1.Plant-derived anticancer agents: A green anticancer approach
Iqbal JAVED ; Abbasi Ahsan BANZEER ; Mahmood TARIQ ; Kanwal SOBIA ; Ali BARKAT ; Shah Afzal SAYED ; Khalil Talha ALI
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine 2017;7(12):1129-1150
Cancer is a frightful disease and represents one of the biggest health-care issues for the human race and demands a proactive strategy for cure.Plants are reservoirs for novel chemical entities and provide a promising line for research on cancer.Hitherto,being effective,chemotherapy is accompanied by certain unbearable side effects.Nevertheless,plants and plant derived products is a revolutionizing field as these are Simple,safer,ecofriendly,low-cost,fast,and less toxic as compared with conventional treatment methods.Phytochemicals are selective in their functions and acts specifically on tumor cells without affecting normal cells.Carcinogenesis is complex phenomena that involves many signaling cascades.Phytochemicals are considered suitable candidates for anticancer drug development due to their pleiotropic actions on target events with multiple manners.The research is in progress for developing potential candidates (those can block or slow down the growth of cancer cells without any side effects) from these phytochemicals.Many phytochemicals and their derived analogs have been identified as potential candidates for anticancer therapy.Effort has been made through this comprehensive review to highlight the recent developments and milestones achieved in cancer therapies using phytomolecules with their mechanism of action on nuclear and cellular factors.Furthermore,drags for cancer treatment and their limitations have also been discussed.
2.Immune-related therapeutics: an update on antiviral drugs and vaccines to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic
Iqra MIR ; Sania AAMIR ; Syed Rizwan HUSSAIN SHAH ; Muhammad SHAHID ; Iram AMIN ; Samia AFZAL ; Amjad NAWAZ ; Muhammad UMER KHAN ; Muhammad IDREES
Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives 2022;13(2):84-100
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic rapidly spread globally. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes COVID-19, is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus with a reported fatality rate ranging from 1% to 7%, and people with immune-compromised conditions, children, and older adults are particularly vulnerable. Respiratory failure and cytokine storm-induced multiple organ failure are the major causes of death. This article highlights the innate and adaptive immune mechanisms of host cells activated in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and possible therapeutic approaches against COVID-19. Some potential drugs proven to be effective for other viral diseases are under clinical trials now for use against COVID-19. Examples include inhibitors of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (remdesivir, favipiravir, ribavirin), viral protein synthesis (ivermectin, lopinavir/ritonavir), and fusion of the viral membrane with host cells (chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, nitazoxanide, and umifenovir). This article also presents the intellectual groundwork for the ongoing development of vaccines in preclinical and clinical trials, explaining potential candidates (live attenuated-whole virus vaccines, inactivated vaccines, subunit vaccines, DNA-based vaccines, protein-based vaccines, nanoparticle-based vaccines, virus-like particles and mRNA-based vaccines). Designing and developing an effective vaccine (both prophylactic and therapeutic) would be a long-term solution and the most effective way to eliminate the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. Plant-derived anticancer agents: A green anticancer approach
Javed IQBAL ; Banzeer Ahsan ABBASI ; Tariq MAHMOOD ; Barkat ALI ; Sayed Afzal SHAH ; Sobia KANWAL ; Ali Talha KHALIL ; Ali Talha KHALIL ; Ali Talha KHALIL
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine 2017;7(12):1129-1150
Cancer is a frightful disease and represents one of the biggest health-care issues for the human race and demands a proactive strategy for cure. Plants are reservoirs for novel chemical entities and provide a promising line for research on cancer. Hitherto, being effective, chemotherapy is accompanied by certain unbearable side effects. Nevertheless, plants and plant derived products is a revolutionizing field as these are Simple, safer, eco-friendly, low-cost, fast, and less toxic as compared with conventional treatment methods. Phytochemicals are selective in their functions and acts specifically on tumor cells without affecting normal cells. Carcinogenesis is complex phenomena that involves many signaling cascades. Phytochemicals are considered suitable candidates for anticancer drug development due to their pleiotropic actions on target events with multiple manners. The research is in progress for developing potential candidates (those can block or slow down the growth of cancer cells without any side effects) from these phytochemicals. Many phytochemicals and their derived analogs have been identified as potential candidates for anticancer therapy. Effort has been made through this comprehensive review to highlight the recent developments and milestones achieved in cancer therapies using phytomolecules with their mechanism of action on nuclear and cellular factors. Furthermore, drugs for cancer treatment and their limitations have also been discussed.
4. Role of dietary phytochemicals in modulation of miRNA expression: Natural swords combating breast cancer
Banzeer Ahsan ABBASI ; Javed IQBAL ; Tariq MAHMOOD ; Barkat ALI ; Sayed Afzal SHAH ; Ali Talha KHALIL ; Ali Talha KHALIL ; Ali Talha KHALIL ; Sobia KANWAL ; Riaz AHMAD
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine 2018;11(9):501-509
The National Cancer Institute had projected breast cancer (BC) as one of the topmost prevalent malignancies around the globe. In many cases, BC becomes resistant to chemotherapy, radiation and hormonal therapies. Traditional BC therapies are associated with adverse side effects, drug resistance and recurrence. Extensive research work has shown that these dietary phytochemicals (DPs) may exert therapeutic effects by regulating the miRNA expression. A large number of DPs have been researched as miRNA regulatory agents against BC and some other DPs have not yet been tested against BC. We have discussed the effects of curcumin, diallyl disulphide, 3,3′ diindolylmethane, ellagic acid, genistein, indole-3-carbinol, quercetin, resveratrol, and sulforaphane on regulation of expression of BC miRNAs in a wide range of in vitro and in vivo models. We have also shown some of the possible DPs (Oleanolic acid, capsaicin, benzyl isothiocyanate, epigallocatechin gallate, phenethyl isothiocyanate and ursolic acid) that have shown miRNA regulatory activities and have not yet been tested against BC miRNAs. Finally, current limitations, challenges, future perspectives of DPs and BC research are also critically discussed.
5. Antimicrobial constituents from three endophytic fungi
Hidayat HUSSAIN ; Christine KLICHE-SPORY ; Karsten KROHN ; Hidayat HUSSAIN ; Ahmed AL-HARRASI ; Ahmed AL-RAWAHI ; Ghulam ABBAS ; Ghulam ABBAS ; Ivan Robert GREEN ; Barbara SCHULZ ; Afzal SHAH
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine 2014;7(S1):S224-S227
Objective: To evaluate the antimicrobial potential of extracts of the endophytic fungi Plectophomella sp., Physalospora sp., and Crataegus monogyna (C. monogyna) and study the tentative identification of their active constituents. Methods: Crude extracts and isolated compounds were screened for antimicrobial activity using the agar well diffusion method. Four compounds were purified from three endophytic fungi using column chromatography and their structures have been assigned based on their