Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 14, Issue 13, 2008

It is clear that disorders of the nervous system continue to burden the planet's population with not only increasing morbidity and mortality, but also with a significant financial drain through increasing medical care costs coupled to a progressive loss in economic productivity. Causes underlying the pain and inflammation in rheumatologic diseases are interactive effects between tissues, the extracellular environment and the nerv Read More

This review describes mechanisms of immune-to-brain signaling that may contribute to disease-related changes in mood, affect and behavior in chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases. The central nervous system (CNS) modulates immune function by signaling target cells of the immune system through autonomic and neuroendocrine pathways. These immune cells relay information back to autonomic, limbic and cortical Read More

The involvement of the central nervous system (CNS) is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and the less understood aspect of the disease. Its recognition and treatment continue to represent a major diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Due to the lack of controlled randomized trials, current therapeutic approach is still empirical and based on clinical experienc Read More

Sjogren's syndrome (SS) is a chronic autoimmune disease that mainly affects the exocrine glands and usually presents with sicca symptoms of the main mucosal surfaces. The prevalence and the type of central nervous system (CNS) tissue damage caused by SS are debatable. The wide spectrum of CNS manifestations, different classification criteria used and unclear inclusion or exclusion criteria pose some difficulty revi Read More

Fibromyalgia (FM) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) are poorly understood disorders that share similar demographic and clinical characteristics. The etiology and pathophysiology of these diseases remain unclear. Because of the similarities between both disorders it was suggested that they share a common pathophysiological mechanisms, namely, central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction. Current hypotheses center on aty Read More

Central nervous system (CNS) manifestations are not rare in pediatric rheumatic diseases. They may be a relatively common feature of the disease, as in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Behcet's disease. Direct CNS involvement of a systemic rheumatic disease, primary CNS vasculitis, indirect involvement secondary to hypertension, hypoxia and metabolic changes, and drug associated adverse events may all Read More

Erythropoietin (Epo) is a glycoprotein hormone that is the prime regulator of erythropoiesis. Recombinant Epo is a highly effective pharmaceutical used to correct anemias associated with renal insufficiency, cancer and other diseases. Efforts to increase its efficacy in vivo by manipulating the protein's structure have met with some success, and novel Epo-like agents are in development. Additionally, efforts to create Epo mimet Read More

The aim of this review is to outline the recent advances in chitosan molecular modeling, especially its usage as a prodrug or drug in a field of antibacterial, anticarcinogenic and antioxidant activity. Polymeric materials like peptides, polysaccharides and other natural products have recently attracted attention as biodegradabile drug carriers. They can optimize clinical drug application, minimize the undesirable drug propertie Read More

RNA interference (RNAi) is a process of double-stranded RNA-dependent post-transciptional gene silencing that occurs mainly in the mRNA processing bodies (P-bodies) of cells. It has become the most powerful and widely used gene strategy for genetic analysis and molecular therapeutics, based on the highly specific and efficient silencing of target genes. The key challenge for achieving effective RNAi in vitro a Read More