scholarly journals Withaferin A—A Promising Phytochemical Compound with Multiple Results in Dermatological Diseases

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 2407
Author(s):  
Simona Bungau ◽  
Cosmin Mihai Vesa ◽  
Areha Abid ◽  
Tapan Behl ◽  
Delia Mirela Tit ◽  
...  

Withaferin A (WFA) was identified as the most active phytocompound of the plant Withania somnifera (WS) and as having multiple therapeutic/ameliorating properties (anticancer, antiangiogenic, anti-invasive, anti-inflammatory, proapoptotic, etc.) in case of various diseases. In drug chemistry, WFA in silico approaches have identified favorite biological targets, stimulating and accelerating research to evaluate its pharmacological activity—numerous anticancer effects manifested in various organs (breast, pancreas, skin, colon, etc.), antivirals, anti-infective, etc., which are not yet sufficiently explored. This paper is a synthesis of the most relevant specialized papers in the field that are focused on the use of WFA in dermatological diseases, describing its mechanism of action while providing, at the same time, details about the results of its testing in in vitro/in vivo studies.

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (45) ◽  
pp. 5783-5792
Author(s):  
Kholood Abid Janjua ◽  
Adeeb Shehzad ◽  
Raheem Shahzad ◽  
Salman Ul Islam ◽  
Mazhar Ul Islam

There is compelling evidence that drug molecules isolated from natural sources are hindered by low systemic bioavailability, poor absorption, and rapid elimination from the human body. Novel approaches are urgently needed that could enhance the retention time as well as the efficacy of natural products in the body. Among the various adopted approaches to meet this ever-increasing demand, nanoformulations show the most fascinating way of improving the bioavailability of dietary phytochemicals through modifying their pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Curcumin, a yellowish pigment isolated from dried ground rhizomes of turmeric, exhibits tremendous pharmacological effects, including anticancer activities. Several in vitro and in vivo studies have shown that curcumin mediates anticancer effects through the modulation (upregulation and/or downregulations) of several intracellular signaling pathways both at protein and mRNA levels. Scientists have introduced multiple modern techniques and novel dosage forms for enhancing the delivery, bioavailability, and efficacy of curcumin in the treatment of various malignancies. These novel dosage forms include nanoparticles, liposomes, micelles, phospholipids, and curcumin-encapsulated polymer nanoparticles. Nanocurcumin has shown improved anticancer effects compared to conventional curcumin formulations. This review discusses the underlying molecular mechanism of various nanoformulations of curcumin for the treatment of different cancers. We hope that this study will make a road map for preclinical and clinical investigations of cancer and recommend nano curcumin as a drug of choice for cancer therapy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Chen ◽  
Andrew Martin ◽  
Warren H. Finlay

Background: Many drugs are delivered intranasally for local or systemic effect, typically in the form of droplets or aerosols. Because of the high cost of in vivo studies, drug developers and researchers often turn to in vitro or in silico testing when first evaluating the behavior and properties of intranasal drug delivery devices and formulations. Recent advances in manufacturing and computer technologies have allowed for increasingly realistic and sophisticated in vitro and in silico reconstructions of the human nasal airways. Objective: To perform a summary of advances in understanding of intranasal drug delivery based on recent in vitro and in silico studies. Conclusion: The turbinates are a common target for local drug delivery applications, and while nasal sprays are able to reach this region, there is currently no broad consensus across the in vitro and in silico literature concerning optimal parameters for device design, formulation properties and patient technique which would maximize turbinate deposition. Nebulizers are able to more easily target the turbinates, but come with the disadvantage of significant lung deposition. Targeting of the olfactory region of the nasal cavity has been explored for potential treatment of central nervous system conditions. Conventional intranasal devices, such as nasal sprays and nebulizers, deliver very little dose to the olfactory region. Recent progress in our understanding of intranasal delivery will be useful in the development of the next generation of intranasal drug delivery devices.


2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-221
Author(s):  
Haroon Khan ◽  
Muhammad Zafar ◽  
Helena Den-Haan ◽  
Horacio Perez-Sanchez ◽  
Mohammad Amjad Kamal

Aim and Objective: Lipoxygenase (LOX) enzymes play an important role in the pathophysiology of several inflammatory and allergic diseases including bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, allergic conjunctivitis, rheumatoid arthritis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Inhibitors of the LOX are believed to be an ideal approach in the treatment of diseases caused by its over-expression. In this regard, several synthetic and natural agents are under investigation worldwide. Alkaloids are the most thoroughly investigated class of natural compounds with outstanding past in clinically useful drugs. In this article, we have discussed various alkaloids of plant origin that have already shown lipoxygenase inhibition in-vitro with possible correlation in in silico studies. Materials and Methods: Molecular docking studies were performed using MOE (Molecular Operating Environment) software. Among the ten reported LOX alkaloids inhibitors, derived from plant, compounds 4, 2, 3 and 1 showed excellent docking scores and receptor sensitivity. Result and Conclusion: These compounds already exhibited in vitro lipoxygenase inhibition and the MOE results strongly correlated with the experimental results. On the basis of these in vitro assays and computer aided results, we suggest that these compounds need further detail in vivo studies and clinical trial for the discovery of new more effective and safe lipoxygenase inhibitors. In conclusion, these results might be useful in the design of new and potential lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibitors.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 3532
Author(s):  
Ibrahim M. El-Deeb ◽  
Valeria Pittala ◽  
Diab Eltayeb ◽  
Khaled Greish

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous subtype of tumors that tests negative for estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and excess HER2 protein. The mainstay of treatment remains chemotherapy, but the therapeutic outcome remains inadequate. This paper investigates the potential of a duocarmycin derivative, tafuramycin A (TFA), as a new and more effective chemotherapy agent in TNBC treatment. To this extent, we optimized the chemical synthesis of TFA, and we encapsulated TFA in a micellar system to reduce side effects and increase tumor accumulation. In vitro and in vivo studies suggest that both TFA and SMA–TFA possess high anticancer effects in TNBC models. Finally, the encapsulation of TFA offered a preferential avenue to tumor accumulation by increasing its concentration at the tumor tissues by around four times in comparison with the free drug. Overall, the results provide a new potential strategy useful for TNBC treatment.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 2505
Author(s):  
Raheem Remtulla ◽  
Sanjoy Kumar Das ◽  
Leonard A. Levin

Phosphine-borane complexes are novel chemical entities with preclinical efficacy in neuronal and ophthalmic disease models. In vitro and in vivo studies showed that the metabolites of these compounds are capable of cleaving disulfide bonds implicated in the downstream effects of axonal injury. A difficulty in using standard in silico methods for studying these drugs is that most computational tools are not designed for borane-containing compounds. Using in silico and machine learning methodologies, the absorption-distribution properties of these unique compounds were assessed. Features examined with in silico methods included cellular permeability, octanol-water partition coefficient, blood-brain barrier permeability, oral absorption and serum protein binding. The resultant neural networks demonstrated an appropriate level of accuracy and were comparable to existing in silico methodologies. Specifically, they were able to reliably predict pharmacokinetic features of known boron-containing compounds. These methods predicted that phosphine-borane compounds and their metabolites meet the necessary pharmacokinetic features for orally active drug candidates. This study showed that the combination of standard in silico predictive and machine learning models with neural networks is effective in predicting pharmacokinetic features of novel boron-containing compounds as neuroprotective drugs.


2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. 3063-3073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amit Nargotra ◽  
Sujata Sharma ◽  
Mohd Iqbal Alam ◽  
Zabeer Ahmed ◽  
Asha Bhagat ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Carol V. Mesa ◽  
Gustavo A. Blandón ◽  
Diana L. Muñoz ◽  
Carlos E. Muskus ◽  
Andrés F. Flórez ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. 1248
Author(s):  
Muhammad Waleed Baig ◽  
Humaira Fatima ◽  
Nosheen Akhtar ◽  
Hidayat Hussain ◽  
Mohammad K. Okla ◽  
...  

Exploration of leads with therapeutic potential in inflammatory disorders is worth pursuing. In line with this, the isolated natural compound daturaolone from Datura innoxia Mill. was evaluated for its anti-inflammatory potential using in silico, in vitro and in vivo models. Daturaolone follows Lipinski’s drug-likeliness rule with a score of 0.33. Absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity prediction show strong plasma protein binding; gastrointestinal absorption (Caco-2 cells permeability = 34.6 nm/s); no blood–brain barrier penetration; CYP1A2, CYP2C19 and CYP3A4 metabolism; a major metabolic reaction, being aliphatic hydroxylation; no hERG inhibition; and non-carcinogenicity. Predicted molecular targets were mainly inflammatory mediators. Molecular docking depicted H-bonding interaction with nuclear factor kappa beta subunit (NF-κB), cyclooxygenase-2, 5-lipoxygenase, phospholipase A2, serotonin transporter, dopamine receptor D1 and 5-hydroxy tryptamine. Its cytotoxicity (IC50) value in normal lymphocytes was >20 µg/mL as compared to cancer cells (Huh7.5; 17.32 ± 1.43 µg/mL). Daturaolone significantly inhibited NF-κB and nitric oxide production with IC50 values of 1.2 ± 0.8 and 4.51 ± 0.92 µg/mL, respectively. It significantly reduced inflammatory paw edema (81.73 ± 3.16%), heat-induced pain (89.47 ± 9.01% antinociception) and stress-induced depression (68 ± 9.22 s immobility time in tail suspension test). This work suggests a possible anti-inflammatory role of daturaolone; however, detailed mechanistic studies are still necessary to corroborate and extrapolate the findings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 7621-7632

Diabetes Mellitus is the most prevalent metabolic disorder that is increasing at an alarming rate worldwide. The unregulated glucose level leads to various types of health disorders, and one of the major diabetic complications is delayed wound healing. Due to the more side effects of synthetic drugs, there is a need to explore plants and their phytochemicals for medicinal purposes. It was found that Quercetin, a flavonoid, increases the rate of diabetic wound healing by enhancing the expression of SIRT1. This demands more insight towards Quercetin and its similar compounds, as it is hypothesized that similar compounds may have similar biological properties. Thus similarity searching was done to identify the most similar compounds of Quercetin, and then the molecular docking of the screened compounds was performed using AutoDock Vina. The unique ligands were docked into the active site of SIRT1 protein (PDB ID: 4ZZJ). The binding free energy of the interacting ligand with the protein was estimated. Six compounds were identified which possess the maximum structural similarity with Quercetin, and upon docking, it was found that gossypetin and herbacetin have similar binding modes and binding energy as that of Quercetin (-7.5 kcal/mol). Therefore, the hypothesis has been validated by in silico analysis. Our study identified two phytochemicals, Gossypetin, and Herbacetin which can prove beneficial for improving diabetic wound healing but needs to be validated further by in vitro and in vivo studies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitriy V. Ivashchenko ◽  
Anastasia V. Rudik ◽  
Andrey A. Poloznikov ◽  
Sergey V. Nikulin ◽  
Valeriy V. Smirnov ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Phenazepam (bromdihydrochlorphenylbenzodiazepine) is the original Russian benzodiazepine tranquilizer belonging to 1,4-benzodiazepines. There is still limited knowledge about phenazepam’s metabolic liver pathways and other pharmacokinetic features. Methods: To determine phenazepam’s metabolic pathways, the study was divided into three stages: in silico modeling, in vitro experiment (cell culture study), and in vivo confirmation. In silico modeling was performed on the specialized software PASS and GUSAR to evaluate phenazepam molecule affinity to different cytochromes. The in vitro study was performed using a hepatocytes’ cell culture, cultivated in a microbioreactor to produce cytochrome P450 isoenzymes. The culture medium contained specific cytochrome P450 isoforms inhibitors and substrates (for CYP2C9, CYP3A4, CYP2C19, and CYP2B6) to determine the cytochrome that was responsible for phenazepam’s metabolism. We also measured CYP3A activity using the 6-betahydroxycortisol/cortisol ratio in patients. Results: According to in silico and in vitro analysis results, the most probable metabolizer of phenazepam is CYP3A4. By the in vivo study results, CYP3A activity decreased sufficiently (from 3.8 [95% CI: 2.94–4.65] to 2.79 [95% CI: 2.02–3.55], p=0.017) between the start and finish of treatment in patients who were prescribed just phenazepam. Conclusions: Experimental in silico and in vivo studies confirmed that the original Russian benzodiazepine phenazepam was the substrate of CYP3A4 isoenzyme.


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