Abstract: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Chemotherapy is successful in many instances but some patients do not respond satisfactorily. Multi-drug resistance is considered the major cause of failure in chemotherapy treatment. It has been found said resistance is associated with the over expression of type ABC transporters, mainly P-glycoprotein (P-gp). It is now known that P-gp could be modulated by compounds such as green tea and its polyphenols, including (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of EGCG on P-gp gene and protein expression, and its activity in breast cancer cell line. We found that EGCG does cause cell death at concentrations higher than100 µM,can induce apoptosis with low concentrations and necrosis with high ones. EGCG inhibited Pgp protein expression in a dose-dependent manner, 60% with 10µM EGCG. However, no changes were observed in gene expression. We also observed EGCG also inhibited P-gp activity in breast cancer cells, 20% and 90% at doses of 10 and 100 µM respectively. Our results suggest that EGCG could improve the efficacy of breast cancer treatment by increasing the accumulation of chemotherapeutic drugs in cancer cells by blocking P-gp function.

Abstract: Linezolid (LZD) is an oxazolidinone antibiotic agent that acts against gram-positive bacteria. It was recently reported that LZD can induce severe hematologic toxicity, which is thought to result in high LZD concentrations in plasma. Although many factors can affect the disposition of drugs, the binding of drug to plasma proteins, such as albumin and alpha1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), is one of the most important factors due to the competitive displacement of drugs from proteins. However, little is known about the interactions of LZD with these proteins. The aim of this study was to elucidate the binding characteristics of LZD to human serum albumin (HSA) and AGP, including binding parameters and the binding site. Based on the results of fluorescence studies and ultrafiltration experiments, it appears that LZD binds to both HSA and AGP, but the affinity of LZD for both proteins was low. Competitive protein binding analyses using an ultrafilitration method clearly indicated that LZD binds to the digitoxin binding site on HSA and the basic and/or hydrophobic drug binding site on AGP. These detailed analyses of LZD-HSA or LZD-AGP interactions provide valuable information in terms of understanding the pharmacokinetics properties of LZD in clinical settings.

Abstract:
Introduction: Collapsing glomerulopathy is a severe podocyte injury that causes massive proteinuria, renal failure and is resistant to therapy. This disease is most often seen in association with HIV infection. However a growing list of collapsing glomerulonephropathy has been reported to occur in association with other infections, drugs, autoimmune diseases or is classified as idiopathic.
Case presentation: We present the case of a patient with juvenile idiopathic arthritis treated with leflunomide who developed a full blown nephrotic syndrome with normal renal function. She underwent renal biopsy that showed collapsing focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. In the suspicion that leflunomide could be the cause of the glomerulopathy, we decided to stop the drug and to treat the patient with steroids and cyclosporin, achieving a significant reduction of proteinuria.
Conclusion: This is the first report about the development of collapsing glomerulopathy in a patient with juvenile idiopathic arthritis and we cannot exclude a role of the autoimmune disease in its pathogenesis. Remission of nephrotic syndrome was achieved with withdrawal of leflunomide and immunosuppressive treatment. We speculate that leflunomide could have induced the renal disease but the pathogenetic connection between the drug and the renal toxicity remains to be demonstrated.

Nuclear Hormone Receptors (NHR) is implicated in various diseases including diabetes, infertility, muscular atrophy, hypoplasia, and osteoporosis and hormone receptor positive cancers [1]. X-ray crystal and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) structures of NHRs and NHR-ligand complexes have been solved. To date, no high resolution structure of a full-length NHR has been solved.

Abstract: Alopecia is an abnormal hair loss that has become a subject of major concern for cosmetologists and dermatologists worldwide. Drugs available in the market are known to possess various toxic side effects which lead to search for novel drugs for the treatment of alopecia. The objective of the present study was to isolate a non-toxic and non-irritant anti-alopecic compound from Aloe barbadensis Miller. In the present investigation, we have isolated a novel compound using chromatographic techniques and the cytotoxicity, acute dermal irritatancy of the compound was tested. Alopecia was induced in Wistar rats using warfarin at a standard dose and the compound was topically applied on affected area of alopecic Wistar rats. In histology study, A. barbadensis isolated compound showed its strong effect on hair follicle regeneration and qualitative hair growth promotion against warfarin-induced alopecia as compared to minoxidil. This study suggest that the isolated compound can be use as a new anti-alopecic drug as a replacement to minoxidil.