Anti-Infective Agents

ISSN: 2211-3626
eISSN: 2211-3633

OPEN ACCESS PLUS

Contents


The Biology of TRAIL and the Role of TRAIL-Based Therapeutics in Infectious Diseases, 2009, 8, 87-101
Brett D. Shepard and Andrew D. Badley
[Abstract] [Full Text Article]


Development of Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors for Anti-HIV Therapy, 2008, 7, 101-117
Christer Sahlberg and Xiao-Xiong Zhou
[Abstract] [Full Text Article]


Dendrimers and Dendritic Polymers as Anti-infective Agents: New Antimicrobial Strategies for Therapeutic Drugs, 2007, 6, 151-174
J. Rojo and R. Delgado
[Abstract] [Full Text Article]


Mechanism of Action and Potential for Use of Tea Catechin as an Anti-infective Agent, 2007, 6, 57-62
Tadakatsu Shimamura, Wei-Hua Zhao and Zhi-Qing Hu
[Abstract] [Full Text Article]


Unique Applications of Novel Antifungal Drug Combinations, 2007, 6, 3-15
Chiatogu Onyewu and Joseph Heitman
[Abstract] [Full Text Article]


Recent Methods in Antimalarial Susceptibility Testing, 2010, 9, 148-160
E.M.A. Co, S.M. Johnson, T. Murthy, M. Talwar, M.R. Hickman and J.D. Johnson
[Abstract] [Full Text Article]



Abstracts


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The Biology of TRAIL and the Role of TRAIL-Based Therapeutics in Infectious Diseases
Brett D. Shepard and Andrew D. Badley

[Full Text Article]

TNF-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a key mediator of the innate immune response to infection. While TRAIL-mediated apoptosis plays an essential role in the clearance of virus-infected cells, its physiologic role also includes immunosurveilance for cancer cells. Therapeutics that induce TRAIL-mediated apoptosis in cancer cells remain a focus of ongoing investigation in clinical trials, and much has been learned from these studies regarding the efficacy and toxicity of these interventions. These data, combined with data from numerous preclinical studies that detail the important and multifaceted role of TRAIL during infection with human immunodeficiency virus and other viruses, suggest that therapeutic exploitation of TRAIL signaling offers a novel and efficacious strategy for the management of infectious diseases.


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Development of Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors for Anti-HIV Therapy
Christer Sahlberg and Xiao-Xiong Zhou

[Full Text Article]

The NNRTIs play an important role in the present therapy against HIV/AIDS. This review discusses the basic principles in the development of NNRTIs for HIV therapy. It also summarizes the NNRTIs in clinical use and the major series of NNRTIs in development phases. The authors intend to provide an overview of the NNRTI research and to elucidate some important factors in directing the future in the field such as genetic barrier, QD dosing, safety profile and combination with other anti-HIV agents. Despite the enormous progress that has been achieved in the NNRTI field in the past two decades, the present clinical pipeline appears to be insufficient to tackle the huge medical need. The efforts of finding new NNRTIs are certainly much motivated and can be highly rewarding.


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Dendrimers and Dendritic Polymers as Anti-infective Agents: New Antimicrobial Strategies for Therapeutic Drugs
J. Rojo and R. Delgado

[Full Text Article]

Nearly 3 decades ago, a dendritic structure was stepwise synthesized for the first time as a new type of molecules with promising applications. During years a huge effort has been devoted to implement the synthetic skills concerning the synthesis of these molecules and especially, new methods for purification and characterization of these compounds that are in the nanoscale range. The chemical manipulation of the surface and inner core of dendrimers were strategically used to allow a tailor-made control of physical-chemical properties and to discover new applications in material science and biomedicine. Although several examples have been reported in the literature describing applications of functionalized dendrimers and acclaiming a key role of these molecules, very scarce examples are actually close to the market.

This review summarizes the state of the art of dendrimers and dendritic polymers as anti-infective agents, with a special focus on the strategies to block receptors used by pathogens for attachment, cell entry and dissemination. These nanometre size molecules are very attractive compounds as new drugs easily to be manipulated to improve their activity and scope. This is already a very active area of research, where we are involved, with interesting potential as demonstrated by the Phase I clinical trial of a functionalized dendrimer with real possibilities to reach the market soon. The success of this compound should provoke an enormous stimulus to scientists working in this area as well as in the industrial companies for investment in this topic.


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Mechanism of Action and Potential for Use of Tea Catechin as an Anti-infective Agent
Tadakatsu Shimamura, Wei-Hua Zhao and Zhi-Qing Hu

[Full Text Article]

“Drinking several cups of green tea a day keeps the doctor away” is clearly an overstatement. However, extensive research has revealed that the predominant catechin from tea (Camellia sinensis), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg), has significant medicinal and health-promoting properties. This review summarizes what is presently known about the antimicrobial properties of EGCg, with a particular focus on the synergistic relationship between EGCg and β-lactams in the inhibition of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The mechanisms of action and prospects for use of tea catechins such as EGCg as an anti-infective agent are discussed.


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Unique Applications of Novel Antifungal Drug Combinations
Chiatogu Onyewu and Joseph Heitman

[Full Text Article]

Candida albicans is a commensal fungal organism that can over-proliferate and cause disease in the appropriate host setting. C. albicans can cause irritating superficial skin and mucocutaneous infections such as diaper rash and vaginal yeast infections, respectively. In immunocompromised hosts, these infections can progress to disseminated disease in which the organism enters the blood and colonizes multiple organs. Consequently, Candida infections result in a considerable amount of morbidity and mortality every year. Most modern-day antifungal drugs block ergosterol biosynthesis. Several of these agents are fungistatic and do not kill the fungal cell, thus facilitating the emergence of drug-resistant species, which further complicate therapy. Alternatively, some of the most effective antifungal drugs are too toxic for continuous use or can only be administered intravenously. The ideal antifungal drug would be non-toxic, fungicidal, and amenable to self-administration. Previous studies have demonstrated that specific commercially available drugs from two unrelated drug classes (calcineurin inhibitors and ergosterol biosynthesis inhibitors) act synergistically to kill Candida by targeting distinct molecular pathways in the organism. Calcineurin inhibitors are immunosuppressive agents, so systemic administration of these drugs would be counter-intuitive for treatment of already immunocompromised individuals. However, this drug combination can be applied to topical antifungal therapies for a variety of cutaneous and mucocutaneous fungal infections that afflict a diverse population, including immunocompromised patients.


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Recent Methods in Antimalarial Susceptibility Testing
E.M.A. Co, S.M. Johnson, T. Murthy, M. Talwar, M.R. Hickman and J.D. Johnson

[Full Text Article]

As malaria continues to be a worldwide problem due to increasing drug resistance, several drug susceptibility techniques have been reported in the literature. A particularly confounding problem is the lack of standardization between methods that result in differences in sensitivities. In this review, we report on the types of antimalarial drug susceptibility assays available to clinical and research investigators. Techniques based on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), fluorescence, molecular assays, and optical methods will be outlined. Strengths and weaknesses, as well as field applicability, will be discussed. Furthermore, assay and culture conditions, particularly for the fluorescence-based assays, will also be detailed.