The Chemistry-Biology-Medicine Continuum and the Drug Discovery and Development Process in Academia

The unified state qualification exam STEP-1 as a marker of the success of the education of pediatric doctors in Ukraine and Bogomolets National Medical University

BACKGROUND

Ukraine's higher medical education goes deeper and deeper every year in the European integration processes in the field of «Health Care» knowledge. Since 2005, the integrated license integrated exam STEP "General medical training" has been introduced in the country to diagnose the quality of training of specialists in all medical specialties. Since 2019, Ukraine, unlike other countries in Europe and the world, has been training specialists in the specialty "Pediatrics" at the stage of undergraduate training. The quality control of the training of specialists is carried out in the form of passing the Unified State Qualification Exam STEP (USQE STEP) separately for each medical specialty (Medicine and Pediatrics). Therefore, the purpose of our research is to conduct a comparative analysis of the results of the success of the first stage of the USQE STEP-1 by students of higher medical education in the specialty "Pediatrics" with the specialty "Medicine" in Ukraine and in the Bogomolets National Medical University (Bogomolets NMU).

METHODS

Analytical references to the results of the first stage of the USQE STEP-1 for the students who have completed theoretical medical disciplines specialty "Pediatrics" and the specialty "Medicine" in Ukraine and Bogomolets NMU, which are provided by the Testing Center at the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. Тhe statistical significance of comparative indicators was proved using Fisher's test, with a statistical error that corresponded to the specified value for ≤ 0.05.

RESULTS

It is shown that in 2022, applicants of higher medical education of Ukraine with the specialty "Pediatrics" improved the overall success rate by 8.4%, and the success rate of subtests by an average of 10.5%, despite the state of war in Ukraine. The exception was the results of the licensing exam for the subtest component "Biochemistry": compared to 2021, the pass rate decreased by 3.6% in the specialty "Medicine" and by 6.4% in the specialty "Pediatrics". At Bogomolets NMU, the leaders of 2022 were the students of the "Pediatrics" specialty, their success rate is 2% higher than that of the "Medicine" specialty.

CONCLUSIONS

The analysis of the results of USQE STEP-1 by applicants of higher medical education of the specialties "Pediatrics" and "Medicine" in Ukraine showed the effectiveness of the selection of the specialty "Pediatrics" into a separate section of the training of specialists at the undergraduate level in the field of "Health Care". Using the methods of mathematical statistics, the effectiveness of organizational methodological techniques in the organization of the educational process in the conditions of the martial law of Ukraine and Bogomolets NMU as a leader in the training of specialists in Pediatric doctors has been proved.

On the Importance of the Thiazole Nitrogen in Epothilones: Semisynthesis and Microtubule-Binding Affinity of Deaza-Epothilone C

Deaza-epothilone C, which incorporates a thiophene moiety in place of the thiazole heterocycle in the natural epothilone side chain, has been prepared by semisynthesis from epothilone A, in order to assess the contribution of the thiazole nitrogen to microtubule binding. The synthesis was based on the esterification of a known epothilone A-derived carboxylic acid fragment and a fully synthetic alcohol building block incorporating the modified side chain segment and subsequent ring-closure by ring-closing olefin metathesis. The latter proceeded with unfavorable selectivity and in low yield. Distinct differences in chemical behavior were unveiled between the thiophene-derived advanced intermediates and what has been reported for the corresponding thiazole-based congeners. Compared to natural epothilone C, the free energy of binding of deaza-epothilone C to microtubules was reduced by ca. 1 kcal/mol or less, thus indicating a distinct but non-decisive role of the thiazole nitrogen in the interaction of epothilones with the tubulin/microtubule system. In contrast to natural epothilone C, deaza-epothilone C was devoid of antiproliferative activity in vitro up to a concentration of 10 μM, presumably due to an insufficient stability in the cell culture medium.

In Silico Evaluation of Ibuprofen and Two Benzoylpropionic Acid Derivatives with Potential Anti-Inflammatory Activity

Inflammation is a complex reaction involving cellular and molecular components and an unspecific response to a specific aggression. The use of scientific and technological innovations as a research tool combining multidisciplinary knowledge in informatics, biotechnology, chemistry and biology are essential for optimizing time and reducing costs in the drug design. Thus, the integration of these in silico techniques makes it possible to search for new anti-inflammatory drugs with better pharmacokinetic and toxicological profiles compared to commercially used drugs. This in silico study evaluated the anti-inflammatory potential of two benzoylpropionic acid derivatives (MBPA and DHBPA) using molecular docking and their thermodynamic profiles by molecular dynamics, in addition to predicting oral bioavailability, bioactivity and toxicity. In accordance to our predictions the derivatives proposed here had the potential capacity for COX-2 inhibition in the human and mice enzyme, due to containing similar interactions with the control compound (ibuprofen). Ibuprofen showed toxic predictions of hepatotoxicity (in human, mouse and rat; toxicophoric group 2-arylacetic or 3-arylpropionic acid) and irritation of the gastrointestinal tract (in human, mouse and rat; toxicophoric group alpha-substituted propionic acid or ester) confirming the literature data, as well as the efficiency of the DEREK 10.0.2 program. Moreover, the proposed compounds are predicted to have a good oral bioavailability profile and low toxicity (LD50 < 700 mg/kg) and safety when compared to the commercial compound. Therefore, future studies are necessary to confirm the anti-inflammatory potential of these compounds.

Diverse secondary C(sp3)-H bond functionalization via site-selective trifluoroacetoxylation of aliphatic amines

We describe a coinage-metal-catalyzed site-selective oxidation of secondary C(sp3)-H bonds for aliphatic amine substrates. Broad amine scope, good functional compatibility and late-stage diversification are demonstrated with this method. The steric demand of the β-substituents controlled diastereoselectivities under this catalytic system. The site selectivity favors secondary C(sp3)-H bonds over tertiary ones underscoring the unique synthetic potential of this method.

Enabling Anyone to Translate Clinically Relevant Ideas to Therapies

How do we inspire new ideas that could lead to potential treatments for rare or neglected diseases, and allow for serendipity that could help to catalyze them? How many potentially good ideas are lost because they are never tested? What if those ideas could have lead to new therapeutic approaches and major healthcare advances? If a clinician or anyone for that matter, has a new idea they want to test to develop a molecule or therapeutic that they could translate to the clinic, how would they do it without a laboratory or funding? These are not idle theoretical questions but addressing them could have potentially huge economic implications for nations. If we fail to capture the diversity of ideas and test them we may also lose out on the next blockbuster treatments. Many of those involved in the process of ideation may be discouraged and simply not know where to go. We try to address these questions and describe how there are options to raising funding, how even small scale investments can foster preclinical or clinical translation, and how there are several approaches to outsourcing the experiments, whether to collaborators or commercial enterprises. While these are not new or far from complete solutions, they are first steps that can be taken by virtually anyone while we work on other solutions to build a more concrete structure for the "idea-hypothesis testing-proof of concept-translation-breakthrough pathway".

Natural Products as Sources of New Drugs from 1981 to 2014

This contribution is a completely updated and expanded version of the four prior analogous reviews that were published in this journal in 1997, 2003, 2007, and 2012. In the case of all approved therapeutic agents, the time frame has been extended to cover the 34 years from January 1, 1981, to December 31, 2014, for all diseases worldwide, and from 1950 (earliest so far identified) to December 2014 for all approved antitumor drugs worldwide. As mentioned in the 2012 review, we have continued to utilize our secondary subdivision of a "natural product mimic", or "NM", to join the original primary divisions and the designation "natural product botanical", or "NB", to cover those botanical "defined mixtures" now recognized as drug entities by the U.S. FDA (and similar organizations). From the data presented in this review, the utilization of natural products and/or their novel structures, in order to discover and develop the final drug entity, is still alive and well. For example, in the area of cancer, over the time frame from around the 1940s to the end of 2014, of the 175 small molecules approved, 131, or 75%, are other than "S" (synthetic), with 85, or 49%, actually being either natural products or directly derived therefrom. In other areas, the influence of natural product structures is quite marked, with, as expected from prior information, the anti-infective area being dependent on natural products and their structures. We wish to draw the attention of readers to the rapidly evolving recognition that a significant number of natural product drugs/leads are actually produced by microbes and/or microbial interactions with the "host from whence it was isolated", and therefore it is considered that this area of natural product research should be expanded significantly.