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Medicinal Plants: A Potent Antimicrobial Source and An Alternative to Combat Antibiotic Resistance
Published in Jayanta Kumar Patra, Gitishree Das, Sanjeet Kumar, Hrudayanath Thatoi, Ethnopharmacology and Biodiversity of Medicinal Plants, 2019
Shraddha Chauhan, Reecha Sahu, Lata S. B. Upadhyay
Alkaloids diverse and abundant class secondary metabolites found at 10–15% concentration in almost all plants. Alkaloids are chemical compound containing basic nitrogen atom. They are colorless crystals. Their chemical structure is enormously dynamic. They are produced by wide variety of organisms such as plants, bacteria, fungus, etc. Many alkaloids have physiological effect that renders them valuable medicine against diseases like malaria, diabetics, cancer, and cardiac dysfunction. These are also practiced in local anesthesia and as analgesic compounds. The first example of alkaloid used in medicine was morphine isolated from Papaver somniferum. Morphine blunts the pain response secondary to the ischemic tissue damage along with providing anxiolysis. Codeine another alkaloid obtained from Papaver somniferum is a mild pain reliever and an effective cough suppressant. A number of alkaloids are being used as drugs for century. Among the oldest and best known of these is quinine, derived from the bark of the tropical cinchona tree which is used as an antimalarial drug. Berberine is another common example of alkaloid effective against Plasmodia and Trypanosomes. Mostly they control microbial regulation (Cowan, 1999). Harmine, a beta-carboline alkaloid, is widely distributed in the plants. Harmine has various types of pharmacological activities such as antimicrobial, antifungal, antitumor, cytotoxic, antiplasmodial, antioxidant, antimutagenic, antigenotoxic, and anti-HIV (Patel et al., 2012).
Diagnosis and differential diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease
Published in Jeremy Playfer, John Hindle, Andrew Lees, Parkinson's Disease in the Older Patient, 2018
ET is a 6–12 Hz bilateral, generally symmetrical, postural and kinetic tremor maximal in hands and forearms. There is often a positive family history with autosomal-dominant inheritance and a high rate of penetrance, usually before 65 years of age.33 Sporadic cases are increasingly recognised which have been linked to putative environmental factors such as beta-carboline alkaloids and lead.34
Neurotransmitters and pharmacology
Published in Mark J. Ashley, David A. Hovda, Traumatic Brain Injury, 2017
Ronald A. Browning, Richard W. Clough
There are several GABA antagonists available for experimental use. However, because all the GABAA antagonists are convulsants, they have no clinical use at the present time. The classical GABAA antagonist is bicuculline, but picrotoxin is also an antagonist. Saclofen and phaclofen are GABAB antagonists that are being used in experimental animals to help deduce the functional importance of the GABAB receptor. There are also a group of experimental compounds that bind to the benzodiazepine binding site on the chloride channel and cause a reduction in the effectiveness of GABA. The latter compounds, of which beta-carboline-3-carboxylic acid (and other beta carbolines) is an example, are called inverse agonists. Clearly, the GABA antagonists and the inverse benzodiazepine agonists are proconvulsant and have no clinical use in medicine. However, it is possible that such drugs may be developed for use in the TBI patient (see the following). Of clinical importance is flumazenil (Romazicon®), a specific antagonist at the benzodiazepine binding site on the GABA receptor that is used to reverse the effects of benzodiazepines in the treatment of toxicity from overdose.58
Ayahuasca, a potentially rapid acting antidepressant: focus on safety and tolerability
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Safety, 2022
Giordano Novak Rossi, Isabella Caroline da Silva Dias, Glen Baker, José Carlos Bouso Saiz, Serdar M. Dursun, Jaime E. C. Hallak, Rafael G. Dos Santos
Nevertheless, the beta-carbolines present in ayahuasca have their own pharmacological effects and have shown antidepressant, anxiolytic, and neuroprotective properties in preclinical studies (see below). Different from psilocybin and LSD which are isolated compounds with a clearer effect as agonists on 5-HT receptors, the pharmacology of ayahuasca is more complex than the pharmacology of only DMT, and possibly involves several other targets. Moreover, the fact that ayahuasca is currently used in ritualistic, religious, and cultural contexts will influence how it will be regulated and accepted by society in a different manner than other psychedelics, especially where it is recognized as a spiritual tool. Therefore, this review focuses exclusively on the efficacy and safety of ayahuasca in the context of depression.
Putative mechanism for cancer suppression by PLGA nanoparticles loaded with Peganum harmala smoke extract
Published in Journal of Microencapsulation, 2021
Hoda Shabestarian, Masoud Homayouni Tabrizi, Monireh Movahedi, Ali Neamati, Fariba Sharifnia
PHSE-PNP nanoparticles also displayed significant antioxidant activity (Figure 3) in the current research. This was due to its individual ingredients, such as limonene which is well-known as a strong antioxidant (Roberto et al.2010, Faridi et al.2013). In addition to limonene, there are other pecan smoke compounds whose antioxidant effects can inhibit free radicals. The results of a survey conducted in 2006 reported on the antioxidant effects of harmine and harmaline in pecan seed extract on low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and the ability of these alkaloids to prevent lipoprotein oxidation in the laboratory. The study also showed that harmine and harmaline, in comparison to the control substance (vitamin E), are highly capable of removing free radicals and that the effect of harmaline is three times that of harmine. In addition to beta-carbolines, these compounds contain phenolic flavonoids which have an antioxidant effect and prevent the formation of free radicals and cancer cells (Berrougui et al.2006).
Small molecule and peptide-based CXCR4 modulators as therapeutic agents. A patent review for the period from 2010 to 2018
Published in Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents, 2020
Yesim A Tahirovic, Sameshnee Pelly, Edgars Jecs, Eric J Miller, Savita K Sharma, Dennis C Liotta, Lawrence J Wilson
In a US application (US20130172330), Altiris Therapeutics describes second generation analogs of AMD11070, with both bi and tricyclic heterocycles in place of the benzimidazole unit are described (18) [54]. This disclosure describes 27 synthetic procedures as well as 6 assays, which include calcium mobilization, impedance (cell wall morphology), anti-HIV entry, 125I-CXCL12 binding displacement, cytotoxicity and hERG channel binding. The activity of 33 compounds in on-target assays indicate that IC50 values vary from 10 nM to greater than 10 μM. There are 24 claims listing 179 distinct compounds with utility against over 25 types of cancer. The majority of the compounds in both the claims and assay results contain an N-substituted beta-carboline moiety. A subsequent publication describes mobilization of CD34+ HSCs in mice, measuring increases in CD34+ HSCs of four coded compounds, one of which corresponds to a structure in their patent application (19, Compound ID: ALT-1128) [55].