The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine

Introduction: For many years, the controlled delivery of therapeutic compounds has been a matter of great interest in the field of nanomedicine. Among the wide amount of drug nanocarriers, magnetic...

Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for drug delivery: applications and characteristics.

This paper describes the substances of plant and marine origin that have anticancer properties. The chemical structure of the molecules of these substances, their properties, mechanisms of action, their structure–activity relationships, along with their anticancer properties and their potential as chemotherapeutic drugs are discussed in this paper. This paper presents natural substances from plants, animals, and their aquatic environments. These substances include the vinca alkaloids, mistletoe plant extracts, podophyllotoxin derivatives, taxanes, camptothecin, combretastatin, and others including geniposide, colchicine, artesunate, homoharringtonine, salvicine, ellipticine, roscovitine, maytanasin, tapsigargin, and bruceantin. Compounds (psammaplin, didemnin, dolastin, ecteinascidin, and halichondrin) isolated from the marine plants and animals such as microalgae, cyanobacteria, heterotrophic bacteria, invertebrates (e.g., sponges, tunicates, and soft corals) as well as certain other substances that have been tested on cells and experimental animals and used in human chemotherapy.

https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/19/11/3533/pdf

Anticancer Activity of Natural Compounds from Plant and Marine Environment

The NLRP3 inflammasome is a cytosolic multiprotein complex composed of the innate immune receptor protein NLRP3, adapter protein ASC, and inflammatory protease caspase-1 that responds to microbial infection, endogenous danger signals, and environmental stimuli. The assembled NLRP3 inflammasome can activate the protease caspase-1 to induce gasdermin D-dependent pyroptosis and facilitate the release of IL-1β and IL-18, which contribute to innate immune defense and homeostatic maintenance. However, aberrant activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome is associated with the pathogenesis of various inflammatory diseases, such as diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease. Recent studies have revealed that NLRP3 inflammasome activation contributes to not only pyroptosis but also other types of cell death, including apoptosis, necroptosis, and ferroptosis. In addition, various effectors of cell death have been reported to regulate NLRP3 inflammasome activation, suggesting that cell death is closely related to NLRP3 inflammasome activation. In this review, we summarize the inextricable link between NLRP3 inflammasome activation and cell death and discuss potential therapeutics that target cell death effectors in NLRP3 inflammasome-associated diseases.

NLRP3 inflammasome activation and cell death.

The antimalarial drug artemisinin and its derivatives have been explored as potential anticancer agents, but their underlying mechanisms are controversial. In this study, we found that artemisinin compounds can sensitize cancer cells to ferroptosis, a new form of programmed cell death driven by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation. Mechanistically, dihydroartemisinin (DAT) can induce lysosomal degradation of ferritin in an autophagy-independent manner, increasing the cellular free iron level and causing cells to become more sensitive to ferroptosis. Further, by associating with cellular free iron and thus stimulating the binding of iron-regulatory proteins (IRPs) with mRNA molecules containing iron-responsive element (IRE) sequences, DAT impinges on IRP/IRE-controlled iron homeostasis to further increase cellular free iron. Importantly, in both in vitro and a mouse xenograft model in which ferroptosis was triggered in cancer cells by the inducible knockout of GPX4, we found that DAT can augment GPX4 inhibition-induced ferroptosis in a cohort of cancer cells that are otherwise highly resistant to ferroptosis. Collectively, artemisinin compounds can sensitize cells to ferroptosis by regulating cellular iron homeostasis. Our findings can be exploited clinically to enhance the effect of future ferroptosis-inducing cancer therapies.

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Artemisinin compounds sensitize cancer cells to ferroptosis by regulating iron homeostasis

To assess the possibility of using the antimalarial drug artemisinin and its synthetic derivatives as antineoplastic drugs. A Pubmed and Google Scholar (1983–2018) search was performed using the terms artemisinin, cancer, artesunate and Artemisia annua. Case reports and original research articles, review articles, and clinical trials in both humans and animals were evaluated. Both in vitro and in vivo clinical trials and case reports have shown promising activity of the artemisinin drug derivatives in treating certain types of cancer. However, the reported articles are few, and therefore not statistically significant. The minimal toxicity shown in clinical trials and case reports, along with the selective cytotoxic activity of the compounds, make them possible cancer therapies due to the emerging evidence of the drug’s effectiveness.

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3271/6/1/19/pdf

Artemisinin and Its Synthetic Derivatives as a Possible Therapy for Cancer.

There are many types of cell death, each involving multiple and complex molecular events. Cell death can occur accidentally when exposed to extreme physical, chemical, or mechanical conditions, or it can also be regulated, which involves a genetically coded complex machinery to carry out the process. Apoptosis is an example of the latter. Apoptotic cell death can be triggered through different intracellular signalling pathways that lead to morphological changes and eventually cell death. This is a normal and biological process carried out during maturation, remodelling, growth, and development in tissues. To maintain tissue homeostasis, regulatory, and inhibitory mechanisms must control apoptosis. Paradoxically, these same pathways are utilized during infection by distinct intracellular microorganisms to evade recognition by the immune system and therefore survive, reproduce and develop. In cancer, neoplastic cells inhibit apoptosis, thus allowing their survival and increasing their capability to invade different tissues and organs. The purpose of this work is to review the generalities of the molecular mechanisms and signalling pathways involved in apoptosis induction and inhibition. Additionally, we compile the current evidence of apoptosis modulation during cancer and Leishmania infection as a model of apoptosis regulation by an intracellular microorganism.

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3271/6/3/54/pdf

Apoptosis: Activation and Inhibition in Health and Disease

Introduction Sudden Unexpected Infant Death (SUID) is a term that englobes the sudden and unexpected death of an infant less than 12 months, which can be explained by organic or traumatic causes, or that can't be explained such as cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Although many risk factors have been associated with this syndrome, one of the most widely associated and studied are incorrect sleeping techniques and practices. In 2016, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated their safe-sleeping guidelines and sleeping environment recommendations and strategies to prevent SIDS. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study to analyze the sleeping environments in infants that attended both the inpatient and outpatient services at a public pediatric hospital in Mexico City. A 6-item questionnaire was applied to the parent or guardian to assess the sleeping habits of infants in their homes. Results A total of 184 infants were included in the study, with a mean age of 5.87 months. Overall, the number of parents that follow safe sleeping practices was very low, with no parents following all the AAP recommendations, and over 10% not following any. Although there is uncertainty about the pathogenesis of this syndrome, the focus has shifted to prevention, especially regarding the modifiable risk factors. Conclusions It was demonstrated that our population did not know about the proper and safe sleeping techniques. In the nearby future, our goal is for health authorities in our country to implement a strategy to make the AAP recommendations part of government health campaigns.

Sudden Unexpected Infant Death: Review and Analysis of Adherence to Recommendations.

Lepidopterism is a term that refers to a spectrum of medical conditions, typically involving the skin, that result from contact with the adult or larval forms of certain butterflies and moths. There are more than 165,000 species of these insects, however, only about 12 species are known to harm humans, most commonly in the form of contact dermatitis. Among these species, the Megalopyge opercularis, commonly called the "Puss Caterpillar", is known to cause a painful and pruritic cutaneous reaction when its venom encounters the skin. Although caterpillar stings are not a common etiology of dermatological rashes, physicians must perform a detailed history and have a high degree of suspicion to arrive to the correct diagnosis and avoid unnecessary medications and therapeutics. We present a case of a 14-month-old boy who presents to the pediatric clinic with a unilateral red rash on the anterior aspect of the left leg, from the distal thigh to the shin. The parents report that the boy was sitting in the park, when he suddenly started to cry. They state that the rash began to spread and that red marks are growing. The patient's parents brought the caterpillar specimen in a bag, clinching the diagnosis. The patient was treated with antihistamine drugs for symptom relief and was recommended to wash thoroughly the area with soap and water. The patient returned to the clinic four days later and the rash had resolved. When encountering an acute onset rash in a patient with recent exposure to nature environments and other open spaces with trees, lepidopterism should be considered in the differential diagnosis and promptly treated. Furthermore, the physician must educate the patients on how to avoid exposure, and special care should be implemented with asthmatic and atopic patients, because although rare, anaphylactic reactions to these stings have been reported.

/pdf/lepidopterism-case-report-and-review-of-the-literature-33tceop61z.pdf

Lepidopterism: Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Conocimiento sobre la diabetes mellitus tipo 2 en estudiantes universitarios: un estudio transversal y observacional en la Universidad Anáhuac México Campus Norte en la Ciudad de México: un estudio para evaluar el conocimiento en alumnos universitarios

Enrique Konstat-Korzenny

Papers

Artemisinin and Its Synthetic Derivatives as a Possible Therapy for Cancer.

Apoptosis: Activation and Inhibition in Health and Disease

Sudden Unexpected Infant Death: Review and Analysis of Adherence to Recommendations.

Lepidopterism: Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Conocimiento sobre la diabetes mellitus tipo 2 en estudiantes universitarios: un estudio transversal y observacional en la Universidad Anáhuac México Campus Norte en la Ciudad de México: un estudio para evaluar el conocimiento en alumnos universitarios