May 20th, 2011 by David Kroll, Ph.D. in Health Tips, Research
No Comments »
A very well-written review of an orally-active drug for multiple sclerosis has just appeared in the April 25th issue of the Journal of Natural Products, a joint publication of the American Chemical Society and the American Society of Pharmacognosy.
The review, Fingolimod (FTY720): A Recently Approved Multiple Sclerosis Drug Based on a Fungal Secondary Metabolite, is co-authored by Cherilyn R. Strader, Cedric J. Pearce, and Nicholas H. Oberlies. In the interest of full disclosure, the latter two gentlemen are research collaborators of mine from Mycosynthetix, Inc. (Hillsborough, NC) and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. My esteemed colleague and senior author, Dr. Oberlies, modestly deflected my request to blog about the publication of this review.
So, I am instead writing this post to promote the excellent work of his student and first author, Cherilyn Strader. As of [Wednesday] morning, this review article is first on the list of most-read articles in the Journal. This status is noteworthy because the review has moved ahead of even the famed David Newman and Gordon Cragg review of natural product-sourced drugs of the last 25 years, the JNP equivalent of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon (the album known for its record 14-year stay on the Billboard music charts.). Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
June 3rd, 2010 by Steve Novella, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
No Comments »
The development of drugs and other treatments for specific symptoms or conditions relies heavily on either serendipity (the chance finding of a beneficial effect) or on an understanding of underlying mechanisms.
In pain, for example, there are limited ways in which we can block pain signals –- such as activating opiate receptors, or inhibiting prostaglandins. There are only so many ways in which you can interact with these systems. The discovery of a novel mechanism of modulating pain is therefore most welcome, and has the potential of leading to entirely new treatments that may have a better side effect profile than existing treatments and also have an additive clinical effect.
A recent study by Nana Goldman et. al., published in Nature Neuroscience, adds to our understanding of pain relief by identifying the role of adenosine in reducing pain activity in the peripheral nervous system. The researchers, in a nice series of experiments, demonstrated that producing a local painful stimulus in mice causes the local release of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) that peaks at about 30 minutes. This correlates with a decreased pain response in the mice. Further, if drugs are given that prolong the effect of adenosine, the analgesic effect itself is prolonged. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
November 2nd, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Expert Interviews
No Comments »
Daniel Wallace, MD
The annual American College of Rheumatology conference was held last week in San Francisco. I had the chance to interview Dr. Daniel Wallace, a world expert in lupus (systemic lupus erythematosis) management, to tell me about the latest advances in the treatment of this disease.
Dr. Wallace is currently a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. His clinical practice is based at Cedars-Sinai, where he is involved in the care of 2,000 lupus patients, the largest practice of its kind in the United States. The Wallace Rheumatic Disease Research Center currently runs over 30 clinical trials for patients with lupus and other rheumatic diseases. Dr. Wallace is the author of 6 medical textbooks, 15 book chapters, and over 200 medical publications.
**Listen to the podcast of our interview here**
Dr. Val: What is Lupus?
Dr. Wallace: Lupus is what happens when the body becomes allergic to itself. It’s the opposite of cancer and AIDS. There are probably about 1 million people living with lupus in the United States. Ninety percent of them are women, and 90% develop lupus during their reproductive years.
Dr. Val: Historically speaking, what has treatment been like for patients with lupus, and how has that changed over the years? Read more »
