Anticancer activity of a 1,4-dihydropyridine in DMBA-induced mouse skin tumor model

Evaluation of therapeutic effects of camel milk against the hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity induced by fipronil and lead acetate and their mixture

Elevated environmental pollution of lead and fipronil is blamed for chronic toxicity. Fipronil and lead acetate are commonly used, but now no adequate data is available concerning the harmful side effects of their mixture. The present work investigated the curative effects of camel milk against lead and fipronil subchronic toxicity individually and as mixture with different doses (1/30 and 1/60 LD50) on male albino rats by oral ingestion. Rats were divided into eight groups; the first group (G1) was the normal health control. G2, G4, G6, and G8 are the normal health groups camel milk. G3 and G4 are ingested by 1/30 LD50 of the fipronil formulation. G5 and G6 are ingested by 1/30 LD50 of lead acetate. G7 and G8 are ingested by 1/60 LD50 of lead acetate and 1/60 LD50 of fipronil formulation. The lead acetate or fipronil and their mixture significantly induced destructive damage to the kidneys and liver function parameters as well as lipid profile and oxidative stress in both organs. Serum LDH activity increased under the same conditions. Most harmful effects were clearly observed in G7 followed by G3 and G5. Histological examination revealed hepatic degeneration and nephropathy in intoxicated rats relative to normal health control, as shown by hypertrophy of hepatocytes in addition to karyomegaly, binucleation, and mild individual cell coagulative and mild hypertrophy, as well as a vacuolar degeneration of tubular epithelium in the kidneys. Both toxicants in their mixture showed more harmful than those of their individual ones. Camel milk treatments into intoxicated animals (lead, fipronil, and mixture groups) attenuated all evaluated parameters, alleviated the harmful influences of the mixture of lead acetate and fipronil, and improved the biomarkers of their oxidative stress.

The Challenging Melanoma Landscape: From Early Drug Discovery to Clinical Approval

Melanoma is recognized as the most dangerous type of skin cancer, with high mortality and resistance to currently used treatments. To overcome the limitations of the available therapeutic options, the discovery and development of new, more effective, and safer therapies is required. In this review, the different research steps involved in the process of antimelanoma drug evaluation and selection are explored, including information regarding in silico, in vitro, and in vivo experiments, as well as clinical trial phases. Details are given about the most used cell lines and assays to perform both two- and three-dimensional in vitro screening of drug candidates towards melanoma. For in vivo studies, murine models are, undoubtedly, the most widely used for assessing the therapeutic potential of new compounds and to study the underlying mechanisms of action. Here, the main melanoma murine models are described as well as other animal species. A section is dedicated to ongoing clinical studies, demonstrating the wide interest and successful efforts devoted to melanoma therapy, in particular at advanced stages of the disease, and a final section includes some considerations regarding approval for marketing by regulatory agencies. Overall, considerable commitment is being directed to the continuous development of optimized experimental models, important for the understanding of melanoma biology and for the evaluation and validation of novel therapeutic strategies.

Evaluation of Physicochemical Properties of Amphiphilic 1,4-Dihydropyridines and Preparation of Magnetoliposomes

This study was focused on the estimation of the targeted modification of 1,4-DHP core with (1) different alkyl chain lengths at 3,5-ester moieties of 1,4-DHP (C₁₂, C₁₄ and C₁₆); (2) N-substituent at position 1 of 1,4-DHP (N-H or N-CH₃); (3) substituents of pyridinium moieties at positions 2 and 6 of 1,4-DHP (H, 4-CN and 3-Ph); (4) substituent at position 4 of 1,4-DHP (phenyl and napthyl) on physicochemical properties of the entire molecules and on the characteristics of the obtained magnetoliposomes formed by them. It was shown that thermal behavior of the tested 1,4-DHP amphiphiles was related to the alkyl chains length, the elongation of which decreased their transition temperatures. The properties of 1,4-DHP amphiphile monolayers and their polar head areas were determined. The packing parameters of amphiphiles were in the 0.43–0.55 range. It was demonstrated that the structure of 1,4-DHPs affected the physicochemical properties of compounds. “Empty” liposomes and magnetoliposomes were prepared from selected 1,4-DHP amphiphiles. It was shown that the variation of alkyl chains length or the change of substituents at positions 4 of 1,4-DHP did not show a significant influence on properties of liposomes.