Scrutinizing the Therapeutic Promise of Purinergic Receptors Targeting Depression

Antidepressant use has resulted in a variety of negative consequences, including permanent brain damage and erectile dysfunction. So, the purpose lies in developing something more productive with minimal side effects and consequently improved efficacy. A growing body of evidences indicated a remarkable purinergic signalling system, which helped in dealing with this complication. This has been found to be a powerful formula in dealing with psychiatric disorders. P1 (adenosine), P2X, and P2Y (ATP) are the receptors, involved in the pathology as well as exhibiting the therapeutic action by triggering the purinergic pathway. It was found that A2A and P2X7 receptors specifically were involved and recognized as possible targets for treating depression. Further, the development of biomarkers for the diagnosis of depression has also been attributed to accelerate the process. One such biomarker includes serum uric acid. Many clinical studies reveal the importance of antagonizing P2X7 and A2A receptors, for promising research in understanding the molecular premises of depression. However, further investigations are still needed to be done to open several unfolded mysteries for a better and safe upshot. The selective antagonists for A2A and P2X7 receptors may have antidepressant effects showing positive results, in agreement with non-clinical testing. In this review, efforts are being devoted to the targeted receptors in bringing out antidepressant effects with a possible link involving depression and defined purinergic signalling. Additionally, the overview of various receptors, including their functions and distribution, is being explored in a representative way along with the biomarkers involved.

Angiogenic footprints in diabetic retinopathy: opportunities for drug development

Diabetic retinopathy is one of the withering disorders that has been making the lives of patients miserable. Arising as a result of chronic high blood sugar levels in diabetes patients, retinopathy has become a major reason causing permanent blindness, retinal detachment, vitreous humor, rage, or glaucoma among patients. Angiogenesis being the major culprit behind the development of this condition is the growth of new blood vessels from the earlier ones existing. The abnormal growth and poor development of blood vessels also lead to aggravation of the conditions, with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) playing a major role in the process. Various anti-angiogenic therapies or anti-VEGF therapies are being explored for the treatment of this condition. 4 widely explored drugs being-Bevacizumab, pegaptanib sodium, ranibizumab, and aflibercept. The review article tries to summarize studies illustrating the efficacy of these drugs in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy along with some of the herbal therapeutic paradigms displaying anti-angiogenic action that is being used to treat this condition.

WITHDRAWN: Scrutinizing the Role of Genetically Modified Herbs (GMHs) in the Treatment of Various Diseases

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Circumstantial Insights into the Potential of Traditional Chinese Medicinal Plants as a Therapeutic Approach in Rheumatoid Arthritis

The advanced era has invited a plethora of chronic and autoimmune infirmities unmistakably dominated by rheumatoid arthritis, occurring because of the equivocal causes, including ecological factors, genetic variations, etc. Unfortunately, it is winning pretty much in every stratum of the society in undefined age group of the population. Engineered drugs are accessible for the treatment; however, they do experience adverse effects as the treatment requires a prolonged duration worsened by noncompliance. To overwhelm it, certain pharmacological and molecular pathways are explored in the wake of Chinese herbs that prompted the prevention of this deteriorating autoimmune disease. The alcoholic extracts and decoctions are procured from Chinese herbs, such as Paeonia lactiflora, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Tripterygium wilfordii, etc., which have been proved to manifest constructive pharmacological actions. The activities that were exhibited by extracts are significantly innocuous, non- toxic and potent to fix the affliction in contrast with the chemosynthetic drugs. Therefore, these Chinese herbs bring forth the potent anti-inflammatory, immune suppressing, anti-nociceptive, anti-neovascularizing, free radical scavenging activities and various other benefits to withstand several pathological events that usually endure the infirmity. It can be abridged that Chinese herbs possess assorted and selective therapeutic properties with profound safety and viability to treat this rheumatic disorder. Thus, this review aims to shed a light naturally originated treatment that is pertinent to provide invulnerable therapy exonerating from adverse effects, by restraining the occurrences of joint deformities, production of auto-antibodies, and inflammation.

Therapeutic Approaches for the Management of Autoimmune Disorders via Gene Therapy: Prospects, Challenges, and Opportunities

BACKGROUND

Autoimmune diseases are the diseases that result due to the overactive immune response, and comprise systemic autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA), sjӧgren's syndrome (SS), and organ-specific autoimmune diseases like type-1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), myasthenia gravis (MG), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Currently, there is no long-term cure; but, several treatments exist which retard the evolution of the disease, embracing gene therapy, which has been scrutinized to hold immense aptitude for the management of autoimmune diseases.

OBJECTIVE

The review highlights the pathogenic mechanisms and genes liable for the development of autoimmune diseases, namely T1DM, type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), RA, SS, IBD, and MG. Furthermore, the review focuses on investigating the outcomes of delivering the corrective genes with their specific viral vectors in various animal models experiencing these diseases to determine the effectiveness of gene therapy.

METHODS

Numerous review and research articles emphasizing the tremendous potential of gene therapy in the management of autoimmune diseases were procured from PubMed, MEDLINE, Frontier, and other databases and thoroughly studied for writing this review article.

RESULTS

The various animal models that experienced treatment with gene therapy have displayed regulation in the levels of proinflammatory cytokines, infiltration of lymphocytes, manifestations associated with autoimmune diseases, and maintained equilibrium in the immune response, thereby hinder the progression of autoimmune diseases.

CONCLUSION

Gene therapy has revealed prodigious aptitude in the management of autoimmune diseases in various animal studies, but further investigation is essential to combat the limitations associated with it and before employing it on humans.

Epoxy-glass Microballoon Syntactic Foams for Blast Mitigating Applications

Polymeric syntactic foams refer to a class of cellular material created using preformed hollow spheres bound together with a polymeric matrix. These cellular materials possess exceptional ability to respond against high impact dynamic loads. This paper is an attempt to fabricate polymeric syntactic foams of epoxy containing hollow glass microballoon at varying loading (40 % - 60 %) and explore their potential towards blast mitigation. The tensile, compressive and flexural strength were found to be inversely proportional to the microballoon loading in the quasi-static regime. The strain rate sensitivity of the foams was confirmed by performing high strain rate studies using split hopkinson pressure bar. The flow stress of these foams was found to increase with increasing strain rates. The syntactic foams were subjected to controlled transient blast loadings using a shock tube. The samples remained intact and no strain was observed on the strain gauge, even under a blast load of ~ 90 psi, which clearly highlight their potential as core materials for blast mitigating applications.

Diabetes education: an Asian perspective

Asian diabetic patients often lack knowledge about diabetes and self-management of the disease due to difficulties in communication. The introduction of a diabetes education programme specifically for Asian patients has resolved many of the communication problems, provided education which Asian patients could understand, and raised awareness of diabetes within the Asian community. Forty-eight percent of Asian patients were unable to read, while only 26% spoke and 20% read English, emphasizing the need for education in Asian languages using oral and visual teaching methods. Cultural differences were identified such as the use of alternative therapy to supplement treatment (33%) and the large number of vegetarians (61%). Public awareness of diabetes in the Asian community was increased by providing health education at social venues. The provision of diabetes education designed for the needs of Asian patients is essential to improve the quality of life and life expectancy of these patients.