The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). SARS-CoV-2 initially emerged from Wuhan, China, in late December 2019, and has since caused large-scale global outbreaks and over 4.9 million fatalities worldwide. Study: Targeting SARS‐CoV‐2 with Chaga mushroom: An in silico study toward developing a natural antiviral […]
A team of scientists from France has recently demonstrated photosensitive antiviral activity of the natural compound pheophorbide a (Pba) against a broad range of enveloped viruses, including coronaviruses. The compound has been found to inhibit the entry and reduced the replication of highly pathogenic coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and Middle […]
Unless you've studied chemistry in college, it's unlikely you've come across the name aziridine. An organic compound with the molecular formula, C2H4NH, aziridines are well-known among medicinal chemists, who make use of the compound to prepare pharmaceutical drugs such as Mitomycin C, a chemotherapeutic agent known for its anti-tumor activity. Specifically, aziridines are what chemists […]
The lack of new or repurposed drugs to treat patients with severe or critical coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been one of the biggest hurdles to reducing mortality rates in the ongoing pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). A new study, published online in the journal Drug Development Research, describes […]
The slurred speech, poor coordination, and sedative effects of drinking too much alcohol may actually be caused by the breakdown of alcohol products produced in the brain, not in the liver as scientists currently think. That is the finding of a new study led by researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) […]
Polymorphs are crystalline materials that have the same chemical composition but different molecular packing. For example, diamond and graphite are both made from crystalline forms of carbon, but their physical and chemical properties vary drastically. Polymorphs are also part of the base materials used in pharmaceutical compounds. However, because crystallisation is the process through which […]
A compound developed at Oregon Health & Science University appears to protect nerve fibers and the fatty sheath, called myelin, that covers nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The discovery, published in the Journal of Neuroimmunology, could be important in treating or preventing the progression of multiple sclerosis and other central nervous system […]
The plant compound apigenin improved the cognitive and memory deficits usually seen in a mouse model of Down syndrome, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. Apigenin is found in chamomile flowers, parsley, celery, peppermint and citrus fruits. The researchers fed the compound to pregnant mice carrying […]
Clostridioides difficile, or C. diff, is the leading cause of health care-associated infection in the U.S. Only two antibiotics, vancomycin and fidaxomicin, are FDA approved for the treatment of C. diff, but even these therapies suffer from high treatment failure and recurrence. Now, Purdue University innovators have advanced novel compounds they developed to help treat […]
Multiple sclerosis (MS), characterized by increasing muscle weakness and paralysis, has a number of treatments that help stall progression of the disease when used early on in the disease. But the current treatments can hardly reverse damage that has already occurred in brain cells called neurons. New research suggests that a compound found in the […]
