Substantiation of a clopidogrel metabolism-associated gene (CYP2C19) variation among healthy individuals

Background: It is essential to investigate the prevalence of CYP2C19 alleles that affect drug metabolism. This study measures the allelic and genotypic frequencies of CYP2C19 loss-of-function (LoF) alleles CYP2C19∗2, CYP2C19∗3, and gain-of-function (GoF) alleles CYP2C19∗17 in the general population. Methodology: The study involved 300 healthy subjects between the ages of 18 and 85 recruited by simple random sampling. Allele-specific touchdown PCR was employed to identify the various alleles. The genotype and allele frequencies were calculated and checked for Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. The phenotypic prediction of ultra-rapid metabolizer (UM = ∗17/∗17), extensive metabolizer (EM = ∗1/∗17, ∗1/∗1), intermediate metabolizer (IM = ∗1/∗2, ∗1/∗3, ∗2/∗17) and poor metabolizer (PM = ∗2/∗2, ∗2/∗3, ∗3/∗3) was made based on their genotype. Results: The allele frequency of CYP2C19∗2, CYP2C19∗3, and CYP2C19∗17 was 0.365, 0.0033, and 0.18, respectively. The IM phenotype predominated with an overall frequency of 46.67%, including 101 subjects with ∗1/∗2, two subjects with ∗1/∗3, and 37 subjects with ∗2/∗17 genotype. This was followed by EM phenotype with an overall frequency of 35%, including 35 subjects with ∗1/∗17 and 70 subjects with ∗1/∗1 genotype. PM phenotype had an overall frequency of 12.67%, including 38 subjects with ∗2/∗2 genotype, and UM phenotype had an overall frequency of 5.67%, including 17 subjects with ∗17/∗17 genotype. Conclusion: Given the high allelic frequency of PM in the study population, a pre-treatment test to identify the individual's genotype may be recommended to decide the dosage, monitor the drug response, and avoid adverse drug reactions

Denitrosylation of HDAC2 by targeting Nrf2 restores glucocorticosteroid sensitivity in macrophages from COPD patients

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is caused primarily by cigarette smoking, is a major health problem worldwide. The progressive decline in lung function that occurs in COPD is a result of persistent inflammation of the airways and destruction of the lung parenchyma. Despite the key role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of COPD, treatment with corticosteroids — normally highly effective antiinflammatory drugs — has little therapeutic benefit. This corticosteroid resistance is largely caused by inactivation of histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2), which is critical for the transrepressive activity of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) that mediates the antiinflammatory effect of corticosteroids. Here, we show that in alveolar macrophages from patients with COPD, S-nitrosylation of HDAC2 is increased and that this abolishes its GR-transrepression activity and promotes corticosteroid insensitivity. Cys-262 and Cys-274 of HDAC2 were found to be the targets of S-nitrosylation, and exogenous glutathione treatment of macrophages from individuals with COPD restored HDAC2 activity. Treatment with sulforaphane, a small-molecule activator of the transcription factor nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (NRF2), was also able to denitrosylate HDAC2, restoring dexamethasone sensitivity in alveolar macrophages from patients with COPD. These effects of sulforaphane were glutathione dependent. We conclude that NRF2 is a novel drug target for reversing corticosteroid resistance in COPD and other corticosteroid-resistant inflammatory diseases

Novel natural product-based cinnamates and their thio and thiono analogs as potent inhibitors of cell adhesion molecules on human endothelial cells

In the present study, we report the design and synthesis of novel analogs of cinnamates, thiocinnamates and thionocinnamates and evaluated the potencies of these analogs to inhibit TNF-α induced ICAM-1 expression on human endothelial cells. By using whole cell-ELISA, our screening data demonstrated that ethyl 3',4',5'-trimethoxythionocinnamate (ETMTC) is the most potent inhibitor of TNF-α induced ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and E-selectin. As functional consequences, ETMTC abrogated TNF-α induced adhesion of neutrophils to the endothelial monolayer. Structure-activity relationship studies revealed the critical role of the chain-length of the alkyl group in the alcohol moiety, number of methoxy groups in the aromatic ring of the cinnamoyl moiety and the presence of the α, β- C-C double bond in the thiocinnamates and thionocinnamates

Arylalkyl ketones, benzophenones, desoxybenzoins and chalcones inhibit TNF-α induced expression of ICAM-1: structure-activity analysis

The interaction between leukocytes and the vascular endothelial cells (EC) via cellular adhesion molecules plays an important role in the pathogenesis of various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Small molecules that block these interactions have been targeted as potential therapeutic agents against acute and chronic inflammatory diseases. In an effort to identify potent intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) inhibitors, a large number of arylalkyl ketones, benzophenones, desoxybenzoins and chalcones and their analogs (54 in total) have been synthesized and screened for their ICAM-1 inhibitory activity. The structure-activity relationship studies of these compounds identified three potent chalcone derivatives and also demonstrated the possible mechanism for their ICAM-1 inhibitory activities. The most active compound was found to be 79

Virtual Screening for Potential Phytobioactives as Therapeutic Leads to Inhibit NQO1 for Selective Anticancer Therapy

NAD(P)H:quinone acceptor oxidoreductase-1 (NQO1) is a ubiquitous flavin adenine dinucleotide-dependent flavoprotein that promotes obligatory two-electron reductions of quinones, quinonimines, nitroaromatics, and azo dyes. NQO1 is a multifunctional antioxidant enzyme whose expression and deletion are linked to reduced and increased oxidative stress susceptibilities. NQO1 acts as both a tumor suppressor and tumor promoter; thus, the inhibition of NQO1 results in less tumor burden. In addition, the high expression of NQO1 is associated with a shorter survival time of cancer patients. Inhibiting NQO1 also enables certain anticancer agents to evade the detoxification process. In this study, a series of phytobioactives were screened based on their chemical classes such as coumarins, flavonoids, and triterpenoids for their action on NQO1. The in silico evaluations were conducted using PyRx virtual screening tools, where the flavone compound, Orientin showed a better binding affinity score of −8.18 when compared with standard inhibitor Dicumarol with favorable ADME properties. An MD simulation study found that the Orientin binding to NQO1 away from the substrate-binding site induces a potential conformational change in the substrate-binding site, thereby inhibiting substrate accessibility towards the FAD-binding domain. Furthermore, with this computational approach we are offering a scope for validation of the new therapeutic components for their in vitro and in vivo efficacy against NQO1