Efficacy of Standardized Yoga Asanas as Add-on Therapy in the Management of Hypothyroidism: A Randomized, Open-label, Controlled Clinical Study.

Background: Hypothyroidism is an endocrine disorder in which the thyroid gland does not produce an adequate amount of thyroid hormones. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of yoga asanas as an add-on therapy for the management of hypothyroidism. Materials and Methods: For this interventional clinical study, a total of 450 study participants were screened for eligibility. Out of this, 170 study participants were found fit for preliminary eligibility following stringent inclusion and exclusion criteria. Further, 58 participants were excluded before randomization. A total of 112 hypothyroidism patients (57 in the control group and 55 in the yoga group) participated in this study. The study participants were further followed up for 8 weeks in both the yoga practice (yoga+ standard care of treatment) and control group (standard care of treatment only). The markers of oxidative stress, inflammation, and thyroid hormones were assessed at baseline and after 8 weeks of follow-up/intervention. Results: After 8 weeks, the study participants in yoga group showed a significant reduction in serum thyroid-stimulating hormone and malondialdehyde levels as compared to baseline (P < 0.05). There was also a positive trend of improvement in other oxidative markers (catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione), and a significant reduction in interleukin-6 levels (P < 0.05) was found in the yoga group as compared to the baseline. However, there was no significant change found in the control group of subjects. Conclusion: Frequent yoga practice can be an effective lifestyle intervention for hypothyroidism, reducing oxidative stress, inflammation, and potentially improving overall well-being.

Lipid Horizons: Recent Advances and Future Prospects in LBDDS for Oral Administration of Antihypertensive Agents.

The lipid-based drug delivery system (LBDDS) is a well-established technique that is anticipated to bring about comprehensive transformations in the pharmaceutical field, impacting the management and administration of drugs, as well as treatment and diagnosis. Various LBDDSs verified to be an efficacious mechanism for monitoring hypertension systems are SEDDS (self-nano emulsifying drug delivery), nanoemulsion, microemulsions, vesicular systems (transferosomes and liposomes), and solid lipid nanoparticles. LBDDSs overcome the shortcomings that are associated with antihypertensive agents because around fifty percent of the antihypertensive agents experience a few drawbacks including short half-life because of hepatic first-pass metabolism, poor aqueous solubility, low permeation rate, and undesirable side effects. This review emphasizes antihypertensive agents that were encapsulated into the lipid carrier to improve their poor oral bioavailability. Incorporating cutting-edge technologies such as nanotechnology and targeted drug delivery, LBDDS holds promise in addressing the multifactorial nature of hypertension. By fine-tuning drug release profiles and enhancing drug uptake at specific sites, LBDDS can potentially target renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system components, sympathetic nervous system pathways, and endothelial dysfunction, all of which play crucial roles in hypertension pathophysiology. The future of hypertension management using LBDDS is promising, with ongoing reviews focusing on precision medicine approaches, improved biocompatibility, and reduced toxicity. As we delve deeper into understanding the intricate mechanisms underlying hypertension, LBDDS offers a pathway to develop next-generation antihypertensive therapies that are safer, more effective, and tailored to individual patient needs.

Phytoimmunomodulators: A review of natural modulators for complex immune system.

In the past few decades, the medicinal properties of plants and their effects on the human immune system are being studied extensively. Plants are an incredible source of traditional medicines that help cure various diseases, including altered immune mechanisms and are economical and benign compared to allopathic medicines. Reported data in written documents such as Traditional Chinese medicine, Indian Ayurvedic medicine support the supplementation of botanicals for immune defense reactions in the body and can lead to safe and effective immunity responses. Additionally, some botanicals are well-identified as magical herbal remedies because they act upon the pathogen directly and help boost the immunity of the host. Chemical compounds, also known as phytochemicals, obtained from these botanicals looked promising due to their effects on the human immune system by modulating the lymphocytes which subsequently reduce the chances of getting infected. This paper summarises most documented phytochemicals and how they act on the immune system, their properties and possible mechanisms, screening conventions, formulation guidelines, comparison with synthetic immunity-enhancers, marketed immunity-boosting products, and immune-booster role in the ongoing ghastly corona virus wave. However, it focuses mainly on plant metabolites as immunomodulators. In addition, it also sheds light on the current advancements and future possibilities in this field. From this thorough study, it can be stated that the plant-based secondary metabolites contribute significantly to immunity building and could prove to be valuable medicaments for the design and development of novel immunomodulators even for a pandemic like COVID-19.

Antioxidative and neuroprotective potential of Acorus calamus linn. and Cordia dichotoma G. Forst. In Alzheimer's type dementia in rodent.

The goal of this research study was to see how plant extracts of Acorus calamus Linn. and Cordia dichotoma G. Forst. overcome scopolamine-induced Alzheimer's type dementia in mice by activating the cholinergic system, anti-oxidant and protection of neuronal death in the brain (hippocampus region). Scopolamine (1 mg/kg i.p.) reduced mice's routine in behavioral parameters such as Morris Water Maze (MWM), Elevated Plus Maze (EPM), and also the locomotor activity. It also decreases antioxidant levels such as Reduced glutathione (GSH) and also Superoxide dismutase (SOD) but also increases the level of Acetylcholinesterase enzyme (AChE) in brain. Assessment of various behavioral, and biochemical parameters (AChE, SOD, GSH, and Nitrite level) were compared with each group. Acorus calamus (hydro-alcoholic 1:1) 600 mg/kg p.o. and the combination (Acorus calamus 600 mg/kg p.o. + Cordia dichotoma 750 mg/kg p.o.) group showed significant results as compared to Cordia dichotoma 750 mg/kg p.o.in behavioral as well as in biochemical parameters. Histological studies showed significant neuroprotection in the Acorus calamus-treated group and the combination-treated groups. In the future, the Acorus calamus and the combination are possibly helpful in the treatment of various cognitive disorders or it may be valuable to investigate the pharmacological potential of such plant extracts during the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.

Exploring LIPIDs for their potential to improves bioavailability of lipophilic drugs candidates: A review.

This review aims to provide a thorough examination of the benefits, challenges, and advancements in utilizing lipids for more effective drug delivery, ultimately contributing to the development of innovative approaches in pharmaceutical science. Lipophilic drugs, characterized by low aqueous solubility, present a formidable challenge in achieving effective delivery and absorption within the human body. To address this issue, one promising approach involves harnessing the potential of lipids. Lipids, in their diverse forms, serve as carriers, leveraging their unique capacity to enhance solubility, stability, and absorption of these challenging drugs. By facilitating improved intestinal solubility and selective lymphatic absorption of porously permeable drugs, lipids offer an array of possibilities for drug delivery. This versatile characteristic not only bolsters the pharmacological efficacy of drugs with low bioavailability but also contributes to enhanced therapeutic performance, ultimately reducing the required dose size and associated costs. This comprehensive review delves into the strategic formulation approaches that employ lipids as carriers to ameliorate drug solubility and bioavailability. Emphasis is placed on the critical considerations of lipid type, composition, and processing techniques when designing lipid-based formulations. This review meticulously examines the multifaceted challenges that come hand in hand with lipid-based formulations for lipophilic drugs, offering an insightful perspective on future trends. Regulatory considerations and the broad spectrum of potential applications are also thoughtfully discussed. In summary, this review presents a valuable repository of insights into the effective utilization of lipids as carriers, all aimed at elevating the bioavailability of lipophilic drugs.

Nanoemulsion: An Emerging Novel Technology for Improving the Bioavailability of Drugs.

The pharmaceutical sector has made considerable strides recently, emphasizing improving drug delivery methods to increase the bioavailability of various drugs. When used as a medication delivery method, nanoemulsions have multiple benefits. Their small droplet size, which is generally between 20 and 200 nanometers, creates a significant interfacial area for drug dissolution, improving the solubility and bioavailability of drugs that are weakly water-soluble. Additionally, nanoemulsions are a flexible platform for drug administration across various therapeutic areas since they can encapsulate hydrophilic and hydrophobic medicines. Nanoemulsion can be formulated in multiple dosage forms, for example, gels, creams, foams, aerosols, and sprays by using low-cost standard operative processes and also be taken orally, topically, topically, intravenously, intrapulmonary, intranasally, and intraocularly. The article explores nanoemulsion formulation and production methods, emphasizing the role of surfactants and cosurfactants in creating stable formulations. In order to customize nanoemulsions to particular medication delivery requirements, the choice of components and production techniques is crucial in assuring the stability and efficacy of the finished product. Nanoemulsions are a cutting-edge technology with a lot of potential for improving medication bioavailability in a variety of therapeutic contexts. They are a useful tool in the creation of innovative pharmaceutical formulations due to their capacity to enhance drug solubility, stability, and delivery. Nanoemulsions are positioned to play a crucial role in boosting medication delivery and enhancing patient outcomes as this field of study continues to advance.

Pathogenesis and management of traumatic brain injury (TBI): role of neuroinflammation and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an important global health concern that represents a leading cause of death and disability. It occurs due to direct impact or hit on the head caused by factors such as motor vehicles, crushes, and assaults. During the past decade, an abundance of new evidence highlighted the importance of inflammation in the secondary damage response that contributes to neurodegenerative and neurological deficits after TBI. It results in disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and initiates the release of macrophages, neutrophils, and lymphocytes at the injury site. A growing number of researchers have discovered various signalling pathways associated with the initiation and progression of inflammation. Targeting different signalling pathways (NF-κB, JAK/STAT, MAPKs, PI3K/Akt/mTOR, GSK-3, Nrf2, RhoGTPase, TGF-ß1, and NLRP3) helps in the development of novel anti-inflammatory drugs in the management of TBI. Several synthetic and herbal drugs with both anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective potential showed effective results. This review summarizes different signalling pathways, associated pathologies, inflammatory mediators, pharmacological potential, current status, and challenges with anti-inflammatory drugs.

Overview of therapeutic targets in management of dementia.

Dementia is defined as a gradual cognitive impairment that interferes with everyday tasks, and is a leading cause of dependency, disability, and mortality. According to the current scenario, millions of individuals worldwide have dementia. This review provides with an overview of dementia before moving on to its subtypes (neurodegenerative and non-neurodegenerative) and pathophysiology. It also discusses the incidence and severity of dementia, focusing on Alzheimer's disease with its different hypotheses such as Aß cascade hypothesis, Tau hypothesis, inflammatory hypothesis, cholinergic and oxidative stress hypothesis. Alzheimer's disease is the most common type and a progressive neurodegenerative illness distinct by neuronal loss and resulting cognitive impairment, leading to dementia. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is considered the most familiar neurodegenerative dementias that affect mostly older population. There are still no disease-modifying therapies available for any dementias at this time, but there are various methods for lowering the risk to dementia patients by using suitable diagnostic and evaluation methods. Thereafter, the management and treatment of primary risk elements of dementia are reviewed. Finally, the future perspectives of dementia (AD) focusing on the impact of the new treatment are discussed.

Functional and Mechanistic Interrogation of BET Bromodomain Degraders for the Treatment of Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer.

PURPOSE: The bromodomain and extraterminal (BET)-containing proteins (BRD2/3/4) are essential epigenetic coregulators for prostate cancer growth. BRD inhibitors have shown promise for treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), and have been shown to function even in the context of resistance to next-generation AR-targeted therapies such as enzalutamide and abiraterone. Their clinical translation, however, has been limited by off-target effects, toxicity, and rapid resistance. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We have developed a series of molecules that target BET bromodomain proteins through their proteasomal degradation, improving efficacy and specificity of standard inhibitors. We tested their efficacy by utilizing prostate cancer cell lines and patient-derived xenografts, as well as several techniques including RNA-sequencing, mass spectroscopic proteomics, and lipidomics. RESULTS: BET degraders function in vitro and in vivo to suppress prostate cancer growth. These drugs preferentially affect AR-positive prostate cancer cells (22Rv1, LNCaP, VCaP) over AR-negative cells (PC3 and DU145), and proteomic and genomic mechanistic studies confirm disruption of oncogenic AR and MYC signaling at lower concentrations than BET inhibitors. We also identified increases in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) as potential pharmacodynamics biomarkers for targeting BET proteins. CONCLUSIONS: Compounds inducing the pharmacologic degradation of BET proteins effectively target the major oncogenic drivers of prostate cancer, and ultimately present a potential advance in the treatment of mCRPC. In particular, our compound dBET-3, is most suited for further clinical development.

Characterizing the Therapeutic Potential of a Potent BET Degrader in Merkel Cell Carcinoma.

Studies on the efficacy of small molecule inhibitors in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) have been limited and largely inconclusive. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic potential of a potent BET degrader, BETd-246, in the treatment of MCC. We found that MCC cell lines were significantly more sensitive to BETd-246 than to BET inhibitor treatment. Therapeutic targeting of BET proteins resulted in a loss of "MCC signature" genes but not MYC expression as previously described irrespective of Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) status. In MCPyV+ MCC cells, BETd-246 alone suppressed downstream targets in the MCPyV-LT Ag axis. We also found enrichment of HOX and cell cycle genes in MCPyV- MCC cell lines that were intrinsically resistant to BETd-246. Our findings uncover a requirement for BET proteins in maintaining MCC lineage identity and point to the potential utility of BET degraders for treating MCC.

Immune associated LncRNAs identify novel prognostic subtypes of renal clear cell carcinoma.

Kidney Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma (KIRC) is a significant cause of cancer-related deaths. Here, we aim to identify the LncRNAs associated with the immune system and characterise their clinical utility in KIRC. A total of 504 patients' data was used from TCGA-GDC. In silico correlation analysis identified 143 LncRNAs associated with immune-related genes (r > 0.7, P < 0.05). K-means consensus method clustered KIRC samples in three immune clusters, namely cluster C1, C2, and C3 based on the expression of 143 immune-related LncRNAs. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that C3 patients survived significantly worse than the other two clusters (P < 0.0001). A comparison of TCGA miRNA, mRNA cluster with immune cluster showed the independence and robustness of immune clusters (HR = 2.02 and P = 2.12 × 10-8 ). The GSEA and CIBERSORT analysis showed high enrichment of poorly activated T-cells in C3 patients. To define LncRNA immune prognostic signature, we randomly divided the TCGA sample into discovery and validation sets. By utilising multivariate Cox regression analysis, we identified and validated a seven LncRNA immune prognostic signature score (LIPS score) (HR = 1.43 and P = 2.73 × 10-6 ) in KIRC. Comparison of LIPS score with all the clinical factors validated its independence and superiority in KIRC prognosis. In summary, we identified LncRNAs associated with the immune system and showed the presence of prognostic subtypes of KIRC patients based on immune-related LncRNA expression. We also identified a novel immune LncRNA based gene-signature for KIRC patients' prognostication.

Analysis of the androgen receptor-regulated lncRNA landscape identifies a role for ARLNC1 in prostate cancer progression.

The androgen receptor (AR) plays a critical role in the development of the normal prostate as well as prostate cancer. Using an integrative transcriptomic analysis of prostate cancer cell lines and tissues, we identified ARLNC1 (AR-regulated long noncoding RNA 1) as an important long noncoding RNA that is strongly associated with AR signaling in prostate cancer progression. Not only was ARLNC1 induced by the AR protein, but ARLNC1 stabilized the AR transcript via RNA-RNA interaction. ARLNC1 knockdown suppressed AR expression, global AR signaling and prostate cancer growth in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, these data support a role for ARLNC1 in maintaining a positive feedback loop that potentiates AR signaling during prostate cancer progression and identify ARLNC1 as a novel therapeutic target.

MechRNA: prediction of lncRNA mechanisms from RNA-RNA and RNA-protein interactions.

Motivation: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are defined as transcripts longer than 200 nt that do not get translated into proteins. Often these transcripts are processed (spliced, capped and polyadenylated) and some are known to have important biological functions. However, most lncRNAs have unknown or poorly understood functions. Nevertheless, because of their potential role in cancer, lncRNAs are receiving a lot of attention, and the need for computational tools to predict their possible mechanisms of action is more than ever. Fundamentally, most of the known lncRNA mechanisms involve RNA-RNA and/or RNA-protein interactions. Through accurate predictions of each kind of interaction and integration of these predictions, it is possible to elucidate potential mechanisms for a given lncRNA. Results: Here, we introduce MechRNA, a pipeline for corroborating RNA-RNA interaction prediction and protein binding prediction for identifying possible lncRNA mechanisms involving specific targets or on a transcriptome-wide scale. The first stage uses a version of IntaRNA2 with added functionality for efficient prediction of RNA-RNA interactions with very long input sequences, allowing for large-scale analysis of lncRNA interactions with little or no loss of optimality. The second stage integrates protein binding information pre-computed by GraphProt, for both the lncRNA and the target. The final stage involves inferring the most likely mechanism for each lncRNA/target pair. This is achieved by generating candidate mechanisms from the predicted interactions, the relative locations of these interactions and correlation data, followed by selection of the most likely mechanistic explanation using a combined P-value. We applied MechRNA on a number of recently identified cancer-related lncRNAs (PCAT1, PCAT29 and ARLnc1) and also on two well-studied lncRNAs (PCA3 and 7SL). This led to the identification of hundreds of high confidence potential targets for each lncRNA and corresponding mechanisms. These predictions include the known competitive mechanism of 7SL with HuR for binding on the tumor suppressor TP53, as well as mechanisms expanding what is known about PCAT1 and ARLn1 and their targets BRCA2 and AR, respectively. For PCAT1-BRCA2, the mechanism involves competitive binding with HuR, which we confirmed using HuR immunoprecipitation assays. Availability and implementation: MechRNA is available for download at https://bitbucket.org/compbio/mechrna. Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Oncogenic Role of THOR, a Conserved Cancer/Testis Long Non-coding RNA.

Large-scale transcriptome sequencing efforts have vastly expanded the catalog of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) with varying evolutionary conservation, lineage expression, and cancer specificity. Here, we functionally characterize a novel ultraconserved lncRNA, THOR (ENSG00000226856), which exhibits expression exclusively in testis and a broad range of human cancers. THOR knockdown and overexpression in multiple cell lines and animal models alters cell or tumor growth supporting an oncogenic role. We discovered a conserved interaction of THOR with IGF2BP1 and show that THOR contributes to the mRNA stabilization activities of IGF2BP1. Notably, transgenic THOR knockout produced fertilization defects in zebrafish and also conferred a resistance to melanoma onset. Likewise, ectopic expression of human THOR in zebrafish accelerated the onset of melanoma. THOR represents a novel class of functionally important cancer/testis lncRNAs whose structure and function have undergone positive evolutionary selection.

ACK1/TNK2 Regulates Histone H4 Tyr88-phosphorylation and AR Gene Expression in Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer.

The androgen receptor (AR) is critical for the progression of prostate cancer to a castration-resistant (CRPC) state. AR antagonists are ineffective due to their inability to repress the expression of AR or its splice variant, AR-V7. Here, we report that the tyrosine kinase ACK1 (TNK2) phosphorylates histone H4 at tyrosine 88 upstream of the AR transcription start site. The WDR5/MLL2 complex reads the H4-Y88-phosphorylation marks and deposits the transcriptionally activating H3K4-trimethyl marks promoting AR transcription. Reversal of the pY88-H4 epigenetic marks by the ACK1 inhibitor (R)-9bMS-sensitized naive and enzalutamide-resistant prostate cancer cells and reduced AR and AR-V7 levels to mitigate CRPC tumor growth. Thus, a feedforward ACK1/pY88-H4/WDR5/MLL2/AR epigenetic circuit drives CRPC and is necessary for maintenance of the malignant state.

Development of a RNA-Seq Based Prognostic Signature in Lung Adenocarcinoma.

Background: Precision therapy for lung cancer will require comprehensive genomic testing to identify actionable targets as well as ascertain disease prognosis. RNA-seq is a robust platform that meets these requirements, but microarray-derived prognostic signatures are not optimal for RNA-seq data. Thus, we undertook the first prognostic analysis of lung adenocarcinoma RNA-seq data and generated a prognostic signature. Methods: Lung adenocarcinoma RNA-seq and clinical data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were divided chronologically into training (n = 255) and validation (n = 157) cohorts. In the training cohort, prognostic association was assessed by univariate Cox analysis. A prognostic signature was built with stepwise multivariable Cox analysis. Outcomes by risk group, stage, and mutation status were analyzed with Kaplan-Meier and multivariable Cox analyses. All the statistical tests were two-sided. Results: In the training cohort, 96 genes had prognostic association with P values of less than or equal to 1.00x10-4, including five long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). Stepwise regression generated a four-gene signature, including one lncRNA. Signature high-risk cases had worse overall survival (OS) in the TCGA validation cohort (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.07, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.00 to 14.62) and a University of Michigan institutional cohort (n = 67; HR = 2.05, 95% CI = 1.18 to 4.55), and worse metastasis-free survival in the TCGA validation cohort (HR = 3.05, 95% CI = 2.31 to 13.37). The four-gene prognostic signature also statistically significantly stratified overall survival in important clinical subsets, including stage I (HR = 2.78, 95% CI = 1.91 to 11.13), EGFR wild-type (HR = 3.01, 95% CI = 1.73 to 14.98), and EGFR mutant (HR = 8.99, 95% CI = 62.23 to 141.44). The four-gene prognostic signature also stood out on top when compared with other prognostic signatures. Conclusions: Here, we present the first RNA-seq prognostic signature for lung adenocarcinoma that can provide a powerful prognostic tool for precision oncology as part of an integrated RNA-seq clinical sequencing program.

The lncRNA landscape of breast cancer reveals a role for DSCAM-AS1 in breast cancer progression.

Molecular classification of cancers into subtypes has resulted in an advance in our understanding of tumour biology and treatment response across multiple tumour types. However, to date, cancer profiling has largely focused on protein-coding genes, which comprise <1% of the genome. Here we leverage a compendium of 58,648 long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) to subtype 947 breast cancer samples. We show that lncRNA-based profiling categorizes breast tumours by their known molecular subtypes in breast cancer. We identify a cohort of breast cancer-associated and oestrogen-regulated lncRNAs, and investigate the role of the top prioritized oestrogen receptor (ER)-regulated lncRNA, DSCAM-AS1. We demonstrate that DSCAM-AS1 mediates tumour progression and tamoxifen resistance and identify hnRNPL as an interacting protein involved in the mechanism of DSCAM-AS1 action. By highlighting the role of DSCAM-AS1 in breast cancer biology and treatment resistance, this study provides insight into the potential clinical implications of lncRNAs in breast cancer.