ABSTRACT
Snake venoms are natural sources of biologically active molecules that are able to act selectively and specifically on different cellular targets, modulating physiological functions. Thus, these mixtures, composed mainly of proteins and peptides, provide ample and challenging opportunities and a diversified molecular architecture to design and develop tools and agents of scientific and therapeutic interest. Among these components, peptides and small proteins play diverse roles in numerous physiological processes, exerting a wide range of pharmacological activities, such as antimicrobial, antihypertensive, analgesic, antitumor, analgesic, among others. The pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries have recognized the huge potential of these privileged frameworks and believe them to be a promising alternative to contemporary drugs. A number of natural or synthetic peptides from snake venoms have already found preclinical or clinical applications for the treatment of pain, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and aging skin. A well-known example is captopril, whose natural peptide precursor was isolated from Bothrops jararaca snake venom, which is a peptide-based drug that inhibits the angiotensin-converting enzyme, producing an anti-hypertensive effect. The present review looks at the main peptides (natriuretic peptides, bradykinin-potentiating peptides and sarafotoxins) and low mass proteins (crotamine, disintegrins and three-Finger toxins) from snake venoms, as well as synthetic peptides inspired by them, describing their biochemical, structural and physiological features, as well as their applications as research tools and therapeutic agents.
Subject(s)
Peptides/chemistry , Snake Venoms/chemistry , Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors/chemistry , Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors/isolation & purification , Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors/therapeutic use , Animals , Bothrops/metabolism , Humans , Hypertension/drug therapy , Peptides/isolation & purification , Peptides/therapeutic use , Peptidomimetics/chemistry , Peptidomimetics/therapeutic use , Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors/chemistry , Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors/isolation & purification , Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors/therapeutic use , Thrombosis/drug therapyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: A Senior Assembly Proposal was presented to the California Assembly calling for a change in over-the-counter (OTC) medication labeling to make the print more readable. It proposes that a panel of optometrists and ophthalmologists be created to define "readable" print. This proposal came about because a large segment of the 60 years and older population is unable to read the printed material on OTC medication labels. METHODS: This study investigated the effects of vertical letter height and horizontal letter compression on readability. Three labels with lettering of different size and compression were used. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: It was found that letter compression significantly affected readability while letter height was less of a factor. Results of this study suggest that the lettering on OTC medication labels should be at least 1.2mm in vertical height, or 20/40 Reduced Snellen (RS) visual acuity level, and should have no more than 40 characters per inch.
