Inflammation has invaded the field of psychiatry. The finding that cytokines are elevated in various affective and psychotic disorders brings to the forefront the necessity of identifying the precise research domain criteria (RDoCs) that inflammation is responsible for. This task is certainly the most advanced in major depressive disorders. The reason is that a dearth of clinical and preclinical studies has demonstrated that inflammation can cause symptoms of depression and conversely, cytokine antagonists can attenuate symptoms of depression in medical and psychiatric patients with chronic low grade inflammation. Important knowledge has been gained on the symptom dimensions that inflammation is driving and the mechanisms of action of cytokines in the brain, providing new targets for drug research and development. The aim of the book "Inflammation-Associated Depression" is to present this field of research and its implications in a didactic and comprehensive manner to basic and clinical scientists, psychiatrists, physicians, and students at the graduate level.

Reports on the emergence and prevalence of resistant bacterial infections in hospitals and communities raise concerns that we may soon no longer be able to rely on antibiotics as a way to control infectious diseases. Effective medical care would require the constant introduction of novel antibiotics to keep up in the "arms race" with resistant pathogens. This book closely examines the latest developments in the field of antibacterial research and development. It starts with an overview of the growing prevalence of resistant Gram-positive and Gram- negative pathogens, including their various resistance mechanisms, prevalence, risk factors and therapeutic options. The focus then shifts to a comprehensive description of all major chemical classes with antibacterial properties, their chemistry, mode of action, and the generation of analogs; information that provides the basis for the design of improved molecules to defeat microbial infections and combat the emerging resistances. In closing, recently developed compounds already in clinical use, those in preclinical or first clinical studies, and a number of promising targets to be exploited in the discovery stage are discussed.

This volume collects a variety of techniques and methodologies developed to facilitate research on integrin biology and to identify ideal targets and approaches for the treatment of multiple organ diseases, with a focus on cancer in particular. The chapters consecutively describe the tools for structural analysis, identification and detection of integrins as biomarkers, and include thorough laboratory and clinically-related methods on different strategies for generation, synthesis and evaluation of probes, carriers, peptides or small particles for integrin targeting, imaging, and drug delivery. As part of the Methods in Pharmacology and Toxicology series, this book contains the practical details that are invaluable in the laboratory. Authoritative and advantageous, Integrin Targeting Systems for Tumor Diagnosis and Therapy serves readers from a wide spectrum, including researchers and students seeking an overview of existing developments, as well as leading professionals aiming to become more familiar with integrin-related innovative technologies in cancer research.

Spanning from discoveries in fundamental immunology to industrial and commercial concerns, the study of vaccine adjuvants has developed into an exciting area of work with great, vital potential in innovating techniques in which adjuvants may steer the immune system towards the responses required by unmet vaccination needs. In Vaccine Adjuvants: Methods and Protocols, expert researchers in the field provide clear and concise guidance on how to go about assessing the activity of adjuvant products. Rather than describing individual adjuvants, the volume strives to include detailed, practical information on measuring the responses produced by adjuvants in order to be relevant to the widest array of experiments. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and notes on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and versatile, Vaccine Adjuvants: Methods and Protocols will enable those already pursuing vaccine adjuvant research, while also serving to stimulate discussion on how to best standardize adjuvant testing in order to facilitate meaningful comparisons, and above all, to aid in the prediction of which new products will most effectively and safely help to solve the current challenges in vaccination.

The imbalance between rapidly proliferating tumor cells and inadequate and inefficient tumor vasculature leads to a decrease in oxygen levels (hypoxia and/or anoxia) in tumor tissues. Intra-tumor hypoxia profoundly affects the biological behavior of cancer cells, which become resistant to conventional therapies and acquire a more invasive and metastatic phenotype.Hypoxia is a hallmark of the malignant phenotype and a key feature of the tumor microenvironment. Hypoxia Inducible Factor 1 (HIF-1) is a master regulator of the transcriptional response to oxygen deprivation.HIF triggers the expression of genes whose products induce angiogenesis, decrease oxygen consumption, switch metabolism to glycolysis, maintain a stem cell phenotype and select for more invasive and metastatic cells. Therapeutic approaches targeting HIF, directly or downstream mediators of its transcriptional activity, are being developed. Intra-tumor hypoxia is atopic hasbeen gaining scientific interestover the last few years for its wide involvement in many physiological and pathological processes.
This volume will cover the latest research and translational aspects associated with intra-tumor hypoxia, along with opportunities for drug development offered by this unique feature of the tumor microenvironment. The ongoing efforts to translate our understanding of the biology underlying intra-tumor hypoxia in viable therapeutic options face many challenges, but this book will provide an opportunity for an in-depth analysis of the fundamental mechanisms implicated in the adaption to low oxygen levels and will scrutinize the potential for opportunities that are being pursued in both research and the drug development industry."

This book systematically covers immunoassays for food, presenting detailed approaches such as antigen design, food matrix pre-treatment and detection format optimization for 9 classes of food hazards and nutrition constituents. Offering ideas on how to improve the efficiency of recognized xenobiotics and food contents, this practical book also describes the discovery and utilization of novel immune agents like aptamer and molecular imprinted polymers in food analysis. It is intended for a broad range of areas, including biologists and food chemists, and is sure to become a key reference resource for students and professionals alike.

In this volume, the specific challenges and problems facing the evaluation of new oncology agents are explored with regards to pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic modeling and clinical pharmacology development strategies. This book delivers, with an emphasis on the oncology therapeutic area, the goals set in the first three volumes: namely - to provide clinical pharmacologists practical insights for the application of pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics for new drug development strategies. Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic concepts for tyrosine kinases, the evaluation of cardiac repolarization prolongation through QTc interval effects, efficacy- and safety-response analyses to support new drug approvals, clinical and preclinical tumor growth modeling, and flat- vs weight-based dose selection are showcased from an oncology clinical pharmacologist's point-of-view. Oncology development strategies are surveyed for new FDA-approvals to identify patterns in expectations at time of first approval. The special considerations necessary to address combination drug development, metronomics, biosimilars and breakthrough therapies are also presented.

This book addresses the therapeutic strategies to target mitochondrial metabolism in diseases where the function of that organelle is compromised, and it discusses the effective strategies used to create mitochondrial-targeted agents that can become commercially available drug delivery platforms. The consistent growth of research focused in understanding the multifaceted role of mitochondria in cellular metabolism, controlling pathways related with cell death, and ionic/redox regulation has extended the research of mitochondrial chemical-biological interactions to include various pharmacological and toxicological applications. Not only does the book extensively cover basic mitochondrial physiology, but it also links the molecular interactions within these pathways to a variety of diseases. It is one of the first books to combine state-of-the-art reviews regarding basic mitochondrial biology, the role of mitochondrial alterations in different diseases, and the importance of that organelle as a target for pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions to improve human health. The different chapters highlight the chemical-biological linkages of the mitochondria in context with drug development and clinical applications.

This book covers research studies of aloe by the CAP (Creation Aloe Pharmaceuticals) team. It details the various physiological effects of those components for possible use as health foods or drugs. The team was organized into the isolation and analysis group, which purified many components in terms of low molecular weight compounds, carbohydrates, proteins present in aloe, and the assay group, which determined the efficacy of those components.

The demand for traditional medicines, herbal health products, herbal pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, food supplements and herbal cosmetics etc. is increasing globally due to the growing recognition of these products as mainly non-toxic, having lesser side effects, better compatibility with physiological flora, and availability at affordable prices. In the last century, medical science has made incredible advances all over the globe. In spite of global reorganization and a very sound history of traditional uses, the promotion of traditional medicine faces a number of challenges around the globe, primarily in developed nations. Regulation and safety is the high concern for the promotion of traditional medicine. Quality issues and quality control, pharmacogivilane, scientific investigation and validation, intellectual property rights, and biopiracy are some key issues that restrain the advancement of traditional medicine around the globe. This book contains diverse and unique chapters, explaining in detail various subsections like phytomolecule, drug discovery and modern techniques, standardization and validation of traditional medicine, and medicinal plants, safety and regulatory issue of traditional medicine, pharmaceutical excipients from nature, plants for future. The contents of the book will be useful for the academicians, researchers and people working in the area of traditional medicine.

In this concise and systematic book, a team of experts select the most important, cutting-edge technologies used in drug delivery systems. They take into account significant drugs, new technologies such as nanoparticles, and therapeutic applications. The chapters present step-by-step laboratory protocols following the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology(TM) series format, offering readily reproducible results vital for pharmaceutical physicians and scientists.

Medicinal Natural Products: A Disease-Focused Approach, Volume 55 in the Annual Reports in Medicinal Chemistry series, highlights the applications of natural products as medicines or prospective medicinal leads for the treatment of various human ailments. Each chapter covers a particular disease area or medical condition, with chapters in this new release covering Medicinal Natural Products - An Introduction, Anticancer Natural Products, Antimicrobial Natural Products, Antimalarial and Antiparasitic Natural Products, Anti-inflammatory Natural Products, Neuroprotective Natural Products, Hepatoprotective Natural Products, Nephroprotective Natural Products, Cancer Chemopreventive Natural Products, Antipsoriatic Natural Products, Medicinal Natural Products in Osteoporosis, Antidiabetic Natural Products, Anti-obesity Natural Products, and much more.

Sphingolipids are lipid components of the plasma membrane in eukaryotic cells. They have an important function in signaling mechanisms in the cell. This book on sphingolipids provides insights into the basics of sphingolipid biology and drug development, with a particular emphasis on the sphingolipid derivative ceramide. In the first part basic functions of sphingolipids are described, as well as the genetics of important enzymes, sphingolipid metabolism and synthesis. The second part of this first volume focuses on drug development and pharmacology. The book is intended for scientists in pharmacology, biochemistry and cell biology with a focus on biomedical research as well as for clinicians working in pharmacology, oncology, cardiology, neurology and infectious disease. Together with Volume 216 by the same editors, the collection represents a unique, comprehensive work on sphingolipids, providing information on both sphingolipids basic biology (including synthesis, metabolism and cell biology) and their important function in a (patho-)physiological context."

Doping in sports and the fight against it has gained increasing attention in recent years. The pharmacological basis for a possible performance enhancement in competitive sport through the administration of prohibited substances and methods as well as the analytical disclosure of such practices are comprehensively covered in 21 contributions by outstanding and distinctive authors.

The development of innovative drugs is becoming more difficult while relying on empirical approaches. This inspired all major pharmaceutical companies to pursue alternative model-based paradigms. The key question is: How to find innovative compounds and, subsequently, appropriate dosage regimens?

Written from the industry perspective and based on many years of experience, this book offers:

- Concepts for creation of drug-disease models, introduced and supplemented with extensive MATLAB programs

- Guidance for exploration and modification of these programs to enhance the understanding of key principles

- Usage of differential equations to pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic and (patho-) physiologic problems thereby acknowledging their dynamic nature

- A range of topics from single exponential decay to adaptive dosing, from single subject exploration to clinical trial simulation, and from empirical to mechanistic disease modeling.

Students with an undergraduate mathematical background or equivalent education, interest in life sciences and skills in a high-level programming language such as MATLAB, are encouraged to engage in model-based pharmaceutical research and development.

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors have played a key role in the advancement of knowledge of pharmacology and neurotransmission since the inception of studies in these fields, and the effects of naturally occurring drugs acting on muscarinic receptors were known and exploited for both therapeutic and non-therapeutic purposes for hundreds of years before the existence of the receptors themselves was recognized. This volume presents a broad yet detailed review of current knowledge of muscarinic receptors that will be valuable both to long-time muscarinic investigators and to those new to the field. It describes the detailed insights that have been obtained on the structure, function, and cell biology of muscarinic receptors. This volume also describes physiological analyses of muscarinic receptors and their roles in regulating the function of the brain and of a variety of peripheral tissues. This volume shows how the study of muscarinic receptors continues to provide new and surprising insights not just to the cholinergic system but to the broad areas of neurobiology, cell biology, pharmacology, and therapeutics.

The extremely potent substance botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) has attracted much interest in diverse fields. Originally identified as cause for the rare but deadly disease botulism, military and terrorist intended to misuse this sophisticated molecule as biological weapon. This caused its classification as select agent category A by the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention and the listing in the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. Later, the civilian use of BoNT as long acting peripheral muscle relaxant has turned this molecule into an indispensable pharmaceutical world wide with annual revenues >$1.5 billion. Also basic scientists value the botulinum neurotoxin as molecular tool for dissecting mechanisms of exocytosis. This book will cover the most recent molecular details of botulinum neurotoxin, its mechanism of action as well as its detection and application.

Chemical Drug Design provides a compact overview on recent advances in this rapidly developing field. With contributions on in silico drug design, natural product based compounds, as well as on ligand- and structure-based approaches, the authors present innovative methods and techniques for identifying and synthetically designing novel drugs.

This volume will address an important emergent area within the field of immunomics: the discovery of antigens and adjuvants within the context of reverse vaccinology. Conventional approaches to vaccine design and development requires pathogens to be cultivated in the laboratory and the immunogenic molecules within them to be identifiable. Conventional vaccinology is no longer universally successful, particularly for recalcitrant pathogens. By using genomic information we can study vaccine development in silico: 'reverse vaccinology', can identify candidate subunits vaccines by identifying antigenic proteins and by using equally rational approaches to identify novel immune response-enhancing adjuvants.

The book is oriented towards undergraduates science and engineering students; postgraduates and researchers pursuing the field of microbiology, biotechnology, chemical - biochemical engineering and pharmacy. Various applications of microorganisms have been covered broadly and have been appropriately reflected in depth in 12 different chapters. The book begins with an insight to the diverse niche of microorganisms which have been explored and exploited in development of various biotechnological products and green processes. Further, how these microorganisms have been genetically modified to improve the desired traits for achieving optimal production of microbially derived products is discussed in the second chapter. Major route of production of microbially derived products and processes is through fermentation technology and therefore due emphasis on different aspects of fermentation technology has been given in the subsequent chapter. The development and deployment of biopesticides and biofertilizers which find tremendous application have been separately discussed under agricultural applications. Application of microbes for the removal of pollutants, recovery of metals and oils has also been discussed under environmental applications. The role of microbial systems in development of fermented foods and beverages have also been discussed in Chapter 6. The application of microbes in production of commodity chemicals and fine chemicals has also been discussed in separate chapters. A chapter has been dedicated to the tremendous applications of microbially produced enzymes in different industrial sectors. Another unique facet of this book is explaining the different methods by which desired traits of microorganisms have been improved for their efficacious and economical exploitation in the industry. A chapter is dedicated to exploitation of microorganisms in development of vaccines for human and veterinary use. Finally, the last chapter discusses the role of immobilization in optimization of industrial processes and development of microbial biosensors for industrial applications. Thus, this book is a holistic approach providing information on the present applications of microorganisms.