Ru(II)-based antimicrobials: looking beyond organic drugs.

This review deals with the bactericidal, anti-fungal and even anti-parasitary properties of ruthenium complexes, both inorganic and organometallic, establishing comparisons between these and the available commercial drugs. The description is mostly composed of results found in the literature of the past two decades, complemented with relevant results from our group's research on antimicrobial ruthenium complexes. The complexes are divided into five groups according to the kind of ligands, geometry and chemical nature. The first group comprises ruthenium octahedral complexes with Schiff bases, the most well explored kind of ruthenium antimicrobials. The second group comprises complexes with planar ligands and an overall more flattened geometry, designed for DNA intercalation. In the following two groups, ruthenium complexes feature a particular functionality, which is, in one case, the presence of the PTA ligand for higher solubility in water, and, in the second, the mimicry of an active organic drug. Finally, a small section presents the most recent results on supramolecular antimicrobials comprising ruthenium, in particular a polymer and a cyclodextrin adduct.

Components of arterial systolic pressure and RR-interval oscillation spectra in a case of baroreflex failure, a human open-loop model of vascular control.

The baroreflex control of circulation is always operating and modulates blood pressure and heart rate oscillations. Thus, the study of cardiovascular variability in humans is performed in a closed-loop model and the physiology of post-sinoaortic denervation is completely unknown in humans. We dissected for the first time the different components of systolic arterial pressure (SAP) and RR-interval spectra in a patient with 'baroreflex failure' (due to mixed cranial nerve neuroma) who represents a human model to investigate the cardiovascular regulation in an open-loop condition. Interactions among cardiovascular variability signals and respiratory influences were described using the multivariate parametric ARXAR model with the following findings: (1) rhythms unrelated to respiration were detected only at frequencies lower than classical low frequency (LF; Slow-LF, around 0.02 Hz) both in SAP an RR spectra, (2) small high-frequency (HF) modulation is present and related with respiration at rest and in tilt (but for SAP only) and (3) the Slow-LF fluctuations detected both in SAP and RR oscillate independently as the multivariate model shows no relationships between SAP and RR, and these oscillations are not phase related. Thus, we showed that in a patient with impaired baroreflex arc integrity the Slow-LF rhythms for RR have a central origin that dictates fluctuations on RR at the same rhythm but unrelated to the oscillation of SAP (which may be related with both peripheral activity and central rhythms). The synchronization in LF band is a hallmark of integrity of baroreflex arc whose impairment unmasks lower frequency rhythms in SAP and RR whose fluctuations oscillate independently.