Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 23, Issue 25, 2016

The use of dopaminergic agonists is key in the treatment of Parkinson's disease and related central nervous system (CNS) neurodegenerative disorders. Despite there are a number of commercialized dopaminergic agonists that are currently being used successfully in the first stages of the disease, they often fail to provide sustained clinical benefit for a long period due to the appearance of side-effects such as augmentation, sleepiness, nausea, hypothension, and compulsive behaviors among others. New dopaminergic agonists with less side effects are being developed. These novel compounds offer an alternative when the disease progresses and patients fail to respond to standard dopaminergic treatments or side-effects increased. Chemistry, and in particular chemical synthesis, has played a major role in bringing synthetic dopaminergic agonists to the clinic and continues to be crucial for the development of new and necessary drugs for long-term treatments with less undesired side effects. A number of structural modifications of parent compounds have led to enhanced agonism but also partial agonism or even antagonism of one or more dopamine receptors. In some cases, these activities are accompanied by agonist effect at serotonin receptors which suggests a potential clinical application in the treatment of schizophrenia In this review, chemical synthesis of dopaminergic agents, their affinity, and the corresponding agonist/antagonist effects will be highlighted.

The well-known changes in modern lifestyle habits including over nutrition and physical inactivity have led to striking adverse effects on public health (e.g., obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome) over recent decades. One noticeable consequence is exaggerated and prolonged state of postprandial hyperlipemia due to the ingestion of multiple fat-enriched meals during the course of a day. Postprandial (non-fasting) hyperlipemia is characterized by increased blood levels of exogenous triglycerides (TG) in the form of apolipoprotein (apo) B48-containing TG-rich lipoproteins (TRL), which have a causal role in the pathogenesis and progression of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The cardiovascular benefits of lifestyle modification (healthy diet and exercise) and conventional lipid-lowering therapies (e.g., statins, fibrates, and niacin) could involve their favourable effects on postprandial metabolism. Pharmacologically, niacin has been used as an athero-protective drug for five decades. Studies have since shown that niacin may decrease fasting levels of plasma verylow- density lipoproteins (VLDL), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and lipoprotein [a] (Lp[a]), while may increase high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Herein, the purpose of this review was to provide an update on effects and mechanisms related to the pharmacological actions of niacin on acute hyperlipemia.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis), an almost genetically monomorphic pathogen is a human parasite, transmitted mostly by humans and causes tuberculosis (TB). TB is firmly associated to poverty, although lack of proper nutrition and lowered immune status are contributing factors for disease development. TB remains second only to HIV/AIDS as the leading cause of mortality worldwide due to a single infectious agent and is responsible for nearly 1.5 million deaths annually. Some steps of the progress of our knowledge of M. tuberculosis physiology and its interactions with human beings, are reviewed here. This progress has provided fertile ground for improving diagnosis and cure of TB infection. For TB diagnostics laboratories in high-burden countries, primary isolation is the first step before performing drug susceptibility testing (DST) of M. tuberculosis. IGRA (interferon-γ release assay)-based tests for diagnosis of active TB are sufficiently fast, specific and sensitive to allow to contain infection and distinguish among latent TB infection and BCG vaccination individuals from those who have clinically resolved M. tuberculosis infection after anti-TB treatment.

Public academic research sites, private institutions as well as small companies have made substantial contributions to the ongoing development of antidiabetic vanadium compounds. But why is this endeavor not echoed by the globally operating pharmaceutical companies, also known as “Big Pharma”? Intriguingly, today’s clinical practice is in great need to improve or replace insulin treatment against Diabetes Mellitus (DM). Insulin is the mainstay therapeutically and economically. So, why do those companies develop potential antidiabetic drug candidates without vanadium (vanadium- free)? We gathered information about physicochemical and pharmacological properties of known vanadium-containing antidiabetic compounds from the specialized literature, and converted the data into explanations (arguments, the “pros and cons”) about the underpinnings of antidiabetic vanadium. Some discoveries were embedded in chronological order while seminal reviews of the last decade about the Medicinal chemistry of vanadium and its history were also listed for further understanding. In particular, the concepts of so-called “noncomplexed or free” vanadium species (i.e. inorganic oxido-coordinated species) and “biogenic speciation” of antidiabetic vanadium complexes were found critical and subsequently documented in more details to answer the question.

It is known that marine invertebrates, including sponges, tunicates, cnidaria or mollusks, host affluent and various communities of symbiotic microorganisms. The microorganisms associated with the invertebrates metabolized various biologically active compounds, which could be an important resource for the discovery and development of potentially novel drugs. In this review, the new compounds with antimicrobial activity isolated from marine invertebrate-derived microorganisms in the last decade (2004-2014) will be presented, with focus on the relevant antimicrobial activities, origin of isolation, and information of strain species. New compounds without antimicrobial activity were not revealed.