic milking of MK-7 from the fermentation medium by n-hexane significantly enhanced the total MK-7 production ~ 1.7 fold at the end of 72 hours of fermentation (p < 0.05) as compared to the control medium. Methods: Milking of MK-7 with a mixture of n-hexane phase Read More

Background: Drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters (DMETs) play crucial roles in drug absorption and disposition. Species differences in the interaction of compounds with DMETs may contribute to the accuracy of animal models in predicting human responses in clinical studies. Thus it is important to clarify the expression heterogeneity of DMETs between human and rat, that is commonly used as a model for evaluating dr Read More

Aims: Candida species is the common cause of opportunistic fungal infections all over the world with increased mortality and morbidity especially in immunosuppressed patients. Fluconazole is the first line therapy for candidiasis. The antifungal resistance pattern in high-risk patients is a major concern. The present study was aimed to assess the anticandidal activity of Punica granatum peel against fluconazole resistant Candida Read More

Background and Methods: Oplopanax elatus (Nakai) Nakai is used in folk medicine in China. In this study, the antiproliferative activity of an O. elatus fraction extracted by ethyl acetate (EF) was tested on human breast cancer MCF-7 cells, human colon cancer HCT-116 cells, and human stomach cancer AGS cells. The potential mechanism of antiproliferation was also investigated using an apoptosis assay. Results: The results show Read More

Background: Myocardial Infarction (MI) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in Egypt and worldwide. Vitamin D deficiency has long been linked to incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Several factors were reported to contribute to serum vitamin D level including exposure to sunlight. However, genetic variations in the vitamin D metabolic pathways have also been considered as strong determinants of vitamin Read More