Global environmental change and health
Kevin McCracken, David R. Phillips in Global Health, 2017
Unthinking destruction of rainforest areas and associated loss of biodiversity are almost certainly costing humanity valuable medicinal resources. Many vital modern pharmaceuticals come from compounds derived from forest plants. Some major examples include: Taxol: for treatment of breast and ovarian cancer. Derived from the Pacific yew tree – Taxus brevifolia.Topotecan and Irinotecan: for treatment of breast, thyroid, small cell lung, colon and ovarian cancer, malignant melanoma, lymphomas and leukaemias, as well as AIDS. Derived from Camptotheca acuminata (popularly known as the ‘Cancer Tree’ or ‘Happy Tree’), native to China.Vinblastine and Vincristine: for treatment of leukaemia and lymphoma and several other cancers. Derived from the rosy periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), native to Madagascar.Prostratin: for treating HIV. Derived from the mamala tree (Homolanthus nutans), found in Samoa.
Pulmonary reactions to chemotherapeutic agents: the ‘chemotherapy lung’
Philippe Camus, Edward C Rosenow in Drug-induced and Iatrogenic Respiratory Disease, 2010
These agents exert their chemotherapeutic effect by binding tubulin and preventing the formation of microtubules, therefore interfering with an essential step in the process of cell replication. Vinblastine is used in various chemotherapeutic regimens to treat Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, germ-cell tumours, breast and renal tumours, and is also used to treat Langerhans cell histiocytosis. This agent has been rarely associated with lung toxicity, although frequently when co-administered with other agents potentially toxic to the lungs, such as mitomycin C.59,60 Interstitial pneumonitis, bronchospasm, lung nodules and non-cardiogenic pulmonary oedema have been reported. There are several case reports of pulmonary toxicity induced by vinorelbine, although the evidence remains scarce.
Vinca rosea (Madagascar Periwinkle) and Adhatoda vesica (Malabar Nut)
Azamal Husen in Herbs, Shrubs, and Trees of Potential Medicinal Benefits, 2022
Vinblastine, vincristine, vindoline, vindolidine, vindolicine, vindolinine, and vindogentianine are a class of alkaloids in V. rosea that have already been discovered to have chemotherapeutic effects (Cragg and Newman, 2003; Tiong et al., 2013; 2015). They exhibited antiproliferation characteristics via altering microtubular dynamics and enhancing apoptosis (Almagro et al., 2015). The first plant-derived chemotherapeutic agent to be used in clinical trials were vinblastine and vincristine (Cragg and Newman, 2003). Vinblastine sulfate is used to treat acute and chronic leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, lymphosarcoma, choriocarcinoma, neuroblastoma, and carcinomas. Vincristine sulfate is an oxidized version of vinblastine (Almagro et al., 2015; Aslam et al., 2010).
Delivery of vinblastine-containing niosomes results in potent in vitro/in vivo cytotoxicity on tumor cells
Published in Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy, 2018
Boshra Amiri, Hasan Ahmadvand, Ali Farhadi, Aazam Najmafshar, Mohsen Chiani, Dariush Norouzian
Vinca alkaloids such as vinblastine are a class of antitumor agents used for treatment of many kinds of cancers; however, their clinical application is restricted because of side effects and multidrug resistance. The aim of this study was to increase the therapeutic efficacy of vinblastine through drug delivery systems. Drug delivery using niosomal vinblastine displayed sustained release behavior, greater in vitro cytotoxicity, higher tumor growth inhibitory effect than free vinblastine, thus enhanced the therapeutic efficiency of the loaded drug. Therefore, PEGylated niosomes as drug carriers could be one of the promising drug delivery systems to deliver anti-cancer drugs to tumor cells. Further research using targeted niosomes have been planned for future studies.
Vinblastine loaded on graphene quantum dots and its anticancer applications
Published in Journal of Microencapsulation, 2022
Thi Hang Au, Bich Ngoc Nguyen, Phuong Hoa Nguyen, Stephanie Pethe, Giang Vo-Thanh, Thu Ha Vu Thi
Vinblastine (Vin) is one of the drugs used for chemotherapy. It is an indole alkaloid obtained from the Madagascan periwinkle plant, Catharanthus roseus (Family Apocynaceae), formerly called Vinca rosea L (Agrawal 2007). Vinblastine is used as a chemotherapy drug for Hodgkin's disease and various cancers such as ovarian cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, breast cancer, head and neck cancer, Kaposi's sarcoma, renal cell cancer, and testicular cancer (Bánóczi et al.2010). Vinblastine has a high economic value, however, is expensive, and its production is limited to low quantities (Ribatti et al.2003, Amiri et al.2018, Radakovic and Boger 2019).
Revisiting the management of chronic ITP; a randomized controlled clinical trial
Published in Platelets, 2021
Ghada E. M. Abdallah, Esam A. S. Elbiih, Douaa Sayed, Sawsan M. Moeen, Shima Gafer, Ahmad F. Thabet
There was a single clinical trial comparing the efficacy of vinblastine by two different methods of administration. The response rate in chronic ITP was comparable between the two groups with a rate of overall response ranging from 50% to 77% [17]. Also, three prospective studies showed an overall response rate range from 65% to 75% [14,17,18].In our study, the highest response rate was achieved in the 12 weeks-visit where 72.5% achieve overall response and 2.5% complete response. There was one patient relapsed after achieving a response in the Azathioprine group and six patients in the Vincristine group. No relapse occurred in the Hydroxychloroquine group.
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