The Therapeutic potential of interferon-gamma in tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is one of the critical health problems worldwide. The search for ways to improve the results of tuberculosis treatment and overcome drug resistance lies in understanding the pathogenesis of the development of the infectious process. The interferon system, particularly the role of interferon-gamma, has been identified as the main link in the immune response in tuberculosis. The clinical efficacy of interferon-gamma has been studied and evaluated in clinical trials since the end of the last century. There was obtained evidence of the clinical efficacy of interferon-gamma as part of complex therapy. Recent experimental data make it possible to consider interferon-gamma as a promising therapeutic option for the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis as part of complex therapy worthy of further studies.

Synthesis and diverse biological activity profile of triethylammonium isatin-3-hydrazones

A series of biorelevant triethylammonium isatin hydrazones containing various substituents in the aromatic fragment have been synthesized. Their structure and composition were confirmed by NMR- and IR-spectroscopies, mass-spectrometry and elemental analysis. It was found that some representatives show activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus higher or at the level of norfloxacin, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains. The study also showed low hemo- and cytotoxicity (Chang Liver) and high antiaggregatory and anticoagulant activity of these compounds. The high potential of new ammonium isatin-3-acylhydrazones in the search for antimicrobial activity against phytopathogens of bacterial and fungal nature has been shown for the first time.

Bioanalysis of aminoglycosides using high-performance liquid chromatography

Aminoglycosides are broad-spectrum antibiotics used in the treatment of gram-negative bacterial infections. Due to their nephrotoxic and ototoxic potential (narrow therapeutic index), the use of aminoglycoside for clinical indications requires monitoring. The objective of this review was to identify relevant literature reporting liquid chromatographic methods for the bioanalysis of aminoglycosides in both preclinical and clinical settings/experiments. Data on liquid chromatographic methods were collected from articles in an online academic database (PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Google Scholar). All 71 articles published from 1977 to 2020 were included in the review. Reversed-phase liquid chromatography was the most used method for the bioanalysis of aminoglycosides. Fluorescence or ultraviolet detection methods were mostly used from 1977 to 2002 (51 articles), while mass spectrometry was predominantly used as a detector from 2003 to 2020 (15 articles). Sixty-seven articles reported calibration ranges, which varied significantly for the various drugs assayed: some in the range of 0.1-0.5 ng/mL and others 1250-200000 ng/mL. Also, 61 articles reported R2 values (0.964-1.0) for almost all analytes under consideration. Sixty-three articles reported percent recoveries mostly between 61.0 % to 114.0 %, with only two articles reporting recoveries of 4.9 % and 36 %. Out of the 71 reviewed articles, 56 reported intermediate precision values ranging between 0.331 % to 19.76 %, which is within the acceptable limit of 20 %. This review will serve as a guide for research and/or routine clinical monitoring of aminoglycosides in biological matrices.

Impact of host factors on susceptibility to antifungal agents

An obstacle to drug development, particularly in this era of multiple drug resistance, is the under-appreciation for the role the host environment plays in microbial response to drugs. With the rise in fungal infection and drug resistance, particularly in individuals with co-morbidities, the influence serum and its components have on antimicrobial susceptibility requires assessment. This study examined the impact of physiologically relevant glucose and insulin levels in the presence and absence of 50 % human plasma on MICs for clinical isolates of Candida lusitaniae, Candida parapsilosis, Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Candida glabrata, Candida krusei and Cryptococcus neoformans. The addition of insulin or glucose at physiologic levels in RPMI medium alone altered the MIC in either a positive or negative fashion, depending on the organisms and drug tested, with C. glabrata most significantly altered with a 40, >32- and 46-fold increase in MIC for amphotericin B, itraconazole and miconazole, respectively. The addition of candida-antibody negative plasma also affected MIC, with the addition of glucose and insulin having a tandem effect on MIC. These findings indicate that phenotypic resistance of Candida and Cryptococcus can vary depending on the presence of insulin with glucose and plasma. This modulation of resistance may help explain treatment failures in the diabetic population and facilitate the development of stable drug-resistant strains. Furthermore, these findings indicate the need for a precision approach in the choice of drug treatment and drug development.

Impact of gastrointestinal differences in veterinary species on the oral drug solubility, in vivo dissolution, and formulation of veterinary therapeutics

Many gaps exist in our understanding of species differences in gastrointestinal (GI) fluid composition and the associated impact of food intake and dietary composition on in vivo drug solubilization. This information gap can lead to uncertainties with regard to how best to formulate pharmaceuticals for veterinary use or the in vitro test conditions that will be most predictive of species-specific in vivo oral product performance. To address these challenges, this overview explores species-specific factors that can influence oral drug solubility and the formulation approaches that can be employed to overcome solubility-associated bioavailability difficulties. These discussions are framed around some of the basic principles associated with drug solubilization, reported species differences in GI fluid composition, types of oral dosage forms typically given for the various animal species, and the effect of prandial state in dogs and cats. This basic information is integrated into a question-and-answer section that addresses some of the formulation issues that can arise in the development of veterinary medicinals.

New therapeutic modalities in drug discovery and development: Insights & opportunities

New Therapeutic Modalities in Drug Discovery and Development: Insights & Opportunities (Editorial for the special issue of ADMET and DMPK)

cΔlog kwIAM: can we afford estimation of small molecules’ blood-brain barrier passage based upon in silico phospholipophilicity?

56 compounds, whose log BB values were known from the scientific literature, were considered and their phospholipophilicity values were calculated in silico. These values, along with either experimentally determined or calculated lipophilicity values, were used to extract cΔ/Δ’log kwIAM parameters. cΔ/Δ’log kwIAM values were found inversely related to data of blood-brain barrier passage, especially in the < -0.20 log BB range and on the IAM.PC.DD2 phase (r2 = 0.79). In multiple linear regression, satisfactory statistic models (r2 (n-1) = 0.76), based on cD/D’log kwIAM.MG along with other in silico calculated descriptors, were achieved. This method brings the potential to be applied, along with other methodologies, to filter out solutes whose BBB permeation is foreseen to be substandard, thus allowing pharmaceutical companies/research institutes to focus on candidates that are more likely to concentrate in the brain.

Synthesis of silymarin−selenium nanoparticle conjugate and examination of its biological activity in vitro

Silymarin (Sil) was conjugated to selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) to increase Sil bioavailability. The conjugates were monodisperse; the average diameter of the native SeNPs was ~ 20-50 ± 1.5 nm, whereas that of the conjugates was 30-50 ± 0.5 nm. The use of SeNPs to increase the bioavailability of Syl was examined with the MH-22a, EPNT-5, HeLa, Hep-2, and SPEV-2 cell lines. The EPNT-5 (glioblastoma) cells were the most sensitive to the conjugates compared to the conjugate-free control. The conjugates increased the activity of cellular dehydrogenases and promoted the penetration of Sil into the intracellular space. Possibly, SeNPs play the main part in Sil penetration of cells and Sil penetration is not associated with phagocytosis. Thus, SeNPs are promising for use as a Sil carrier and as protective antigens.

Bacteriocin-mediated inhibition of some common pathogens by wild and mutant Lactobacillus species and in vitro amplification of bacteriocin encoding genes

Lactobacilli are the most common probiotics used in food and other industries because of their capability of producing bacteriocins. Bacteriocins are compounds that are used to kill pathogenic microorganisms. As most bacteria have become resistant to synthetic antibacterial tools, the importance of using probiotics as antibacterial agents has increased. This work was done to check the bacteriocin effect on some common pathogens and the influence of mutation on the bacteriocin activity of Lactobacilli was also investigated. Four strains were isolated, identified from meat and pickles samples via culturing methods, staining, biochemical tests, and ribotyping. Preliminary tests, including Gram staining and catalase test, were done for the confirmation of Lactobacillus species. All strains were gram-positive and catalase-negative. Antibacterial activity was checked against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus thuringiensis, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella enteritis via agar well diffusion method. The mutations were done using ethidium bromide and the influence of wild and mutants were also checked. Interestingly, mutants developed more virulence than wild ones. It was also observed that they all were sensitive to pepsin. Protein estimation was done via Bradford method. Ribotyping of GCU-W-PS1 revealed 99 % homology with Lactobacillus plantarum and GCU-W-MS1 to Lactobacillus curvatus (99 % homology). Curvacin A, sakacin P, and plantaricin A genes were also amplified using specific primers. Gene sequence showed the presence of curvacin A gene in GCU-W-MS1. It was concluded that lactic acid bacteria could be used as antibacterial tools against common pathogens.

Newly discovered Staphylococcus aureus serine hydrolase probe and drug targets

There is an urgent need for new diagnosis and treatment options for the bacterial pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. This review will summarize data on ten recently discovered biofilm-associated serine hydrolases called fluorophosphonate-binding hydrolases (FphA-J). Based on the summarized findings, many of these proteins represent intriguing new targets for probe and drug development. ©2021 by the authors. This article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).