{"title":"The Emergence of <i>N</i>. sativa L. as a Green Antifungal Agent.","authors":"Raghvendra Pandey, Brijesh Pandey, Atul Bhargava","doi":"10.2174/0113895575282914240217060251","DOIUrl":"10.2174/0113895575282914240217060251","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong><i>Nigella sativa</i> L. has been widely used in the Unani, Ayurveda, Chinese, and Arabic medicine systems and has a long history of medicinal and folk uses. Several phytoconstituents of the plant are reported to have excellent therapeutic properties. <i>In-vitro</i> and <i>in-vivo</i> studies have revealed that seed oil and thymoquinone have excellent inhibitory efficacy on a wide range of both pathogenic and non-pathogenic fungi.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The present review aims to undertake a comprehensive and systematic evaluation of the antifungal effects of different phytochemical constituents of black cumin.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>An exhaustive database retrieval was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, SciFinder, Google Scholar, and CABI to collect scientific information about the antifungal activity of <i>N. sativa</i> L. with 1990 to 2023 as a reference range using <i>'Nigella sativa,' 'Nigella oil,' </i>'antifungal uses,' 'dermatophytic fungi,' 'candidiasis,' 'anti-aflatoxin,' 'anti-biofilm' and 'biological activity' as the keywords.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Black cumin seeds, as well as the extract of aerial parts, were found to exhibit strong antifungal activity against a wide range of fungi. Among the active compounds, thymoquinone exhibited the most potent antifungal effect. Several recent studies proved that black cumin inhibits biofilm formation and growth.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The review provides an in-depth analysis of the antifungal activity of black cumin. This work emphasizes the need to expand studies on this plant to exploit its antifungal properties for biomedical applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":18548,"journal":{"name":"Mini reviews in medicinal chemistry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139972634","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Baowen Yu, Dong Wang, Junming Zhou, Rong Huang, Tingting Cai, Yonghui Hu, Yunting Zhou, Jianhua Ma
{"title":"Diabetes Pharmacotherapy and its effects on the Skeletal Muscle Energy Metabolism.","authors":"Baowen Yu, Dong Wang, Junming Zhou, Rong Huang, Tingting Cai, Yonghui Hu, Yunting Zhou, Jianhua Ma","doi":"10.2174/0113895575299439240216081711","DOIUrl":"10.2174/0113895575299439240216081711","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The disorders of skeletal muscle metabolism in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), such as mitochondrial defection and glucose transporters (GLUTs) translocation dysfunctions, are not uncommon. Therefore, when anti-diabetic drugs were used in various chronic diseases associated with hyperglycemia, the impact on skeletal muscle should not be ignored. However, current studies mainly focus on muscle mass rather than metabolism or functions. Anti-diabetic drugs might have a harmful or beneficial impact on skeletal muscle. In this review, we summarize the upto- date studies on the effects of anti-diabetic drugs and some natural compounds on skeletal muscle metabolism, focusing primarily on emerging data from pre-clinical to clinical studies. Given the extensive use of anti-diabetic drugs and the common sarcopenia, a better understanding of energy metabolism in skeletal muscle deserves attention in future studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":18548,"journal":{"name":"Mini reviews in medicinal chemistry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140318674","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pablo Rayff da Silva, Natalia Diniz Nunes Pazos, Jéssica Cabral de Andrade, Natália Ferreira de Sousa, Hugo Fernandes Oliveira Pires, Jaislânia Lucena de Figueiredo Lima, Arthur Lins Dias, Mirian Graciela da Silva Stiebbe Salvadori, Adriana Maria Fernandes de Oliveira Golzio, Ricardo Dias de Castro, Marcus T Scotti, Vaishali M Patil, Cícero Francisco Bezerra Felipe, Reinaldo Nóbrega de Almeida, Luciana Scotti
{"title":"An <i>In Silico</i> Approach to Exploring the Antinociceptive Biological Activities of Linalool and its Metabolites.","authors":"Pablo Rayff da Silva, Natalia Diniz Nunes Pazos, Jéssica Cabral de Andrade, Natália Ferreira de Sousa, Hugo Fernandes Oliveira Pires, Jaislânia Lucena de Figueiredo Lima, Arthur Lins Dias, Mirian Graciela da Silva Stiebbe Salvadori, Adriana Maria Fernandes de Oliveira Golzio, Ricardo Dias de Castro, Marcus T Scotti, Vaishali M Patil, Cícero Francisco Bezerra Felipe, Reinaldo Nóbrega de Almeida, Luciana Scotti","doi":"10.2174/0113895575261945231122062659","DOIUrl":"10.2174/0113895575261945231122062659","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pain is characterized by the unpleasant sensory and emotional sensation associated with actual or potential tissue damage, whereas nociception refers to the mechanism by which noxious stimuli are transmitted from the periphery to the CNS. The main drugs used to treat pain are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and opioid analgesics, which have side effects that limit their use. Therefore, in the search for new drugs with potential antinociceptive effects, essential oils have been studied, whose constituents (monoterpenes) are emerging as a new therapeutic possibility. Among them, linalool and its metabolites stand out. The present study aims to investigate the antinociceptive potential of linalool and its metabolites through a screening using an <i>in silico</i> approach. Molecular docking was used to evaluate possible interactions with important targets involved in antinociceptive activity, such as α<sub>2</sub>-adrenergic, GABAergic, muscarinic, opioid, adenosinergic, transient potential, and glutamatergic receptors. The compounds in the investigated series obtained negative energies for all enzymes, representing satisfactory interactions with the targets and highlighting the multi-target potential of the L4 metabolite. Linalool and its metabolites have a high likelihood of modulatory activity against the targets involved in nociception and are potential candidates for future drugs.</p>","PeriodicalId":18548,"journal":{"name":"Mini reviews in medicinal chemistry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139512896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Diana Xochiquetzal Robledo-Cadena, Silvia Cecilia Pacheco-Velazquez, Jorge Luis Vargas-Navarro, Joaquín Alberto Padilla-Flores, Rafael Moreno-Sanchez, Sara Rodríguez-Enríquez
{"title":"Mitochondrial Proteins as Metabolic Biomarkers and Sites for Therapeutic Intervention in Primary and Metastatic Cancers","authors":"Diana Xochiquetzal Robledo-Cadena, Silvia Cecilia Pacheco-Velazquez, Jorge Luis Vargas-Navarro, Joaquín Alberto Padilla-Flores, Rafael Moreno-Sanchez, Sara Rodríguez-Enríquez","doi":"10.2174/0113895575254320231030051124","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/0113895575254320231030051124","url":null,"abstract":": Accelerated aerobic glycolysis is one of the main metabolic alterations in cancer, associated with malignancy and tumor growth. Although glycolysis is one of the most studied properties of tumor cells, recent studies demonstrate that oxidative phosphorylation (OxPhos) is the main ATP provider for the growth and development of cancer. In this last regard, the levels of mRNA and protein of OxPhos enzymes and transporters (including glutaminolysis, acetate and ketone bodies catabolism, free fatty acid β-oxidation, Krebs Cycle, respiratory chain, phosphorylating system- ATP synthase, ATP/ADP translocator, Pi carrier) are altered in tumors and cancer cells in comparison to healthy tissues and organs, and non-cancer cells. Both energy metabolism pathways are tightly regulated by transcriptional factors, oncogenes, and tumor-suppressor genes, all of which dictate their protein levels depending on the micro-environmental conditions and the type of cancer cell, favoring cancer cell adaptation and growth. In the present review paper, variation in the mRNA and protein levels as well as in the enzyme/ transporter activities of the OxPhos machinery is analyzed. An integral omics approach to mitochondrial energy metabolism pathways may allow for identifying their use as suitable, reliable biomarkers for early detection of cancer development and metastasis, and for envisioned novel, alternative therapies.","PeriodicalId":18548,"journal":{"name":"Mini reviews in medicinal chemistry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2023-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138538217","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}