Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 23, Issue 16, 2017

Background: The importance of hemoproteins for life lies largely in their iron-mediated chemical properties. In the human body, there are about 4 g of iron, a precious resource preserved by sophisticated recycling mechanisms. Iron is also important for pathogen growth, so it is not surprising that immune cells developed mechanisms to reduce iron availability in cases of inflammation. In healthy conditions, macrophages degra Read More

Background: Type-2 Diabetes is a long lasting disease characterized by high glucose concentration in the blood due to insulin resistance. One of the recent treatment strategies is using activators against SIRT-1, which has been in clinical trials. Hence, it is necessary to know the effects of the SIRT-1 modulators against various metabolic pathways. Methods: Many cellular processes, including insulin secretion, cell cycle, and apoptosi Read More

Background: Thyroid hormone (T3) is essential for normal development of children enabling brain development and somatic growth. However, certain individuals are genetically predisposed with insufficient or no thyroid hormones. Such a condition is termed congenital hypothyroidism (CH). Objective: In the present review, a brief back ground about congenital hypothyroidism, factors associated with CH leading to thyroid dys Read More

Background: The global burden of gastrointestinal cancers, including colorectal, stomach, and esophageal cancers is rising steadily. Several therapeutic approaches have been considered for the treatment of GI carcinomas. However, none showed to halt or cure the disease. There is a need to develop effective targeted molecular therapies; mainly to overcome the adverse effects of currently used treatment regimens, Read More

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of intestinal disorders characterised by chronic relapsing inflammation of the small intestine and colon. IBD manifests as either ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease and increases the risk of developing colorectal cancer. Methods: Here, we have reviewed current treatment regimen for IBD utilising anti-inflammatory drugs, immune system suppressors and antibiotic Read More

Background: Zinc is a critical metal ion essential for life. The biological significance of zinc is highlighted by the enormous number of proteins (approximately 10% of the human proteome) that have zinc-binding capacity. Accordingly, zinc concentrations in cells are tightly regulated by two families of zinc transporter proteins: Slc30a (ZnT) and Slc39a (Zip). ZnT and Zip are known to decrease and increase cytosolic zinc conc Read More

Background: Endoplasmic reticulum is the major site for protein biosynthesis. Any perturbation in the endoplasmic reticulum will compromise its functions and reduce its efficiency in protein biosynthesis. As a result, misfolded proteins are produced and accumulated in the endoplasmic reticulum. This will result in endoplasmic reticulum stress, which reduces the quantity and quality of the functional protein synthesized fr Read More

Background: Polyphenols represent a great variety of compounds occurring in fruits, vegetables and plant-derived products. Dietary polyphenols have been found displaying several biological properties, such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-aging activities, cardiovascular and neuro-protection, and reduction of the risk of intestinal diseases. The bio-efficacy of polyphenols is tightly linked to their bioavailability, to struct Read More

Background: IBD is considered as one of the major public health concerns worldwide. The pathophysiology and gut microbial alteration during inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are still not completely understood. Gut microbiota is implicated in most of the gastro-intestinal (GI) diseases including IBD. From the time of gut microbiota establishment and through aging, it undergoes a lot of changes in the composition. Meth Read More

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the vital cause of cancer -related death throughout the world. At present, the exact mechanism responsible for the formation of HCC and its maintenance remains suspicious. Hepatocarcinogenesis involves a multistep activity involving several genetic aberrations which result in malignant transformation of the liver cells. The prevalence and occurrence of this disease are kept on increa Read More

Background: Intensive efforts have been implemented to improve the efficacy of platinum complexes especially with emerging cisplatin resistance and elevated cancer deaths. Platinum(IV) agents show better pharmacokinetics and decreased side effects compared to Platinum(II) agents. Methods: This review aims to summarize and categorize the strategies being employed to improve the efficacy of Platinum-based antica Read More

The therapy of various diseases by the drugs entrapped in calixarene derivatives is gaining attraction of researchers nowadays. Calixarenes are macrocyclic nano-baskets which belong to cavitands class of host-guest chemistry. They are the marvelous hosts with distinct hydrophobic three dimensional cavities to entrap and encapsulate biologically active guest drugs. Calixarene and its derivatives develop inclusion complexe Read More

Glial cells are integrated part of neurovascular unit of blood brain barrier (BBB). They undergo mitosis and mainly classified as astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia, ependymal cells and nerve glial antigen 2 cells. Being a most versatile glial cell, astrocytes provide structural support to neurons, maintain brain homeostasis, take part in neuronal communication, and perform some housekeeping functions. Oligodendroc Read More

Background: Targeted delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) to the specific tumor tissues and cells is the key challenge in the development of RNA interference as a therapeutic application. Methods: To target breast cancer, we developed a cationic nanoparticle as a therapeutic delivery system. The successful synthesis of the magnetic nanoparticles modified by polyaspartate (PAA) and polyethyleneimine (PEI) was confir Read More