Ivermectin as a potential therapeutic strategy for glioma.

Ivermectin (IVM), a semi-synthetic macrolide parasiticide, has demonstrated considerable effectiveness in combating internal and external parasites, particularly nematodes and arthropods. Its remarkable ability to control parasites has earned it significant recognition, culminating in Satoshi Omura and William C. Campbell's receipt of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their contributions to the development of IVM. In recent years, investigations have revealed that IVM possesses antitumor properties. It can suppress the growth of various cancer cells, including glioma, through a multitude of mechanisms such as selective targeting of tumor-specific proteins, inducing programmed cell death, and modulation of tumor-related signaling pathways. Hence, IVM holds tremendous potential as a novel anticancer drug. This review seeks to provide an overview of the underlying mechanisms that enable IVM's capacity to suppress glioma. Furthermore, it aims to elucidate the challenges and prospects associated with utilizing IVM as a new anticancer agent.

Ivermectin - Old Drug, New Tricks?

Ivermectin is one of the most important drugs in veterinary and human medicine for the control of parasitic infection and was the joint focus of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, some 35 years after its remarkable discovery. Although best described for its activity on glutamate-gated chloride channels in parasitic nematodes, understanding of its mode of action remains incomplete. In the field of veterinary medicine, resistance to ivermectin is now widespread, but the mechanisms underlying resistance are unresolved. Here we discuss the history of this versatile drug and its use in global health. Based on recent studies in a variety of systems, we question whether ivermectin could have additional modes of action on parasitic nematodes.

Ivermectin: enigmatic multifaceted 'wonder' drug continues to surprise and exceed expectations.

Over the past decade, the global scientific community have begun to recognize the unmatched value of an extraordinary drug, ivermectin, that originates from a single microbe unearthed from soil in Japan. Work on ivermectin has seen its discoverer, Satoshi Omura, of Tokyo's prestigious Kitasato Institute, receive the 2014 Gairdner Global Health Award and the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, which he shared with a collaborating partner in the discovery and development of the drug, William Campbell of Merck & Co. Incorporated. Today, ivermectin is continuing to surprise and excite scientists, offering more and more promise to help improve global public health by treating a diverse range of diseases, with its unexpected potential as an antibacterial, antiviral and anti-cancer agent being particularly extraordinary.

The advent of ivermectin: people, partnerships, and principles.

The 2014 Gairdner Global Health Award has been given for the discovery of the microorganism and industry partnership that resulted in the appearance of ivermectin, possibly the world's most successful human health tool. The chemist responsible for the discovery, Satoshi Omura, also found many other microbial metabolites which have been the origin of novel, impactful drugs. The award emphasizes that multidisciplinary and equitable partnerships, often international in scope, are the key to advances in virtually all branches of science in the modern era.

History of avermectin and ivermectin, with notes on the history of other macrocyclic lactone antiparasitic agents.

The macrocyclic lactones enjoy a position of prominence in the control of parasites, and their history may be of interest, and even of use, in an age in which the search for chemotherapeutic agents has been transformed by modern technology. Much of their history has been recorded piecemeal in a wide variety of publications. The present review provides additional detail, and offers a personal perspective on the history of ivermectin and related avermectins. Brief notes are included on the subsequent development of other macrocyclic lactones. Milbemycin preceded the avermectins as a macrocyclic lactone of agricultural importance, but was used for a different purpose. Development of the avermectins arose from the isolation, in the laboratories of the Kitasato Institute, of a novel soil-dwelling bacterium and its transmittal (in 1974) to the laboratories of Merck & Co., Inc. There it was found (in 1975) to produce a potent anthelmintic substance, which was then identified and transmuted by interdisciplinary research into an antiparasitic product. Initially the focus was on its applicability to veterinary science and animal husbandry; and after developmental research by many scientific teams, the product was introduced commercially (in 1981) for the control of endoparasitic nematodes and ectoparasitic arthropods in livestock. Subsequently, special applications in human medicine were developed, and were successfully implemented in partnership with World Health Organization and several non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Making a difference: 30 years of TDR.

When the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) was established in the mid-1970s, it represented an innovative institutional formula in terms of its structure and the manner in which scientists were convened from both developed and developing countries to address some of the world's most neglected parasitic diseases. A review of TDR's historical record sheds light not only on some important milestones in tropical-disease research, but also on how future challenges could be approached and hopefully surmounted.

Satoshi Omura: in pursuit of nature's bounty.

Professor Satoshi Omura has spent over 40 years searching for bioactive compounds in naturally occurring microorganisms, discovering more than 330 biomedically and commercially significant compounds in the process. The discovery, development and delivery of the drug ivermectin has pioneered the way for subsequent partnerships between the public and private sectors, as well as international collaborations and drug donation programmes. It has involved a variety of ground-breaking steps, providing a curative drug that will help rid Africa and the world of at least one of the most devastating of all human diseases, onchocerciasis. It has also improved the health of pets and livestock around the globe, and encouraged development of a community-based delivery mechanism that could herald a revolution in public health care in Africa.

The conquest of 'river blindness'.

Studies carried out at the WHO/OCP Onchocerciasis Chemotherapeutic Centre in Tamale, Ghana, are reported, culminating in the clinical trials of ivermectin (Mectizan), which has revolutionized our approach to the treatment of the disease. It is concluded that the conquest of 'river blindness' is an eminently achievable goal.