Drugs for the treatment of allergic diseases

The Precious Potential of the Sacred Tree Chamaecyparis obtusa (Siebold & Zucc.) Endl. as a Source of Secondary Metabolites with Broad Biological Applications

Chamaecyparis obtusa (Siebold & Zucc.) Endl., which belongs to the Cupressaceae family, occurs naturally in North America and Asia, especially in Korea, Taiwan and Japan, where it is an evergreen, coniferous, sacred, ethnic tree. It has many useful varieties that are widespread throughout the world and grown for decorative purposes. It is most commonly used as an ornamental plant in homes, gardens or parks. It is also widely used in many areas of the economy; for example, its wood is used in architecture as well as furniture production. In addition, oil extracted from Chamaecyparis obtusa is increasingly used in cosmetology for skin care. Due to its wide economic demand, mainly in Japan, it represents the largest area of plantation forest. Despite this, it is on the red list of endangered species. Its use in ethnopharmacology has led to more and more research in recent years in an attempt to elucidate the potential mechanisms of its various biological activities, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, antidiabetic, antiasthmatic, anti-inflammatory, antiallergic, analgesic and central nervous system effects. It has also been shown that Chamaecyparis obtusa can be used as an insect repellent and an ingredient in plant disease treatment. This thesis provides a comprehensive review of the biological studies to date, looking at different areas of the economic fields of potential use of Chamaecyparis obtusa.

Growing Utilization of Radical Chemistry in the Synthesis of Pharmaceuticals

Our current unhealthy lifestyle and the exponential surge in the population getting affected by a variety of diseases have made pharmaceuticals or drugs an imperative part of life, making the development of innovative strategies for drug discovery or the introduction of refined, cost-effective and modern technologies for the synthesis of clinically used drugs, a need of the hour. Ever since their discovery, free radicals and radical cations or anions as reactive intermediates have captivated the chemists, resulting in an exceptional utilization of these moieties throughout the field of chemical synthesis, owing to their unprecedented and widespread reactivity. Sticking with the idea of not judging the book by its cover, despite the conventional thought process of radicals being unstable and difficult to control entities, scientists and academicians around the globe have done an appreciable amount of work utilizing both persistent as well as transient radicals for a variety of organic transformations, exemplifying them with the synthesis of significant biologically active pharmaceutical ingredients. This review truly accounts for the organic radical transformations including radical addition, radical cascade cyclization, radical/radical cross-coupling, coupling with metal-complexes and radical cations coupling with nucleophiles, that offers fascinating and unconventional approaches towards the construction of intricate structural frameworks of marketed APIs with high atom- and step-economy; complementing the otherwise employed traditional methods. This tutorial review presents a comprehensive package of diverse methods utilized for radical generation, featuring their reactivity to form critical bonds in pharmaceutical total synthesis or in building key starting materials or intermediates of their synthetic journey, acknowledging their excellence, downsides and underlying mechanisms, which are otherwise poorly highlighted in the literature. Despite great achievements over the past few decades in this area, many challenges and obstacles are yet to be unraveled to shorten the distance between the academics and the industry, which are all discussed in summary and outlook.

The Association Between Intestinal Bacteria and Allergic Diseases-Cause or Consequence?

The incidence of allergic disorders has been increasing over the past few decades, especially in industrialized countries. Allergies can affect people of any age. The pathogenesis of allergic diseases is complex and involves genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors, and the response to medication is very variable. For some patients, avoidance is the sole effective therapy, and only when the triggers are identifiable. In recent years, the intestinal microbiota has emerged as a significant contributor to the development of allergic diseases. However, the precise mechanisms related to the effects of the microbiome on the pathogenesis of allergic diseases are unknown. This review summarizes the recent association between allergic disorders and intestinal bacterial dysbiosis, describes the function of gut microbes in allergic disease development from both preclinical and clinical studies, discusses the factors that influence gut microbial diversity and advanced techniques used in microbial analysis. Ultimately, more studies are required to define the host-microbial relationship relevant to allergic disorders and amenable to new therapeutic interventions.

(-)-Asarinin inhibits mast cells activation as a Src family kinase inhibitor

As one of the major global health issues, allergic disease represents a considerable burden both on individual patients and public health. (-)-Asarinin (Asa), a lignan isolated from the roots of Asiasari radix, was reported to be associated with anti-allergic effect, but its efficacy and mechanism of action remain unclear. This study investigated the inhibitory effect of Asa on allergic reaction and its mechanism of action. Asa significantly suppressed Ag-sensitized human mast cell line LAD2 calcium mobilization, degranulation, and secretion. It also could reduce OVA-induced local and system anaphylaxis of mice in vivo. Further experiments revealed that Asa inhibit the mast cell activation by preventing the phosphorylation of Src family kinases. Moreover, after the IgE-dependent murine model of allergic rhinitis was treated with Asa, not only the concentration of histamine, total IgE, and IL-4 decreased, but also the inflammatory infiltrates and nasal mucosa incrassation were attenuated significantly. Meanwhile, Asa also inhibited the activation of mast cells induced by Compound48/80 in vivo and in vitro. In conclusion, Asa may serve as a potential novel Src family kinase inhibitor to inhibit IgE-dependent andIgE-independent allergic reaction and treat anaphylactic disease.

Anti-allergic properties of a new all-D synthetic immunoglobulin-binding peptide

Using a combinatorial chemistry approach, we identified a tetrameric tripeptide, denoted Protein A Mimetic (PAM) or TG19318, able to bind to immunoglobulins of different classes and species. The inverso variant, with the tripeptide in the all-D configuration (D-PAM or TG19320), is described as retaining binding properties to Ig. This peptide has now been assayed as a binder for E class immunoglobulins, in linear and competitive ELISA experiments, dot-blot and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analyses. We show that D-PAM binds IgE with high specificity and selectivity, the interaction being sufficient to inhibit anaphylactic release of beta-hexosaminidase from RBL 2H3 cells, with an IC50 value of 10 microg/mL. Intradermal administration of D-PAM suppresses PCA in the rat, with an IC50 of 1.25 microg/kg dose of peptide, while its intraperitoneal injection inhibits mouse PCA with an IC50 of about 7 mg/kg and an efficacy comparable to that of ketotifen. Similarly, D-PAM inhibits ACA in the mouse, with 50% suppression at 10 mg/kg. The results presented here show that the peptide is active on the studied models, with effective doses below toxicity level, hence the molecule is a promising candidate for development of a new class of anti-allergic drugs.

Pharmacology of airway inflammation in asthma and COPD

The current asthma therapies are not cures and symptoms return soon after treatment is stopped even after long term treatment. Although inhaled glucocorticoids are highly effective in controlling airway inflammation in asthma, they are ineffective in the small group of patients with glucocorticoid-dependent and -resistant asthma. With very few exceptions, COPD is caused by tobacco smoking, and smoking cessation is the only truly effective treatment of COPD available. Current pharmacological treatment of COPD is unsatisfactory, as it does not significantly influence the severity of the disease or its natural course. Glucocorticoids are scarcely effective in COPD patients without concomitant asthma. Bronchodilators improves symptoms and quality of life, in COPD patients, but, with the exception of tiotropium, they do not significantly influence the natural course of the disease. Theophylline is the only drug which has been demonstrated to have a significant effect on airway inflammation in patients with COPD. Here we review the pharmacology of currently used antiinflammatory therapies for asthma and COPD and their proposed mechanisms of action. Recent understanding of disease mechanisms in severe steroid-dependent and -resistant asthma and in COPD, has lead to the development of novel compounds, which are in various stages of clinical development. We review the current status of some of these new potential drugs.

The combined effect of topical CX-659S, a novel diaminouracil derivative, with topical corticosteroid on the three types of allergic responses in mice or guinea pigs

CX-659S ((S)-6-amino-5-(6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxamido)-3-methyl-1-phenyl-2,4(1H,3H)-pyrimidinedione), a newly discovered anti-inflammatory compound, exerts inhibitory effects against picryl chloride-, oxazolone-, and dinitrochlorobenzene-induced acute contact hypersensitivity responses (CHRs) characterized by Th1-type reactions. Furthermore, this compound suppressed chronic CHRs characterized by Th2-type reactions, which is well known to mimic many, if not all, events occurring within the lesional skin of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). The present study was conducted to determine the combined effect of topical CX-659S with topical corticosteroid on immediate type (ITR), late type (LTR), and delayed type hypersensitivity (DTHR) allergic reactions that are involved in AD. An ineffective dose of CX-659S (0.03 mg/ear) combined with betamethasone valerate (BV) significantly potentiated inhibitory activity of BV alone (0.1 micro g/ear and 0.3Shizuokag/ear) on both the ITR and the LTR in mice with the ovalbumin (OVA)-induced biphasic cutaneous reaction. Furthermore, the combined effect of CX-659S with BV was also observed on dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB)-induced DTHR in guinea pigs. These results indicate that CX-659S has a combined effect with corticosteroids on every ITR, LTR, and DTHR. Proper treatment with corticosteroids for a safe and effective treatment of AD is needed. Thus, the combination therapy of topical CX-659S with topical corticosteroid would be one of the potential approaches for devising a proper treatment with corticosteroids.

Possible involvement of suppression of Th2 differentiation in the anti-allergic effect of Sho-seiryu-to in mice

The clinical effectiveness of the Kampo medicine Sho-seiryu-to (SST) has recently been demonstrated in a double-blind randomized study of allergic asthma and rhinitis. We investigated the effect of SST on a type 1 allergic model in mice. Ovalbumin (OVA)-induced sneezing and the total and OVA-specific IgE levels were significantly suppressed with SST at 1.0 g/kg, but that of OVA-specific IgG(2a) was not. In the splenocytes isolated from SST-administered mice, OVA-induced interleukin (IL)-4 production decreased while interferon (IFN)-gamma production was not. The co-culture experiments using purified CD4(+)T cells and antigen-presenting cells (APCs) suggested that SST influenced both cell types. Flow-cytometric analysis showed that SST suppressed the number of IL-4 producing CD4(+)T cells but not the number of IFN-gamma producing CD4(+)T cells. The CD86(+) major histocompatibility complex class II(+) (MHC II)(+) cells and CD28(+)CD4(+)T cells were decreased by SST treatment, while CD80(+)MHC II(+) cells, CD40(+)MHC II(+) cells and CD154(+)CD4(+)T cells showed no change. These data suggested that SST may suppress IL-4 production in CD4(+)T cells via influencing CD28-CD86 interaction. In addition to the previously reported inhibitory activity on histamine release, suppression of Th2 differentiation at the stage of APC-CD4(+)T cell interaction may be involved in the anti-allergic effects of SST.