An Introduction to the Ethnopharmacology of Wild Plants
Mahendra Rai, Shandesh Bhattarai, Chistiane M. Feitosa in Ethnopharmacology of Wild Plants, 2021
There are many challenges in the context of pharmacology, but again pharmacological research must use state-of-the-art approaches. The models and doses used must be of physiological and/or pharmacological significance, and the studies have to be directed based on the existing standards (Verspohl 2002, Cos et al. 2006). Ethnopharmacology has been influenced by studies on natural products (Malone 1983, Heinrich 2010). The primary challenge in pharmacology is the scientific study of the complex products resulting from indigenous knowledge and practices. Extracts obtained from plants, fungi, and animals poses some unique challenges. The extracts are multicomponent mixtures of substances including active, partially active and inactive substances and the activity is often not created on a single target (Heinrich 2010). Because of this difficulty, extracts often differ and thus the pharmacological outcomes cannot always be replicated. The phytochemical analysis presented a faster analysis and isolation of natural products and their identification/structure elucidation. But still, the complexity of mixtures found in extracts from natural sources continues to be a challenge in ethnopharmacology research (Heinrich 2010).
Clinical Pharmacology
Gary M. Matoren in The Clinical Research Process in the Pharmaceutical Industry, 2020
In summary, clinical pharmacology in the pharmaceutical industry is responsible for the conduct of Phase I and IIA investigations with two principal objectives: (1) the generation of adequate information to permit a decision on the future course of new drug candidates, and (2) the generation of adequate information to proceed into Phase IIB-III programs if the decision is affirmative. These obligations require expertise in medicine, including appropriate specialties, experimental design, biostatistics, data management, drug metabolism, pharmacokinetics, and governmental regulations. Studies are conducted inhouse, in a sponsored academic unit, and /or in a qualified medical center. In the modern drug development environment, clinical pharmacology issues are extensive and complex; therefore, an integrated worldwide approach seems most efficient.
Toxicology
Aruna Bakhru in Nutrition and Integrative Medicine, 2018
Pharmacology primarily focuses on the therapeutic effects of pharmaceutical substances and how they can be used most effectively for medical purpose. On the contrary, toxicology is more closely related to the adverse effects of such substances that can occur in living organisms. Toxicologists are also more concerned with measuring the risk of certain substances with risk-assessment tools. Common terms used in this investigation are pharmacokinetics which is the study of what the body does to the drug and pharmacodynamics which is the study of what the drug does to the body.
How not to discover a drug - integrins
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery, 2021
Pharmacology is a relatively new scientific discipline having its roots in advances in chemistry at the turn of the 20th century. Prior to this, treatments were primarily herbal in nature for practical reasons as chemists had a limited capacity to make small molecules. This change began with the synthesis of aspirin by Bayer in 1899 beginning the commercial interest in discovering new drugs. The process for discovering new drugs was really developed by Paul Ehrlich in 1909, when using a process of derivatization, he discovered an improved version of the arsenic-based therapies that were used for syphilis. This was to become the basis for chemistry-led drug discovery for the next six decades. Pharmacologists would develop models (usually animal) for their chosen disease and screen a collection of chemicals for activity in that model. This proved to be a good approach as many novel agents were discovered during this period. One typical example of this strategy was the discovery of ticlopidine and its derivative clopidogrel [1]. These are anti-thrombotic agents that were found to be effective in animal models of thrombosis. Their mechanism of action was not known and they only worked in vivo with no activity in vitro. This is a typical result from a chemistry-led project – a drug with clear activity in the disease model but with little insight into the mechanism of action.
Triterpenoids Extracted from Rhus chinensis Mill Act Against Colorectal Cancer by Inhibiting Enzymes in Glycolysis and Glutaminolysis: Network Analysis and Experimental Validation
Published in Nutrition and Cancer, 2020
Gang Wang, Yu-Zhu Wang, Yang Yu, Jun-Jie Wang, Pei-Hao Yin, Ke Xu
The computational approach introduced in this study provides a much broader vision of pharmacology than the traditional molecular approaches (27, 75). However, at the same time, the large numbers of network pharmacology based on active compounds interactions sometimes make investigation defocused. The docking-based approach adopted in this study itself is still far from perfectness. Its robustness may be affected by aspects of 1) limitation of protein structures available in TTD, KEGG, or DrugBank database; 2) difficulty in setting a threshold free binding energy for proper assignment of “real” ligand–receptor interaction; and 3) short of a reliable method for determining physiological actions of ligand–receptor binding (inhibition or activation). These shortcomings are hard to be completely solved so far; but can be improved, to some extent, by incorporating additional algorithms like comparative docking analysis and pharmacophore analysis in this study. Besides, many aspects of herbal pharmacology have not been discussed, including the pharmacokinetics, exposure–response relation, immunological response, genetic variations, and so on. These aspects somehow determine the successfulness of small molecule drug discovery, which should be considered in the modernization of herbal medicine as well.
The evolution of cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors in the treatment of cancer
Published in Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy, 2021
Komal Jhaveri, Howard A Burris 3rd, Timothy A Yap, Erika Hamilton, Hope S Rugo, Jonathan W Goldman, Stephen Dann, Feng Liu, Gilbert Y Wong, Heike Krupka, Geoffrey I Shapiro
Ongoing and future research may lead to the development of a collection of highly selective agents against specific CDKs, and a better understanding of relevant biomarkers with improved diagnostic approaches to enable the selection of patient populations most sensitive to a particular agent. Such specific CDKs may also allow improvements in drug safety and tolerability, enabling a wider therapeutic index. This will in turn enable the development of rational combinations with other antitumor agents. Although many studies are in progress, further research is required to understand optimal treatment sequencing and to develop novel combinations involving CDK inhibitors. The generation of the data to reach this point will take time and will involve an improved understanding of the interplay between pharmacology and biology to provide a basis for rational drug combinations. Together, these advances would be anticipated to have a positive impact on the quality of life for patients in clinical practice, with the hope of improved efficacy and safety over current marketed approved CDK4/6 inhibitors. The approach of targeting CDKs in cancer is an attractive one, and this area will continue to be important in the treatment of breast and other cancers.
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