Anti-Inflammatory & Anti-Allergy Agents in Medicinal Chemistry (Formerly Current Medicinal Chemistry - Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Allergy Agents) - Volume 14, Issue 1, 2015

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. Diseasemodifying drugs licensed for MS treatment have been developed to reduce relapse rates and halt disease progression. The majority of current MS drugs involve regular, parenteral administration, affecting long-term adherence and thus reducing treatment efficacy. Over the last two decades great progress has been made towards developing new MS therapies with different modes of action and biologic effects. In particular, oral drugs have generated much interest because of their convenience and positive impact on medication adherence. Fingolimod was the first launched oral treatment for relapsing-remitting MS; recently, Teriflunomide and Dimethyl fumarate have also been approved as oral disease-modifying agents. In this review, we summarize and discuss the history, pharmacodynamics, efficacy, and safety of oral agents that have been approved or are under development for the selective treatment of MS.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating disease affecting the central nervous system. Pharmacological therapy of MS includes symptomatic drugs, treatment for relapses (corticosteroid and intravenous immunoglobulin) and disease modifying drugs (DMDs) defined as pharmacological agents that have an impact on relapse rate, disability accumulation and radiological outcomes. Two different therapeutic approaches are widely used in MS: escalation and induction therapy. Escalation therapy consists of an early start with first line DMDs (beta interferon, glatiramer acetate, teriflunomide, dimethyl fumarate) and if DMDs are ineffective or partially effective, switching to second line drugs (mitoxantrone, natalizumab, fingolimod). Induction therapy consists of the early use of immunosuppressant drugs followed by long-term maintenance treatment, generally with immunomodulatory agents. While the use of natalizumab and fingolimod as first line drugs is indicated for aggressive forms of MS, the indication for mitoxantrone as an induction treatment arises from randomized studies demonstrating that induction therapy with mitoxantrone followed by DMD maintenance is more effective than monotherapy with beta interferon. However, the safety profile of induction drugs indicates this is not an acceptable therapeutic strategy for all MS patients in all phases of the disease. The upcoming challenge is to identify patients at high risk of disability development from their clinical characteristics, radiological findings or biomarkers. Furthermore, future studies to establish an individual safety profile stratification are needed.

Mannich bases were selected for 2D QSAR study to derive meaningful relationship between the structural features and analgesic activity. Using the knowledge of important features a novel series was designed to obtain improved analgesic activity. A series of novel Mannich bases 1-(N-substituted amino)methyl]-2-substituted benzimidazole derivatives were synthesized and were screened for analgesic activity. Some of these compounds showed promising analgesic activity when compared with the standard drug diclofenac sodium.

The present work is an agreement with simple and efficient method of improving the therapeutic efficacy of ibuprofen by masking its acidic moiety. It aims to reduce gastrointestinal side effects by controlling the rate, duration and site of release. This is achieved by synthesis and evaluation of polymeric prodrug of ibuprofen with natural polymer sodium alginate. The synthesis was supported by N-protected serine as spacer due to chemical incompatibility of drug and polymer. Synthesized prodrug was characterized for confirmation of said structures. The in-vitro dissolution profile of ibuprofen-alginate prodrug showed that the release of the drug is significantly higher in case of pH 7.2 buffer as compared to ibuprofen, which might be due to ester group adjacent to drug get hydrolyzed. The hydrolysis was found to be with faster rate in alkaline media than that of in acidic media.

The aim of the study was to investigate the safety and anti-inflammatory effects of polysaccharide fraction (F1) of Curcuma longa extract (NR-INF-02) in classical rodent models of inflammation. F1 was evaluated for its acute oral toxicity and found to be safe upto 5000 mg/kg body weight in rats. The anti-inflammatory activity of F1 was evaluated in acute (carrageenan - induced paw edema; xylene - induced ear edema) and chronic (cotton pellet - induced granuloma) models of inflammation. The results of the study demonstrated that F1 significantly (p ≤ 0.05) inhibited carrageenan-induced paw edema at 1 h and 3 h at doses of 11.25, 22.5 and 45 mg/kg body weight in rats. Also, F1 at doses of 15.75, 31.5 and 63 mg/kg significantly inhibited the xylene induced ear edema in mice. In a chronic model, F1 at 11.25, 22.5 and 45 mg/kg doses produced significant reduction of wet and dry weights of cotton pellets in rats. Overall results indicated that F1 of NR-INF-02 significantly attenuated acute and chronic inflammation in rodent models. This study emphasizes on the importance of Curcuma longa polysaccharide’s role in acute and chronic inflammation.

The aim of this study was to develop and characterize montelukast sodium loaded niosomal drug carrier systems. The vesicles were prepared by film hydration technique using different surfactants. The optimized formulation was selected on the basis of results obtained from drug entrapment, morphology and in vitro drug release studies, and further evaluated for possible drug-excipient interaction, thermal behavior and drug physical state, before and after formulation using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction analysis methods, respectively. The morphological characterization of vesicles was done using Transmission electron microscopy. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy system was used for elemental and dimensional analysis of developed vesicles. The vesicle surface charge was determined using zeta potential measurements. The results suggested that the optimized formulation had small size (103±6.01 nm) and high drug entrapment (72.20±2.10%). No chemical interaction was observed between the drug and excipients. The study revealed that Span 60 is a good nonionic surfactant for vesicle formulation. After 3 months storage at 2-8°C, the optimized formulation preserved stability in terms of formulation colour, drug amount and percent drug release. After 3 months, flocculation occured and hard cake was not formed on the settlement of vesicles. The preliminary results of this study suggest that the designed vesicles could enhance drug entrapment, reduce the initial burst release of drug and modulate the drug release.