Recent Advances in Stereoselective Drug Targeting

Reviewed here are some recent examples of medically important protein targets for which stereoselective drugs have been identified. These include heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitors as anticancer agents; transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 antagonists as new analgesics; stereospecific inhibition of human mutT homolog MTH1 for cancer treatment; the stereoselective binding of R‐ and S‐propranolol by the α1–acid glycoprotein transporter; metallohelical complexes that are nonpeptide α‐helical mimetics that enantioselectively target Aβ amyloid for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease; metallohelical assemblies with promising antimicrobial activity that enantioselectively target DNA of resistant bacteria; nonpeptide α‐helical metallohelices that target the DNA of cisplatin‐resistant cancer cells; diastereomeric selectivity of phenanthriplatin‐guanine adducts; and phenazine biosynthetic enzyme active sites that can host both enantiomers of a racemic ligand simultaneously. Chirality 27:589–597, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Recent Advances in the Treatment of Deafness

By the utilization of reconstructive procedures (tympanoplasty), middle ear and mastoid infections can be eliminated with the acquisition of a clean, dry ear in about nine out of 10 cases, and hearing can be improved in about half of the patients so treated. Incapacitating attacks of Ménière''s disease can be successfully treated in selected cases by labyrinthectomy, ultrasound destruction of the vestibular system, or streptomycin treatment. With the advent of the transistor, improved power packs and miniaturization, hearing aids have become more acceptable to patients with sensorineural hearing losses. The most successful procedure for the management of otosclerosis is the stapedectomy operation.     

Recent Advances in the Treatment of Hypertension

The most exciting recent advances in the treatment of hypertension have been in our appreciation of the probable involvement of the kidney in all forms of hypertensive disease, in our improved understanding of the basic underlying mechanisms in some forms of the disease, and in the clarification of mechanisms of action of some of the most useful drugs.This permits us to diagnose more accurately and to administer therapy more rationally.Treatment of the mild and moderate stages of the disease, although not yet proved to reduce mortality and morbidity, would appear to be justified since pressure control is readily achieved with the relatively non-toxic drugs currently available.     

Recent Advances in Physicochemical and ADMET Profiling in Drug Discovery

The drastic increase in the cost for discovering and developing a new drug along with the high attrition rate of development candidates led to shifting drug‐discovery strategy to parallel assessment of comprehensive drug physicochemical, and absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) properties alongside efficacy. With the proposal of a profiling paradigm and utilization of integrated risk assessment, one can exponentially enhance the predictive power of in vitro tools by taking into consideration the interplay among profiling parameters. In particular, this article will review recent advances in accurate assessment of solubility and other physicochemical parameters. The proper interpretation of these experimental data is crucial for rapid and meaningful risk assessment and rational optimization of drug candidates in drug discovery. The impact of these tools on assisting drug‐discovery teams in establishing in vitro–in vivo correlation (IVIVC) as well as structure–property relationship (SPR) will be presented.     

Recent Advances in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pemphigus

Immunofluorescent techniques offer considerable promise in facilitating the diagnosis of pemphigus and other bullous diseases and also have provided a means for further investigative studies of these diseases. The immunofluorescent findings have in part stimulated the use of immunosuppressive agents in the management of pemphigus. Their exact status is still undetermined but early experience appears favorable.     

HEMOLYTIC ANEMIAS,Recent Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment

The hemolytic anemias of unknown cause can be separated into two main groups: (1) those produced by a defect in cell structure, which is usually hereditary, and (2) those due to a hemolysin of immune-body type.The hemolytic anemias associated with hypersensitivity to drugs and disease processes such as leukemia are less well understood and need further investigation.Splenectomy is the only effective treatment in congenital hemolytic jaundice and in acquired hemolytic anemia; the operation should be carried out promptly in most cases. Transfusion may be used in all varieties of hemolytic disease and is the only effective form of therapy in sickle-cell anemia and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.     

Recent Advances in Drug Repositioning for the Discovery of New Anticancer Drugs

Drug repositioning (also referred to as drug repurposing), the process of finding new uses of existing drugs, has been gaining popularity in recent years. The availability of several established clinical drug libraries and rapid advances in disease biology, genomics and bioinformatics has accelerated the pace of both activity-based and in silico drug repositioning. Drug repositioning has attracted particular attention from the communities engaged in anticancer drug discovery due to the combination of great demand for new anticancer drugs and the availability of a wide variety of cell- and target-based screening assays. With the successful clinical introduction of a number of non-cancer drugs for cancer treatment, drug repositioning now became a powerful alternative strategy to discover and develop novel anticancer drug candidates from the existing drug space. In this review, recent successful examples of drug repositioning for anticancer drug discovery from non-cancer drugs will be discussed.     

胃食管反流病的治疗进展

胃食管反流病(gastroesophaeal reflux disease,GERD)是医疗实践中的最常见的疾病之一,其发病率在世界范围内呈逐年上升趋势,且随年龄增长而增加,40-60岁为高发年龄[1]。GERD是一种由胃、十二指肠内容物反流入食管引起不适症状和(或)并发症的疾病,GERD在临床上大致可分为:糜烂性食管炎(EE)(反流性食管炎(RE))和非糜烂性食管炎(NERD)。其中NERD最多见,约占60%。GERD远期危害较小,但其病情漫长且极易复发,严重影响了生活质量。主要表现为食管症状(包括典型的烧心和反流)和食管外症状(包括咽部异物感、咳嗽、声嘶、哮喘、咽喉炎等表现),还有增加发展为Barrett食管及食管癌的危险[2,3]。GERD的治疗目的是愈合食管炎,快速缓解症状、减少复发、提高生活质量,治疗方法主要包括以下4个方面:一般治疗,药物治疗,内镜下治疗和外科治疗。近年来已成为国内外研究的热点,本文就近年来对GERD的治疗进展做一综述。     

食管胃底静脉曲张出血药物治疗进展

在慢性肝病晚期患者中,门静脉高压属于普遍存在的并发痘之一。临床上门静脉高压往往会引发食管胃底静脉曲张,最终出现破裂出血。随着研究的进一步深入,目前研究证实肝脏结构出现改变、肌纤维母细胞发生收缩以及缩血管活性物质分泌的增加是引发门脉阻力上升最主要的三个方面。研究表明,门脉阻力上升能够被一些药物所阻断,这为临床使用一些缩血管药物降低门静脉高压,预防食管胃底静脉曲张出血（EVB）提供了理论基础。     

Recent Advances in Lipid Nanoparticle Formulations with Solid Matrix for Oral Drug Delivery

Lipid nanoparticles based on solid matrix have emerged as potential drug carriers to improve gastrointestinal (GI) absorption and oral bioavailability of several drugs, especially lipophilic compounds. These formulations may also be used for sustained drug release. Solid lipid nanoparticle (SLN) and the newer generation lipid nanoparticle, nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC), have been studied for their capability as oral drug carriers. Biodegradable, biocompatible, and physiological lipids are generally used to prepare these nanoparticles. Hence, toxicity problems related with the polymeric nanoparticles can be minimized. Furthermore, stability of the formulations might increase than other liquid nano-carriers due to the solid matrix of these lipid nanoparticles. These nanoparticles can be produced by different formulation techniques. Scaling up of the production process from lab scale to industrial scale can be easily achieved. Reasonably high drug encapsulation efficiency of the nanoparticles was documented. Oral absorption and bioavailability of several drugs were improved after oral administration of the drug-loaded SLNs or NLCs. In this review, pros and cons, different formulation and characterization techniques, drug incorporation models, GI absorption and oral bioavailability enhancement mechanisms, stability and storage condition of the formulations, and recent advances in oral delivery of the lipid nanoparticles based on solid matrix will be discussed.     

药物依赖临床治疗的研究新进展

随着吸毒人员的剧增,药物依赖极大的危害着人类健康和社会稳定,已经成为目前严重的社会性问题。心瘾是患者复吸的重要原因,心瘾的戒断是治疗成瘾的关键。供临床医生选择的治疗方法有很多,但是根据成瘾者的病情合理的选择治疗措施是目前临床工作中面临的巨大挑战。本文综述了目前物质依赖的药物治疗的作用机制以及临床疗效、各种手术戒毒的效果以及不良反应、心理行为治疗的原因以及具体措施,药物治疗、手术治疗以及中西医联合治疗的最新进展。     

Recent Advances in Neuroblastoma

Neuroblastoma is one of the commoner tumors of infancy and childhood. There is great variation in the histological picture and even within one tumor. One unique feature is the apparently high rate of spontaneous regression, particularly during the first year of life. There is also a tendency for neuroblastoma to mature to the more benign ganglioneuroma and recent in vitro studies suggest that a serum factor may influence this process. Approximately 90 percent of patients with neuroblastoma excrete abnormally high quantities of various catecholamines, thus providing a useful diagnostic tool and a means for evaluating the effect of therapy.Treatment requires a multidisciplinary team approach involving a surgeon, radiotherapist and chemotherapist. Prognosis is influenced by a number of host factors and the most important of these seem to be the patient''s age at diagnosis and the extent of the disease, although some children with widespread disease appear to have a particularly good prognosis. It is difficult to evaluate the influence of chemotherapy on survival in patients with neuroblastoma but it has not been of great significance. The unique biologic characteristics of this tumor require further study in the hope of providing more effective therapy.