Nanostructured Systems in Advanced Drug Targeting for the Cancer Treatment: Recent Patents.

BACKGROUND: Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world and it is necessary to develop new strategies for its treatment because most therapies have limited access to many types of tumors, as well as low therapeutic efficacy and high toxicity. OBJECTIVE: The present research aims to identify recent patents of drug delivery nanostructured systems that may have application in improving cancer treatment. METHODS: Recent patents regarding the drug delivery nanostructured systems for cancer treatment were obtained from the patent databases of the six main patent offices of the world: United States Patent and Trademark Office, European Patent Office, World Intellectual Property Organization, Japan Patent Office, State Intellectual Property Office of China and Korean Intellectual Property Office. RESULTS: A total of 1710 patent documents from 1998 to 2017 including "drug delivery nanostructured systems for cancer treatment" were retrieved. The top five countries in patent share were USA, China, South Korea, Canada and Germany. The universities and enterprises of USA had the highest amount of patents followed by institutions from China. CONCLUSION: There is a strong tendency for the development of new nanostructured systems for the release of drugs; particularly, in recent years, the development of nanoparticles has focused on nanodiscs, gold nanoparticles and immunoliposomes.

Human apolipoprotein A-I Gly26Arg stimulation of inflammatory responses via NF-kB activation: Potential roles in amyloidosis?

The cascade of molecular events leading to Human apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) amyloidosis is not completely understood, not even the pathways that determine clinical manifestations associated to systemic protein deposition in organs such as liver, kidney and heart. About twenty natural variants of apoA-I were described as inducing amyloidosis, but the mechanisms driving their aggregation and deposition are still unclear. We previously identified that the mutant Gly26Arg but not Lys107-0 induced the release of cytokines and reactive oxygen species from cultured RAW 264.7 murine macrophages, suggesting that part of the pathogenic pathway could elicit of an inflammatory signal. In this work we gained deep insight into this mechanism and determined that Gly26Arg induced a specific pro-inflammatory cascade involving activation of NF-κB and its translocation into the nucleus. These findings suggest that some but not all apoA-I natural variants might promote a pro-oxidant microenvironment which could in turn result in oxidative processing of the variants into a misfolded conformation.

Poluição intra e extradomiciliar: [revisão] / Indoor and outdoor pollution: [review]

Objetivo: Abordar alguns aspectos da poluição do ar e sua influênciasobre a saúde dos indivíduos, dando maior ênfase aos efeitos sobre oaparelho respiratório.Fontes de dados: Artigos originais, revisões e consensos indexadosnos bancos de dados PubMed, Medline e SciELO nos últimos 30 anos,assim como a linha de pesquisa desenvolvida pelos autores no LaboratórioMultidisciplinar da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro para aelaboração de suas Teses de Doutorado.Síntese dos dados: Crescentes evidências demonstram que aexposição a certos poluentes aéreos pode aumentar a resposta a alérgenos,fazendo com que indivíduos com doenças respiratórias (asmae/ou rinite) sejam especialmente susceptíveis ao impacto dos poluentesintra ou extradomiciliares.Comentários: O conhecimento dos mecanismos através dos quaisa poluição agrava os sintomas da rinite e da asma e sua provável relaçãocom o aumento da prevalência dessas doenças é fundamental naimplementação de medidas apropriadas de prevenção.

Objective: To discuss some aspects of the air pollution and theinfluence on the population’s health, giving more emphasis on therespiratory tract effects.Sources: Original articles, reviews and consensus indexed inPubMed, MEDLINE and SciELO databases in the last 30 years. In addition,the results of the research that was developed by the authors in theMultidisciplinary Laboratory of the Federal University of Rio de Janeirofor the development of their PhD thesis.Results: Growing evidences show that the air pollutants exposurecan increase the reaction to allergens, making individuals with respiratorydiseases (asthma and/or rhinitis) more susceptible to the impact ofindoor or outdoor pollution.Comments: Knowledge of the mechanisms through them thepollution get worse the symptoms of rhinitis and asthma and the probablerelation with the increased prevalence of these diseases is fundamentalfor appropriate prevent measures implementation.

Constituents of Oxandra cf. xylopioides with anti-inflammatory activity.

A new triterpenoid (1) derived from 24-methylcycloartanol was isolated from the leaves of Oxandra cf. xylopioides. An unusual structure of the new compound was assigned as 1, for which the name berenjenol is proposed, on the basis of the spectroscopic data of the natural product and of its derivatives 2 and 3. The leaves also afforded the known monoterpene isoespintanol (4). Compounds 1 and 4 significantly reduced the paw edema induced by carrageenan by 64% and 43%, at 3 h, respectively. Moreover, 4 reduced IL-1 beta production by 72% at 100 microM and reduced IL-1 beta mRNA synthesis.

A asma em crianças brasileiras é problema de saúde pública? / Is asthma in Brazilian children a public health problem?

A asma é uma das doenças de maior importância da infância. Comparações internacionais de sua prevalência têm sido inviabilizadas pela diferença dos métodos empregados na sua avaliação. O "International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood" (ISAAC) foi desenvolvido para possibilitar comparações, nacionais e internacionais, de prevalência e gravidade da asma empregando-se um questionário escrito padronizado. Objetivos: Apresentar dados nacionais relativos à prevalência de asma e de sintomas relacionados obtidos aplicando-se o questionário escrito padrão do ISAAC em várias cidades brasileiras (Belém, Recife, Salvador, Brasília, Cuiabá, Itabira, Uberlândia, Montes Claros, Campos Gerais, Duque de Caxias, Seropédica, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Curitiba e Porto Alegre). Material e Métodos: Os dados foram obtidos por vários investigadores, de acordo com as recomendações do protocolo ISAAC. O estudo avaliou 23.457 escolares, com idades entre seis e sete anos e, 40.111 adolescentes com idades entre 13 e 14 anos. Resultados: A prevalência de "sibilos no último ano" foi significantemente maior do que a de "diagnóstico médico de asma", tanto no grupo de escolares (10,1 per cent e 25,7 per cent respectivamente) quanto no de adolescentes (14,3 per cent e 21,4 per cent, respectivamente). Conclusões: A asma é subdiagnosticada se os pacientes forem identificados apenas pelo diagnóstico médico de asma.