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N'-(1-alkyl-2,3-dihydro-2-oxo-1H-3-indolyliden)-4-pyridinecarboxylic acid hydrazide derivatives, 3(a-g), were synthesized in a trial to overcome the resistance developed with the therapeutic uses of isoniazid (INH). The lipophilicity of the synthesized derivatives supersedes that of the INH as expressed by Clog p values. The synthesized compounds and INH were tested against bovin, human sensitive and human resist strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Compounds 3a, 3d, 3f and 3g with 1-unsubstituted, 1-propyl, 1-propynyl and 1-benzyl groups respectively exhibited equipotent growth inhibitory activity (MIC 10 micromol) against the tested strains as compared with INH however the later has no activity against human resist strain. Pharmacokinetic study revealed that the rate and extent of absorption of the tested derivatives (3d and 3f) significantly higher than that of INH (p < 0.05). The relative bioavailabilities (F(R)%) were 183.15 and 443.25 for 3f and 3d respectively as compared to INH. These results preliminary indicate the possible use of the prepared derivatives for treatment of tuberculosis infections in order to overcome the resistance developed with INH.

The use of antisense oligonucleotides as therapeutic agents has generated considerable enthusiasm in the research and medical community. Antisense oligonucleotides as therapeutic agents were proposed as far back as in the 1970s when the antisense strategy was initially developed. Nonetheless, it has taken almost a quarter of a century for this potential to be realized. The principle of antisense technology is the sequence-specific binding of an antisense oligonucleotide to target mRNA, resulting in the prevention of gene translation. The specificity of hybridization by Watson-Crick base pairing make antisense oligonucleotides attractive as tools for targeted validation and functionalization, and as therapeutics to selectively modulate the expression of genes involved in the pathogenesis of diseases. The last few years have seen a rapid increase in the number of antisense molecules progressing past Phase I, II and III clinical trials. This review outlines the basic concept of the antisense technology, its development and recent potential therapeutic applications.

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The role of selenium in the prevention of cancer has been recently established by laboratory experiments, clinical trials, and epidemiological data. Most of the effects are related to the function of selenium in antioxidant enzyme systems. Animal data, epidemiological data, and intervention trials have shown a clear role for selenium derivatives in both prevention of specific cancers and antitumorigenic effects in postinitiation phases of cancer. Consequently, selenium supplementation has moved from the realm of correcting nutritional deficiencies to one of pharmacological intervention, especially in the clinical domain of cancer chemoprevention. Accordingly, there has been substantial interest directed toward the synthesis of selenium-containing derivatives in recent years that could be used as cancer chemopreventive agents. The current review aims to outline recent developments in the application of selenium derivatives as cancer preventive agents.

In the present study a series of Schiff bases of indoline-2,3-dione were synthesized and investigated for their Mtb gyrase inhibitory activity. Promising inhibitory activity was demonstrated with some of these derivatives, which exhibited IC50 values ranging from 50–157 μM. The orientation and the ligand-receptor interactions of such molecules within the Mtb DNA gyrase A subunit active site were investigated applying a multi-step docking protocol using Molecular Operating Environment (MOE) and Autodock4 docking software. The results revealed the importance of the isatin moiety and the connecting side chain for strong interactions with the enzyme active site. Among the tested compounds the terminal aromatic ring benzofuran showed the best activity. Promising new leads for developing a novel class of Mtb gyrase inhibitors were obtained from Schiff bases of indoline-2,3-dione.

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