Modern Medicine in Digital format

* 15-PGDH inhibitor controls the biological activity of 15-PGDH. PGE2 supports proliferation of many types of tissue stem cells. A gene product found in all humans, 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH), degrades and reduces the amount of PGE2 in the body. Inhibiting 15-PGDH increases PGE2 in tissues. In so doing, it promotes and speeds tissue healing.

* 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 is a hydroxycalciol that is vitamin D2 in which the hydrogen at position 25 has been replaced by a hydroxy group. It has a role as a bone density conservation agent, a nutraceutical and a human xenobiotic metabolite. It is a hydroxycalciol, a seco-ergostane and a vitamin D. It derives from a vitamin D2. Biologically active metabolite of vitamin D2 which is more active in curing rickets than its parent. The compound is believed to attach to the same receptor as vitamin D2 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3.

* 2-Mercaptoethanol. The drug disulfiram (see below) prevents the oxidation of acetaldehyde to acetic acid and is used in the treatment of alcoholism. Disulfiram activity can be reversed by treatment with 2 mercaptoethanol, although not with glutathione. ALDH1 is strongly inhibited by disulfiram, while ALDH2 is resistant to its effect. The cysteine residue at 302 in ALDH1 and 200 in ALDH2 is implicated as a disulfiram binding site on the enzyme and serves as a disfulfiram sensitive thiol site. Covalent binding of disulfiram to the thiol blocks the binding of one of the cysteine residues with iodoacetamide, thereby inactivating the enzyme and significantly lowering catalytic activity.

* 3-BrPA is a small molecule able to lower levels of glycogen � a complex sugar that builds up to toxic levels in Pompe disease � and ameliorate muscle and heart structural defects in a new zebrafish model of the genetic disorder, a recent study has shown. Treatment with 3-BrPA also changed the activity of genes involved in autophagy, the process by which cells degrade or recycle components that are damaged or no longer needed. Autophagy is thought to be involved in treatment resistance in people with late-onset Pompe disease. Moreover, 3-BrPA unveiled to be a promising compound for treatment of conditions with glycogen accumulation. Bromopyruvic acid (3-BrPA) is a hexokinase II inhibitor and an effective antitumor agent. The characteristics of 3-bromopyruvate in vitro and in vivo have been reported in the scientific literature since the 1940s. Because it is a highly reactive alkylating agent and it is inherently unstable, it had been described as a metabolic poison. Research at Johns Hopkins has suggested that 3-bromopyruvate could be used to selectively kill cancer cells, while leaving normal cells intact.

* 5A apolipoprotein A-I peptide attenuates the induction of airway inflammation, airway remodeling, and airway hyperreactivity. It also promotes cholesterol efflux, it is being investigated as a possible therapeutic agent for the treatment of atherosclerosis.