Coumarin Derivatives as Adjuvants: From In Silico Physicochemical Characterization to In Vitro Evaluation against Gram Positive Bacteria.

AIMS: A series of acylated coumarin derivatives have been evaluated for their in silico ADMET properties and in vitro antibacterial activities. METHODS AND RESULTS: In silico analysis confirmed their physicochemical properties in conformation with various layout filters and further their ADMET properties were predicted. Antibacterial activities were evaluated by Resazurin based microbroth dilution assay against standard Gram positive bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus (MTCC No. 3160) and Bacillus cereus (MTCC No. 10085). When used alone, these derivatives showed higher MIC values. However, in combination with standard drugs they exhibited synergistic effects according to fractional inhibitory concentration index. The synergistic effect was further confirmed by time kill curves. Their cytotoxity was evaluated by haemolytic assay and they were found to be non-toxic upto a concentrations of 500 µg ml-1. CONCLUSION: The data support the potential use of acylated coumarin derivatives as next generation adjuvants as evaluated by their in silico ADMET analysis and in vitro antibacterial and cytotoxicity evaluation. Further research involving these combinations is warranted. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study suggests that acylated coumarin derivatives act as antibacterial adjuvants in combination with standard drugs and have potential to be used in pharmaceutical preparations.

Perspectives on Phytochemicals as Antibacterial Agents: An Outstanding Contribution to Modern Therapeutics.

Despite the considerable advancements in the development of antimicrobial agents, incidents of epidemics due to multi drug resistance in microorganisms have created a massive hazard to mankind. Due to increased resistance against conventional antibiotics, researchers and pharmaceutical industries are more concerned about novel therapeutic agents for the prevention of bacterial infections. Enormous wealth of traditional system of medicine gains importance in health therapies over again. With ancient credentials of potent medicinal plants, various herbal remedies came forward for the management of bacterial infections. The Ayurvedic approach facilitates the development of new therapeutic agents due to structural and functional diversity among phytochemicals. The abundance and diversity is responsible for the characterization of new lead structures from medicinal plants. Industrial interest has increased due to recent research advancements viz. synergistic and high-throughput screening approach for the evaluation of vast variety of phytochemicals. The review certainly emphasizes on the traditional medicines as alternatives to conventional chemotherapeutic drugs. The review briefly describes mode of action of various antibiotics and resistance mechanisms. This review focuses on the chemical diversity and various mechanisms of action of phytochemicals against bacterial pathogens.

Combination therapy: the propitious rationale for drug development.

Therapeutic options for many infections are extremely limited and at crisis point. We run the risk of entering a second pre-antibiotic era. There had been no miracle drug for the patients infected by resistant microbial pathogens. Most of the very few new drugs under development have problems with their toxicity, or pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. We are already decades behind in the discovery, characterization and development of new antimicrobials. In that scenario, we could not imagine surviving without newer and effective antimicrobial agents. Bacteria have been the champions of evolution and are still evolving continuously, where they pose serious challenges for humans. Along with the crisis of evolving resistance, the condition is made worst by the meager drug pipeline for new antimicrobials. Despite ongoing efforts only 2 new antibiotics (Telavancin in 2009 and Ceftaroline fosamil in 2010) have been approved since 2009 pipeline status report of Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA). Recent approval of new combination based antiviral drugs such as Stribild (combination of four drugs for HIV treatment) and Menhibrix (combination vaccine to prevent meningococcal disease and Haemophilus influenzae type b in children) proves that combination therapy is still the most promising approach to combat the ever evolving pathogens. Combination therapy involves the drug repurposing and regrouping of the existing antimicrobial agents to provide a synergistic approach for management of infectious diseases. This review article is an effort to highlight the challenges in new drug development and potential of combination drug therapy to deal with them.

Genomics of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD); Exploring the SNPs of Protease-Antiprotease Pathway.

The COPD has been an important respiratory condition that affects people worldwide and its incidence has been alarming. The increasing incidence of this disorder has been attributed to global industrialization and environmental pollution. Although the exposures to environmental pollutants and smoking have been important triggers, the genetic component of individuals has been shown to be important for development and progression of COPD. Recent literature reported that protease-antiprotease imbalance to be important in etiopathogenesis of COPD. The enzymes namely neutrophil elastase and matrix metalloprotienases are considered to be foremost proteolytic molecules released by neutrophils and macrophages during inflammatory events in COPD. Normally, the lungs remain protected from the destructive effect of these two antiproteases by α1-antitrypsin (α1AT) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) respectively. In this review, we are trying to highlight the work by various research groups in exploring the SNPs of various genes of inflammatory pathways and the protease-antiprotease pathway, which may have some degree of association with COPD.