Abstract
Emergence of new and medically resistant pathogenic microbes continues to escalate toward worldwide public health, wild habitat, and commercial crop and livestock catastrophes. Attempts at solving this problem with sophisticated modern biotechnologies, such as smart vaccines and microbicidal and microbistatic drugs that precisely target parasitic bacteria, fungi, and protozoa, remain promising without major clinical and industrial successes. However, discovery of a more immediate, broad spectrum prophylaxis beyond conventional epidemiological approaches might take no longer than the time required to fill a prescription at your neighborhood pharmacy. Findings from a growing body of research suggest calcium antagonists, long approved and marketed for various human cardiovascular and neurological indications, may produce safe, efficacious antimicrobial effects. As a general category of drugs, calcium antagonists include compounds that disrupt passage of Ca2+ molecules across cell membranes and walls, sequestration and mobilization of free intracellular Ca2+, and downstream binding proteins and sensors of Ca2+-dependent regulatory pathways important for proper cell function. Administration of calcium antagonists alone at current therapeutically relevant doses and schedules, or with synergistic compounds and additional antimicrobial medications, figures to enhance host immunoprotection by directly altering pathogen infection sequences, life cycles, homeostasis, antibiotic tolerances, and numerous other infective, survival, and reproductive processes. Short of being miracle drugs, calcium antagonists are welcome old drugs with new tricks capable of controlling some of the most virulent and pervasive global infectious diseases of plants, animals, and humans, including Chagas’ disease, malaria, and tuberculosis.
Keywords: Antibiotic tolerance or resistance, antimicrobial drugs, biotechnology, disease transmission and virulence, microbial pathogens and parasites, pharmaceuticals.
Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry
Title:Calcium Antagonists: A Ready Prescription for Treating Infectious Diseases?
Volume: 13 Issue: 18
Author(s): Kevin B. Clark, Edward M. Eisenstein and Scott E. Krahl
Affiliation:
Keywords: Antibiotic tolerance or resistance, antimicrobial drugs, biotechnology, disease transmission and virulence, microbial pathogens and parasites, pharmaceuticals.
Abstract: Emergence of new and medically resistant pathogenic microbes continues to escalate toward worldwide public health, wild habitat, and commercial crop and livestock catastrophes. Attempts at solving this problem with sophisticated modern biotechnologies, such as smart vaccines and microbicidal and microbistatic drugs that precisely target parasitic bacteria, fungi, and protozoa, remain promising without major clinical and industrial successes. However, discovery of a more immediate, broad spectrum prophylaxis beyond conventional epidemiological approaches might take no longer than the time required to fill a prescription at your neighborhood pharmacy. Findings from a growing body of research suggest calcium antagonists, long approved and marketed for various human cardiovascular and neurological indications, may produce safe, efficacious antimicrobial effects. As a general category of drugs, calcium antagonists include compounds that disrupt passage of Ca2+ molecules across cell membranes and walls, sequestration and mobilization of free intracellular Ca2+, and downstream binding proteins and sensors of Ca2+-dependent regulatory pathways important for proper cell function. Administration of calcium antagonists alone at current therapeutically relevant doses and schedules, or with synergistic compounds and additional antimicrobial medications, figures to enhance host immunoprotection by directly altering pathogen infection sequences, life cycles, homeostasis, antibiotic tolerances, and numerous other infective, survival, and reproductive processes. Short of being miracle drugs, calcium antagonists are welcome old drugs with new tricks capable of controlling some of the most virulent and pervasive global infectious diseases of plants, animals, and humans, including Chagas’ disease, malaria, and tuberculosis.
Export Options
About this article
Cite this article as:
Clark B. Kevin, Eisenstein M. Edward and Krahl E. Scott, Calcium Antagonists: A Ready Prescription for Treating Infectious Diseases?, Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry 2013; 13 (18) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/15680266113136660161
DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/15680266113136660161 |
Print ISSN 1568-0266 |
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher |
Online ISSN 1873-4294 |
Call for Papers in Thematic Issues
Chemistry Based on Natural Products for Therapeutic Purposes
The development of new pharmaceuticals for a wide range of medical conditions has long relied on the identification of promising natural products (NPs). There are over sixty percent of cancer, infectious illness, and CNS disease medications that include an NP pharmacophore, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Since NP ...read more
Current Trends in Drug Discovery Based on Artificial Intelligence and Computer-Aided Drug Design
Drug development discovery has faced several challenges over the years. In fact, the evolution of classical approaches to modern methods using computational methods, or Computer-Aided Drug Design (CADD), has shown promising and essential results in any drug discovery campaign. Among these methods, molecular docking is one of the most notable ...read more
Drug Discovery in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), we have witnessed a significant boom in AI techniques for drug discovery. AI techniques are increasingly integrated and accelerating the drug discovery process. These developments have not only attracted the attention of academia and industry but also raised important questions regarding the selection ...read more
From Biodiversity to Chemical Diversity: Focus of Flavonoids
Flavonoids are the largest group of polyphenols, plant secondary metabolites arising from the essential aromatic amino acid phenylalanine (or more rarely from tyrosine) via the phenylpropanoid pathway. The flavan nucleus is the basic 15-carbon skeleton of flavonoids (C6-C3-C6), which consists of two phenyl rings (A and B) and a heterocyclic ...read more
- Author Guidelines
- Graphical Abstracts
- Fabricating and Stating False Information
- Research Misconduct
- Post Publication Discussions and Corrections
- Publishing Ethics and Rectitude
- Increase Visibility of Your Article
- Archiving Policies
- Peer Review Workflow
- Order Your Article Before Print
- Promote Your Article
- Manuscript Transfer Facility
- Editorial Policies
- Allegations from Whistleblowers
- Announcements
Related Articles
-
Antibiotic Susceptibility and Treatment of Brucellosis
Recent Patents on Anti-Infective Drug Discovery Using PK/PD to Optimize Antibiotic Dosing for Critically Ill Patients
Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Bacterial Infection Probes and Imaging Strategies in Clinical Nuclear Medicine and Preclinical Molecular Imaging
Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry Drug Delivery Systems Based on Titania Nanotubes and Active Agents for Enhanced Osseointegration of Bone Implants
Current Medicinal Chemistry Effect of Treatment with Caspofungin on the Diagnosis of Fungal Infections by Gamma Scintigraphy
Current Radiopharmaceuticals Prediction Models and Scores in Adult Congenital Heart Disease
Current Pharmaceutical Design Drugs in Pediatric Ischemic Stroke
Current Drug Targets Neuroprotective Effects of Ginkgolide B Against Ischemic Stroke: A Review of Current Literature
Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry Etiology of Neuroinflammatory Pathologies in Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Treatise
Current Psychopharmacology Immunoinformatic Approach for the Identification of Potential Epitopes Against <i>Stenotrophomonas maltophilia</i>: A Global Opportunistic Pathogen
Letters in Drug Design & Discovery Development and Validation of a UV-Spectrophotometric Method for Determination of Flucloxacillin Sodium in Capsules
Current Pharmaceutical Analysis Comparative Biochemistry of GH3, GH20 and GH84 β-N-acetyl-Dhexosaminidases and Recent Progress in Selective Inhibitor Discovery
Current Drug Targets Characterization of a Bacteriophage-Derived Murein Peptidase for Elimination of Antibiotic-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Current Protein & Peptide Science Current Developments in Anti-Fungal Agents
Current Medicinal Chemistry - Anti-Infective Agents Small Molecule Approaches Toward the Non-Microbicidal Modulation of Bacterial Biofilm Growth and Maintenance
Anti-Infective Agents in Medicinal Chemistry Can Infectious Biofilm be Controlled by Blocking Bacterial Communication?
Medicinal Chemistry Epidemiological Review of Gonococcal Infection
Current Women`s Health Reviews The Role of Diffusion- and Perfusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Drug Development for Ischemic Stroke: From Laboratory to Clinics
Current Vascular Pharmacology Antimicrobial and Antifungal Properties of Leaves to Root Extracts and Saponin Fractions of <i>Chlorophytum borivilianum</i>
Current Bioactive Compounds COVID-19: How Nuclear Medicine Can Provide A Differential Diagnosis In A Very Dubious Case
Coronaviruses