Structure–Activity Relationship of Terpenes with Anti‐Inflammatory Profile – A Systematic Review

Inflammation is a complex biological response that in spite of having available treatments, their side effects limit their usefulness. Because of this, natural products have been the subject of incessant studies, among which the class of terpenes stands out. They have been the source of study for the development of anti‐inflammatory drugs, once their chemical diversity is well suited to provide skeleton for future anti‐inflammatory drugs. This systematic review reports the studies present in the literature that evaluate the anti‐inflammatory activity of terpenes suffering any change in their structures, assessing whether these changes also brought changes in their effects. The search terms anti‐inflammatory agents, terpenes, and structure–activity relationship were used to retrieve English language articles in SCOPUS, PUBMED and EMBASE published between January 2002 and August 2013. Twenty‐seven papers were found concerning the structural modification of terpenes with the evaluation of anti‐inflammatory activity. The data reviewed here suggest that modified terpenes are an interesting tool for the development of new anti‐inflammatory drugs.     

Potential role for valproate in the treatment of high--risk brain tumors of childhood-results from a retrospective observational cohort study

Although substantial progress has been made in pediatric brain tumor management, patients with brainstem tumors and high-grade gliomas, as well as patients less than 3 years of age with high-risk malignant tumors, have a poorer prognosis. The authors have been treating these patients with radiotherapy and standard carboplatin and vincristine chemotherapy. Since January 2007 the authors have been using valproate as anticonvulsant for prophylaxis. The authors performed a retrospective cohort analysis of pediatric patients with high-risk brain tumors treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and valproate prophylaxis, comparing this group with a historical control. The 2007-2008 group was comprised of 22 patients, 15 with brainstem tumors (7 diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma [DIPG], 3 focal, the remaining infiltrating with a solid portion), 4 with diencephalic tumors (2 thalamic), and 3 with supratentorial high-grade tumors (1 glioblastoma, 1 recurrent grade III ependymoma, 1 with gliomatosis). There were 15 patients alive (68%) after a mean follow-up time of 19 months. Survival function comparison by log rank test was highly significant (P = .004) with a hazard ratio of 0.31 (0.14-0.70). Radiological response showed 3 complete responses (14%), 8 partial responses (36%), 5 stable diseases (23%), and 5 progresssive diseases (23%). The authors hypothesize that valproate may have potentiated the antiangiogenic effect of vincristine, diminished expression of resistance to carboplatin, and sensitized tumor cells to radiotherapy. The authors suggest that clinical trials of carboplatin and vincristine associated with oral continuous low-dose valproate are indicated for pediatric patients with high-risk brain tumor.     

Early exposure of dams to a westernized diet has long-term consequences on food intake and physiometabolic homeostasis of the rat offspring

This study evaluated the long-term effects of a westernized diet during pregnancy and lactation. Female Wistar rats (n?=?12) were divided into two groups according to their food intake, namely, control (C) or westernized (W) diet, throughout pregnancy/lactation. On the 21st day, the male pups were weaned on a standard diet as follows: Control diet (CC) (n?=?8) and westernized diet in perinatal life followed by control diet post weaning (WC) (n?=?8). The levels of fasting (12?h) serum glucose, triglycerides (TG), and total cholesterol and fraction in the pups were determined. During weaning, the WC group showed 14% greater body weight (p?相似文献   

Physical activity in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease: Overview updated

Although the observed progress in the cardiovascular disease treatment, the incidence of new and recurrent coronary artery disease remains elevated and constitutes the leading cause of death in the developed countries. Three-quarters of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases could be prevented with adequate changes in lifestyle, including increased daily physical activity. New evidence confirms that there is an inverse dose-response relationship between physical activity and cardiovascular disease and mortality risk. However, participation in moderate to vigorous physical activity may not fully attenuate the independent effect of sedentary activities on increased risk for cardiovascular diseases. Physical activity also plays an important role in secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases by reducing the impact of the disease, slowing its progress and preventing recurrence. Nonetheless, most of eligible cardiovascular patients still do not benefit from secondary prevention/cardiac rehabilitation programs. The present review draws attention to the importance of physical activity in the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases. It also addresses the mechanisms by which physical activity and regular exercise can improve cardiovascular health and reduce the burden of the disease.     

Retrospective evaluation of the outcomes of children with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma treated with radiochemotherapy and valproic acid in a single center

Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma is a pediatric oncologic disease with dismal prognosis and no effective treatment. Since 2007, our patients have been using valproic acid as prophylactic anticonvulsant. We have undertaken a retrospective study in order to evaluate the influence of valproate in the outcomes of children with this disease in our center. Patients were treated with weekly carboplatin and vincristine and received conformal radiotherapy, either concurrent or sequential. Event-free survival and overall survival of patients not treated with valproic acid were 6.5 and 7.8 months. Accelerated failure time model (a parametric multivariate regression test for time-to-failure data) showed a statistically significant superiority of the median event-free survival of treated patients (6.5 vs. 9.5 months in treated patients; HR 0.54–95 % CI 0.33–0.87; p < 0.05) and also of overall survival (7.8 vs. 13.4 months in treated patients; HR 0.60–95 % CI 0.37–0.98; p = 0.05).