Recent patents on anti-infective drug discovery最新文献

Aim and background: Azoles as antifungal drugs have been used to treat leishmaniasis for many years. Several evidences suggesting that the primary target of azoles is the heme protein, which co-catalyzes cytochrome P-450-dependent 14α-demethylation of lanosterol. Little is known about the structural changes caused by azoles with atomic force microscopy (AFM) or scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In the current work, several patented antileishmanial agents reviewed (US8809555) (US 0269803 A1) (TW201802093 A). The present study aimed to determine ultrastructural damage in Leishmania major (L.major) induced by the newly synthesized azole.

Methods: In this study, we investigated the morphological alterations of the parasite treated with our new synthesized azole namely trans-2-(4-chlorophenyl)-2,3-dihydro-3-(1Himidazol- 1-yl)-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one (IF-2) against L.major promastigotes stage using two high-resolution microscopic techniques: atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.

Results: The results showed remarkable topographical and morphological alterations in the cell membrane at promastigote stage of L. major treated with the potent investigated azole (IF-2) ( IC50 values ≤8.9 µg/mL). Both techniques revealed membrane damage and also losing the flagellum in the observed cells.

Conclusion: Our results strongly confirm the Leishmania cell wall as a potent target for the new synthesized azole (IF-2). Accordingly, focus on membrane integrity and glycoconjugates of Leishmania parasite to design new therapeutic agents is recommended.

Background: In 2014, an estimated 1.8 million people died from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB); moreover, 680,000 people developed multidrug-resistant TB (MDRTB).

Methods: Currently available anti-MDR and XDR regimens are long-lasting and expensive, need high adherence and are undermined by a high frequency of adverse drug events, thus leading to a low success rate; furthermore, in the last 50 years only two new molecules, bedaquiline (BDQ) and delamanid, have been approved and released for the treatment of MDR-TB.

Results: BDQ, patent number US 7,498,343B2, is a diarylquinoline anti-mycobacterial drug, active regardless of the state of MTB; in fact, its efficacy is conserved against replicating and non-replicating bacilli, despite extracellular or intracellular location. BDQ has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only for combination treatment of pulmonary multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), in adult patients, when an effective treatment cannot be provided otherwise due to resistance or poor tolerability; however, due to high bactericidal activity, BDQ may be used in future to treat extrapulmonary tuberculosis and Mycobacterium other than tuberculosis (MOTT) infection.

Conclusion: BDQ may play a major role to get closer to TB eradication and to ensure higher retention in care, even in fully susceptible MTB strains and against non-replicating mycobacteria in latent-TB, providing an alternative to standard regimen.

Background: Multi-drug resistance among Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) clinical isolates is increasing and becoming a serious problem for public health authorities worldwide.

Objective: The aim of the current study is to introduce a potent antibacterial compound against the resistant P. aeruginosa.

Methods: In this study, we evaluated the antibacterial effects of extracts and essential oils of Ferula gummosa Boiss (F. gummosa) on 33 P. aeruginosa clinical isolates by microdilution method and assessed the association of antimicrobial activity with the extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing, biofilm forming and aliginate production of the strains. In addition, the presence of some genes involved in these properties, including blaGES- 1, blaRER-1, blaCTX-M, blaVEB-1, blaOXA-1, blaOXA-4, blaOXA-10, ppyR, pslA, pelA, algU, algL, algD, fliC and oxaA was determined using PCR.

Results: We revealed that all of our extracts and essential oils had significant antibacterial effects (p<0.001), but the aqueous extracts showed a relatively lower antibacterial activity compared with the methanolic ones. Furthermore, the minimum inhibitory concentration required for the ESBL producing strains was significantly higher than the non-ESBL producing ones (p<0.001). Loss of some genes such as blaPER-1, blaGES-1, blaOXA-1 and blaOXA-4 caused sensitivity to F. gummosa derivatives (p<0.05).

Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that the antibacterial effects of the extract and essential oils of F. gummosa may be a potential novel treatment against drug-resistant P. aeruginosa clinical isolates.

Background: According to the World Health Organization, skin cancer is the most common malignancy for the population. Conventional skin cancer treatment includes surgery and chemotherapy, but many of the chemotherapeutic agents used present undesirable properties. There are a number of patents on topical nano formulation like nanoparticle (US9757453; US9457041), liposomes (US2018177726 (A1), has been covered in this review in the treatment of skin cancer.

Methods: Encapsulated drugs are advantageous due to such properties as high stability, better bioavailability, controlled drug release, a long blood circulation time, selective organ or tissue distribution, a lower total required dose, and minimal toxic side effects. Today, researchers are constantly developing new formulations to meet unmet needs in the delivery of therapeutic agents for cancer therapy and diagnosis, respectively.

Results: Of particular interest here are lipid-based nanoformulations that are formulated from varieties of lipid and other chemical components that act collectively to overcome biological barriers, in order to preferentially accumulate in or around disease-target cells for the functional delivery of therapeutic agents. The article deals with the recent development of nano-sized topical lipid formulation approaches to treat skin cancer.

Conclusion: We focus especially on the topical lipid formulation approaches combined with chemotherapy, a field which specialises in target specificity, drug release control, and realtime monitoring with the goal being to diminish unwanted side effects and their severity, achieving a cheaper treatment and a generally more efficient chemotherapy.

Background: Acne is a multifactorial skin disease associated with pilosebaceous unit and caused by bacteria Propionibacterium acnes and Acne vulgaris. Near about 95% people throughout the world suffer from acne at some point in their life span. This disease is more prominent in adults compared to neonates and prepubescent children. Conventionally it is treated with either creams or gels having large number of side effects on patients.

Methods: We searched about recent advancements in the use of nanotechnological carriers for effective treatment of acne. We focused on the use of liposomes, niosomes, microemulsions, microsponge, microspheres, and nanoparticles to improve anti-acne therapy. Patents regarding use of nanocarrier systems to eliminate acne were also discussed in this review.

Results: The encapsulation of anti-acne drugs in various nanotechnological carriers improve their efficacy and reduce side effects. These carriers show controlled drug release and improved drug penetration even upto pilosebaceous unit of skin. Local tolerability of anti-acne molecules can be improved by adjusting the concentration in nanotechnological carriers.

Conclusions: Nanotechnological carriers have opened a new window to design novel, effective and low dose systems for effective eradication acne disease. However, very few nanocarrier based formulations are available in market for topical use and much progress is required in this field to improve anti-acne therapy.

Background: Heavily treated HIV-1 infected patients may have limited therapeutic alternatives. In order to ensure sustained HIV-RNA suppression in these patients and to improve current antiretroviral treatment regimens in the fight against multi-drug resistant strains, new drugs are needed. Recently, two new drugs among the new generation of entry inhibitors showed promises for both their characteristics and mechanism of action.

Objective: To outline ibalizumab (Patent: US20120121597A1) and fostemsavir (Patent: US8871771) future applications in people living with multi-drug resistant HIV with few remaining treatment options.

Methods: We analysed the available literature and data from ongoing clinical trials about ibalizumab and fostemsavir.

Results: Ibalizumab is a new humanized monoclonal antibody. It acts as post-attachment inhibitor by binding CD4 2nd domain of T lymphocyte and preventing HIV connection to CCR5 or CXCR4 and has been recently approved by Food and Drug Administration in the United States of America as a new intravenous antiretroviral agent for heavily treated HIV adults with multi -drug resistant infection. Fostemsavir (formerly BMS-663068), the oral prodrug of temsavir, is another attachment inhibitor. It acts by preventing the viral connection to CD4 by binding gp120. This drug showed encouraging results in heavily treated patients as add-on agent to current antiretroviral regimens, in particular for subtype B virus. It is currently being investigated in a phase 3, two-cohort (randomized and non-randomized), trial.

Conclusion: The history of ibalizumab and fostemsavir will be written in next years. Continuing the research will be crucial to obtain evidence based guidelines for the management of heavily treated HIV-1 infected patients with limited therapeutic options.

Background: Hospital wastewater has a high amount of both organic and inorganic matter, as well as high densities of living organisms, including pathogenic, and environmental bacteria. It has been suggested that genes encoding resistance to an antibiotic can be located together with heavy metals resistance genes on either the same genetic structure (plasmid) or different genetic structures within the same bacterial strain. Resistance transfer is mainly attributed to conjugation since many antimicrobial resistance genes are situated on mobile elements, such as plasmids and conjugative transposons, whereas renovation and transduction are usually more limited. Our study confirmed the flow of resistance genes between indigenous and foreign organisms and indicated the possibility of resistance transfer from environmental reservoirs to pathogenic strains, which should be underlined in the future. The recent patents on drug resistance (US20030130169, WO/2001/060387, WO/2016/151092) and gene transfer (JP2003189855, JP2010094090), helped in this study.

Methods: Water samples were collected from three different sites of hospital wastewater. Isolation of Gram-negative bacteria from hospital wastewater samples was done using the standard microbial procedure. The heavy metal resistance was determined by the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against the test bacterial strain by spot plate method. The antibiotic resistance was determined by a standard disc diffusion technique. The bacterial resistance transfer studies were determined between donor and recipient strain in nutrient as well as wastewater. The antibiogram and MIC of the donors and transconjugants were studied by above-described methods.

Results: A high number of Gram-Negative Bacterial Isolates (GNB) exhibited antibiotic and metal resistance transfer into E. coli K-12 and similar GNB isolates in nutrient broth as compared to wastewater. The microbial conjugation experiments showed that a high percentage of multi-resistant GNB (75% and 66%) was able to transfer their single or multidrug resistance patterns to E. coli K-12 among antibiotic while 58%, 66% of the multiresistant isolates were able to transfer their single or multi-metal resistance patterns to E. coli K-12 among metal in nutrient medium and wastewater, respectively. In the present conjugation study, 97.5% and 70% of the total tested GNB isolates were able to transfer an antibiotic-resistant marker to recipient GNB in both the medium (nutrient medium and wastewater), whereas 92.5% and72.5% of the isolates were able to transfer metal resistant marker to recipient GNB in nutrient medium and wastewater from all the site tested. The higher (6.8x10-1 and 5.9x10-1) frequency of transfer was observed among antibiotic and metal while the lower frequency of transfer was (7.0x10-3 and 2.0x10-3) exhibited against antibiotic and metal in both the medium from the entire site tested