Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 12, Issue 8, 2006

In response to hormonal stimulation, phospholipases are activated to release arachidonic acid from membrane phospholipids. Free arachidonate can then metabolized nonenzymatically, contributing to oxidative stress, or through the actions of different types of oxygenase: cyclooxygenase (COX), lipoxygenase (LOX), and cytochrome P450 monooxygenases. The arachidonic acid metabolites produced, or eicosanoids, are a la Read More

The isoprostanes (IsoPs) are a series of novel prostaglandin-like compounds formed in vivo in humans from the free radical-catalyzed peroxidation of arachidonate independent of the cyclooxygenase. While quantification of these compounds is a highly accurate measure of oxidant stress in vivo in humans, IsoPs also possess potent biological activity and likely mediate certain aspects of oxidative injury. The purpose of this review i Read More

Arachidonic acid (AA) metabolites are key mediators involved in the pathogenesis of numerous cardiovascular, pulmonary, inflammatory, and thromboembolic diseases. One of these bioactive metabolites of particular importance is thromboxane A2 (TXA2). It is produced by the action of thromboxane synthase on the prostaglandin endoperoxide H2 (PGH2) which results from the enzymatic transformation of AA by the cycl Read More

Prostacyclin (PGI2) is one of the major vascular protectors against thrombosis and vasoconstriction, caused by thromboxane A2. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of PGI2 biosynthesis and signaling is crucial to the development of therapeutic approaches to regulate PGI2 functions. This review provides information regarding the most current advances in the findings of the molecular mechanisms for PGI2 biosynthesis in t Read More

Prostaglandin E synthase (PGES), which converts cyclooxygenase (COX)-derived prostaglandin (PG) H2 to PGE2, occurs in multiple forms with distinct enzymatic properties, modes of expression, cellular and subcellular localizations and intracellular functions. Two of them are membrane-bound enzymes and have been designated as mPGES-1 and mPGES-2. mPGES-1 is a perinuclear protein belonging to the MAPEG (for m Read More

NAD+-linked 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH) catalyzes the oxidation of 15(S)-hydroxyl group of prostaglandins and lipoxins resulting in the formation of 15-keto metabolites which exhibit greatly reduced biological activities. Therefore, this enzyme has been considered the key enzyme responsible for the inactivation of prostaglandins and lipoxins. Both the cDNA and the genomic DNA of the 15-PGDH gene h Read More

We have chemically synthesized several stable analogs of the naturally occurring hepoxilins, 12-LO products derived from arachidonic acid, which we found to have promising actions in a variety of test systems of disease. The analogs, PBTs, afford chemical and biological stability to the hepoxilin molecule. This article reviews some of our latest observations with the PBTs in the areas of inflammation (inhibition of the bleo Read More

Since the discovery of COX-2, a second subtype of cyclooxygenase, selective inhibitors or "coxibs" were developed with the idea that this isoform was inducible at the site of inflammation whereas COX-1 was expressed constitutively in several tissues including gastric epithelium. This new class of non steroidal anti-inflammatory agents was though to be safer for ulcerations of the gastroinstestinal mucosa observed with non sele Read More

The evolution of research on drug protein binding is discussed with the unbound concentration (Cu) and the unbound fraction (fu) as protagonists. Particular attention is paid to the mechanisms via which alterations in binding affect the pharmacokinetics (PK) and the effect, or independently the pharmacodynamics (PD). Apart from albumin, the important α-acid glycoprotein (AGP), as well as specific drug classes and applications i Read More

Innovations in biotechnology have made possible the development of several new systemic therapies for psoriasis - the "biologicals", a new group of compounds including monoclonal antibodies, fusion proteins and recombinant proteins. These novel biotechnological advances potentially offer designer drugs, which interfere with specific targets in the pathophysiological network of psoriasis and are thus much safer. The therape Read More

Beta-endorphin were detected in the endocrine pancreas and seem able to influence insulin and glucagon release. Hence, endogenous opioids could have a role in glucoregulation and in the pathogenesis of obesity beyond the previously detected effects on appetite. Metabolic abnormalities, such as hyperinsulinemia, insulin-resistance and obesity, are common features of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and seem to have Read More