Current Trends in the Therapeutic Strategies for Diabetes Management.

Diabetes mellitus is one of the fastest-growing non-communicable diseases. Diabetes mellitus is caused due by the destruction of pancreatic ß-cell or due to insulin resistance and characterized by hyperglycemia. Diabetes imposes a very serious economic crisis as the diabetic drug market is growing very rapidly. Even after very path-breaking scientific discoveries, the availability of better healthcare infrastructure, and a rise in literacy rates, the diabetes burden is continuously spreading in various sections all over the world but more especially in low- and middle-income countries. The recent developments in scientific discoveries have given several new generations of antidiabetic medicines such as sulphonylurea, biguanides, thiazolidinedione, α-glucosidase inhibitors. All these drugs have proved a significant reduction in blood glucose level. There are some new classes of hypoglycaemic drugs that have also been developed and reported, such as GLP-1 analogous, DPP-IV inhibitors, amylin inhibitors, and peroxisome proliferator- activated receptors. There are some active molecules and bioactive substances that have been purified from herbs and plants, which add value to the war against diabetes. These phytoconstituents have overturned drug development and lead identification for drugs against diabetes. The review also focuses on some critical areas of diabetes with more focus on statin-based diabetes management approach and stem cell therapy based next generation antidiabetic therapy.

Influence of cholesterol inclusion on the doxorubicin release characteristics of lysolipid-based thermosensitive liposomes.

Fast hyperthermia (i.e. 39-42 °C) triggered doxorubicin release from lysolipid-containing thermosensitive liposomes (LTSL) in the tumor vasculature has been demonstrated to result in considerable enhancement of bioavailable drug levels in heated tumor tissue in preclinical tumor models. However, there is also significant leakage of doxorubicin already at 37 °C in the bloodstream, making these LTSL less efficient and increasing the risk for systemic toxicity. In conventional liposomes, cholesterol is incorporated in the bilayer to increase the stability of the liposomes. Here, we investigate the effect of cholesterol inclusion on the doxorubicin release characteristics of LTSL at 37 °C and hyperthermic temperatures. For this purpose, three LTSL formulations with 0, 5 and 10 mol% cholesterol were prepared. Inclusion of cholesterol reduced the undesired doxorubicin leakage at 37 °C in Hepes-buffered saline (HBS) as well as in fetal bovine serum (FBS). The incorporation of cholesterol in the LTSL bilayers did not influence the hyperthermia-triggered release property of the LTSL. These results were supported by DSC measurements. Therefore, in conclusion, our data indicate that cholesterol inclusion in LTSL offers a simple solution to the problem of significant leakage of doxorubicin from LTSL already at 37 °C in the bloodstream.

Synchronous Ipsilateral Renal Tumors.

Occurrence of two different, synchronous, and ipsilateral renal tumors is rare. We present a case of two synchronous tumors of kidney comprising of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC) and chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (CRCC). Grossly, two separate tumor nodules were identified with unremarkable intervening area. Microscopic examination from both tumor nodules revealed two different epithelial malignancies. It is prognostically significant as prognosis in such cases is determined by the more aggressive of the two tumors. In this case, CCRCC is more aggressive with a 5-year survival rate of 50-60 % as compared to CRCC with a 5-year survival rate of 80-90.