Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation: Nanoparticle-Conjugated Animal Venom-Toxins and Their Possible Therapeutic Potential.

Nanoparticle-conjugated animal venom-toxins and their possible therapeutic potential.

Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

J Venom Res. 2012; 3: 15-21
Biswas A, Gomes A, Sengupta J, Datta P, Singha S, Dasgupta AK, Gomes A

Nano-medical approaches to develop drugs have attracted much attention in different arenas to design nanoparticle conjugates for better efficacy of the potential bio-molecules. A group of promising candidates of this category would be venom-toxins of animal origin of potential medicinal value. Traditional systems of medicine as well as folklores mention the use of venom-toxins for the treatment of various diseases. Research has led to scientific validation of medicinal applications of venoms-toxins and many active constituents derived from venoms-toxins are already in clinical use or under clinical trial. Nanomedicine is an emerging field of medicine where nanotechnology is used to develop molecules of nano-scale dimension, so that these molecules can be taken up by the cells more easily and have better efficacy, as compared to large molecules that may tend to get eliminated. This review will focus on some of the potential venoms and toxins along with nanoparticle conjugated venom-toxins of snakes, amphibians, scorpions and bees, etc., for possible therapeutic clues against emerging diseases.
HubMed – drug

Hemodynamic changes following the administration of propofol to facilitate endotracheal intubation during sevoflurane anesthesia.

Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

Int J Clin Exp Med. 2013; 6(1): 26-9
Dewhirst E, Lancaster C, Tobias JD

The common intravenous anesthetic agent, propofol, is frequently reported to have negative inotropic and chronotropic effects. In the pediatric population, propofol is commonly used after inhalation induction to facilitate endotracheal intubation without the need for a neuromuscular blocking drug agent. In this setting, we have noted that propofol administration is commonly followed by tachycardia. The current study prospective evaluates heart rate and blood pressure changes following the administration of propofol to pediatric patients anesthetized with nitrous oxide (N2O) and sevoflurane.ASA class 1 and 2 pediatric surgical patients were enrolled in the study. After premedication with midazolam and inhalation induction with N2O in oxygen and sevoflurane, a bolus dose of propofol was administered to facilitate endotracheal intubation. Heart rate (HR) was measured at baseline and at 30 second intervals following propofol administration. Blood pressure (MAP) was measured at baseline and 120 seconds post-administration.The study cohort consisted of 40 patients who ranged in age from 1 to 15 years. After inhalation induction, propofol (average dose of 2.6 mg/kg) was administered. The end-tidal N2O and sevoflurane concentrations were 62.2 ± 10.3% and 5.7 ± 1.1% respectively. Nineteen of 40 patients had a HR increase >10 bpm. When comparing these patients to those who did not experience a HR increase >10 bpm, there were no differences in the demographic data. Those with a HR increase received a greater dose of propofol when compared to patients whose HR change was <10 bpm (3.0 ± 0.8 versus 2.2 ± 0.5 mg/kg; p=0.0007). There was a significantly greater decreased in the MAP at 120 seconds following propofol administration in the group that did not sustain a >10 bpm HR increase.Tachycardia following propofol administration occurs in approximately 50% of pediatric patients despite preceding inhalation induction and concurrent administration of N2O and sevoflurane. Future studies are needed to define the mechanism for this effect.
HubMed – drug

Leukemoid reaction secondary to hypersensitivity syndrome to phenobarbital: a case report.

Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

Int J Clin Exp Pathol. 2013; 6(1): 100-4
Zeng Q, Wu Y, Zhan Y, Tang L, Zhou Y, Yin J, Fan F, Zhang G, Lu Q, Xiao R

The most important adverse effects of phenobarbital, an anticonvulsant drug, are behavior and cognitive alterations. Hypersensitivity syndrome caused by phenobarbital presenting with a leukemoid reaction is a rare side effect, which is rarely ever reported and needs to be known. We report on a 27-year-old Chinese woman who experienced hypersensitivity syndrome three weeks after the initiation of phenobarbital. The patient developed fever, skin rash, face swelling, lymphadenopathy, myalgia, hepatitis, eosinophilia, atypical lymphocytes and leukocytosis. Along with the pathological progress of the disease, the patient noticed a gradual exacerbation of her symptoms. And the highest leukocyte count was up to 127.2 x 10(9)/L. After discontinuing of phenobarbital and administration of methylprednisolone combined with the intravenous immunoglobulin shock therapy, all initial symptoms improved and the leukocyte count normalized. This case is reported because of its rarity of the leukemoid reaction secondary to hypersensitivity syndrome to phenobarbital.
HubMed – drug

A Global Comparison of the Human and T. brucei Degradomes Gives Insights about Possible Parasite Drug Targets.

Filed under: Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2012 Dec; 6(12): e1942
Mashiyama ST, Koupparis K, Caffrey CR, McKerrow JH, Babbitt PC

We performed a genome-level computational study of sequence and structure similarity, the latter using crystal structures and models, of the proteases of Homo sapiens and the human parasite Trypanosoma brucei. Using sequence and structure similarity networks to summarize the results, we constructed global views that show visually the relative abundance and variety of proteases in the degradome landscapes of these two species, and provide insights into evolutionary relationships between proteases. The results also indicate how broadly these sequence sets are covered by three-dimensional structures. These views facilitate cross-species comparisons and offer clues for drug design from knowledge about the sequences and structures of potential drug targets and their homologs. Two protease groups (“M32” and “C51”) that are very different in sequence from human proteases are examined in structural detail, illustrating the application of this global approach in mining new pathogen genomes for potential drug targets. Based on our analyses, a human ACE2 inhibitor was selected for experimental testing on one of these parasite proteases, TbM32, and was shown to inhibit it. These sequence and structure data, along with interactive versions of the protein similarity networks generated in this study, are available at http://babbittlab.ucsf.edu/resources.html.
HubMed – drug

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