Management of polycystic ovary syndrome among Indian women using myo‐inositol and D-chiro-inositol

Myo-Inositol and D-chiro-inositol (MI-DCI) are used in the treatment of polycystic Ovary syndrome (PCOS) due to their insulin-sensitizing actions. Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate the treatment patterns, clinical effectiveness and safety of MI-DCI combination in anagement of PCOS in Indian women. Data from 50 healthcare centers across India was collected between September 2019 and February 2020 and was used in the study. Women aged 12-45 years diagnosed with PCOS, who had received MI-DCI (550-150 mg) were included. The outcome parameters were change in weight, luteinizing hormone (LH)/follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) ratio, hirsutism, blood glucose and insulin levels, HOMA-IR, and lipid profile. A total of 283 women were included (mean age: 27.74 years; body mass index: 26.89 kg/m2); of which 197 (69.61%) reported reduction in weight after treatment with MI-DCI. The hirsutism scores considerably improved after treatment and the proportion of patients with, no hirsutism increased from 31.07% to 50.51% and moderate hirsutism reduced from 32.52% to 6.12% while, there were no patients with severe hirsutism after the treatment. There was a significant reduction in LH:FSH ratio (mean difference: 0.25 mg/dL; p=0.021), free testosterone (mean difference: 1.49; p<0.001) and dehydroepiandrosterone (mean difference: 21.49; P<0.001) levels after regular use of MI-DCI tablets. Treatment with MI-DCI resulted in significant improvement in insulin levels, HOMA-IR score, Fasting plasma glucose (FPG), post-prandial plasma glucose (PPG) and lipid profile. The therapy restored menstruation and spontaneous ovulation and significantly attenuated the LH/FSH ratio. Thus, MI-DCI (550-150 mg) has shown multidimensional benefits in improving the hormonal, glycemic, and lipid profile of women with PCOS with considerable efficacy and tolerability.     

Rv3868 (EccA1), an essential component of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis ESX-1 secretion system,is thermostable

Rv3868 (EccA1) is an essential CbxX/CfqX-family ATPase of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis ESX-1 secretion system. Previously, we demonstrated that Rv3868 is composed of two domains; a regulatory N-terminal domain (NT-Rv3868) and an ATP binding C-terminal domain (CT-Rv3868). In the present report, chemical denaturation studies show that electrostatic interactions stabilize the Rv3868. Interestingly, Rv3868 has notable heat stability and retains about 50% of ATPase activity even at 60 °C. The C-terminal domain was found to be important for the heat stability as demonstrated by both enzymatic activity assays and thermal denaturation experiments. Furthermore a structure-sequence analysis based on the content of charged and aliphatic amino acids rationalizes the higher propensity of Rv3868 for thermophilic characteristics.     

The role of fluorine in medicinal chemistry

The small and highly electronegative fluorine atom can play a remarkable role in medicinal chemistry. Selective installation of fluorine into a therapeutic or diagnostic small molecule candidate can enhance a number of pharmacokinetic and physicochemical properties such as improved metabolic stability and enhanced membrane permeation. Increased binding affinity of fluorinated drug candidates to target protein has also been documented in a number of cases. A further emerging application of the fluorine atom is the use of 18F as a radiolabel tracer atom in the exquisitely sensitive technique of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging. This short review aims to bring together these various aspects of the use of fluorine in medicinal chemistry applications, citing selected examples from across a variety of therapeutic and diagnostic settings. The increasingly routine incorporation of fluorine atom(s) into drug candidates suggests a bright future for fluorine in drug discovery and development. A major challenge moving forward will be how and where to install fluorine in a rational sense to best optimise molecular properties.     

Enantiocomplementary reduction of 3-phenylthiopropan-2-one by Bacillus sp.: effect of medium components

The enantioselectivity of the enzymes responsible for reduction of prochiral compound 3-phenylthiopropan-2-one was dependent on the concentration of yeast extract and glucose in the growth medium. Low concentrations of yeast extract (0.1-0.9% w/v) favored the formation of S-enantiomer (62% ee at 0.1% w/v yeast extract) of 3-phenylthiopropan-2-ol. However, R-enantiomer of the reduced product was formed when MSM was supplemented with yeast extract at a concentration of 1% (w/v) or more with a maximum ee of 85% at 2.0% (w/v) yeast extract supplement in the growth medium.     

Differential membrane perturbation caused by the cell penetrating peptide Tp10 depending on attached cargo

The membrane leakage caused by the cell penetrating peptide Tp10, a variant of transportan, was studied in large unilamellar vesicles with the entrapped fluorophore calcein. The vesicles were composed of zwitterionic 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine. A significant decrease in membrane leakage was found when the 55kDa streptavidin protein was attached to Tp10. When a 5.4kDa peptide nucleic acid molecule was attached, the membrane leakage was comparable to that caused by Tp10 alone. The results suggest that direct membrane effects may cause membrane translocation of Tp10 alone and of smaller complexes, whereas these effects do not contribute for larger cargoes.     

Antagonists of the human A2A receptor. Part 6: Further optimization of pyrimidine-4-carboxamides

Antagonists of the human A_2A receptor have been reported to have potential therapeutic benefit in the alleviation of the symptoms associated with neurodegenerative movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. As part of our efforts to discover potent and selective antagonists of this receptor, we herein describe the detailed optimization and structure–activity relationships of a series of pyrimidine-4-carboxamides. These optimized derivatives display desirable physiochemical and pharmacokinetic profiles, which have led to promising oral activity in clinically relevant models of Parkinson’s disease.     

Comparative in vivo expression of amastigote up regulated Leishmania genes in three different forms of Leishmaniasis

In Old World Leishmania infections in India, Leishmania donovani is responsible for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) while L. tropica is responsible for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in humans. The molecular differences between the two species of Leishmania and within the same species causing distinct pathologies that govern the outcome of infection and pathogenesis in the human host are unknown. Quantitative expression of selected genes was evaluated directly in lesion tissues of VL, PKDL and CL patients. Assessment of in vivo mRNA level highlighted substantial differences in gene expression patterns, providing an indication of the genes involved in pathogenesis in the three different forms of Leishmaniasis.