20^th World Congress on Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Design June 22-23, 2020 Rome, Italy

Anti-Infective Agents in Medicinal Chemistry aims to cover all the latest and outstanding developments in medicinal chemistry and rational drug design for the discovery of new anti-infective agents. Each issue contains a series of timely in-depth reviews written by leaders in the field covering a range of current topics in anti-infective medicinal chemistry.  Anti-Infective Agents in Medicinal Chemistry is an essential journal for every medicinal chemist who wishes to be kept informed and up-to-date with the latest and most important developments in anti-infective drug discovery.

Perhaps nothing epitomizes the fusion of traditional and biomedicine more than predictive, preventive and personalized and participatory medicine. The truth is that modern medicine is desperately short of new treatments. It takes years for a new drug to get through the research and development pipeline to manufacture and the cost is enormous. Estimates suggest up to 80 per cent of the population has tried a therapy such as acupuncture or homeopathy. And a survey conducted earlier this year found that 74 per cent of us medical students believe that western medicine would benefit by integrating traditional or alternative therapies and practices.  Example –artemisinin , which is extracted from Artemisia annual or Chinese sweet wormwood, is the basis for the most effective malaria drugs the world has ever seen. But making traditional medicine truly mainstream — incorporating its knowledge into modern healthcare and ensuring it meets modern safety and efficacy standards — is no easy task and is far from complete.

Chemistry is a stimulating field as it links many scientific disciplines and allows for collaboration with other scientists in researching and developing new drugs. Chemists apply their chemistry training to the process of synthesizing new pharmaceuticals. They also improve the processes by which existing pharmaceuticals are made. Medicinal chemists are focused on drug discovery and development and are concerned with the isolation of medicinal agents found in plants, as well as the creation of new synthetic drug compounds. Most chemists work with a team of scientists from different disciplines, including biologists, toxicologists, pharmacologists, theoretical chemists, microbiologists, and biopharmacists. Together, this team uses sophisticated analytical techniques to synthesize and test new drug products and to develop the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly means of production. Human exposure to contemporary materials and products has increased dramatically in modern times. We are constantly confronted with manufactured materials, both at work and during leisure pursuits, indoors as well as outdoors, whilst undertaking sports activities, or in social or educational environments. It is urgent to develop new therapeutic methods, with higher efficiency and lower side effects. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are found in the innate immune system of a wide range of organisms. Identified as the most promising alternative to conventional molecules used nowadays against infections, some of them have been shown to have dual activity, both as antimicrobial and anticancer peptides (ACPs). Cereals such as wheat, rice, barley, rye, and maize have been recently identified as new sources of bioactive peptides. High quality cereal proteins are an important source of bioactive peptides, which consist of distinctive amino acid sequences, and which, once they are released, could display diverse functionalities.

Plant research and its technologies have improved dramatically over the last 5 years as a result of the revolutionary breakthroughs including new gene editing technologies and reduction in the cost of sequencing. Many plants have now been successfully sequenced and a wide range of biological data sets made available. As a result, plant scientists are now more than ever making use of state of the art technology platforms to help explain biological principals, advance research and therefore enable benefits such as crop improvement / breeding etc. The goals of agricultural plant science are to increase crop productivity, increase the quality of agricultural products, and maintain the environment. The success of transgenic crops has erased the last vestiges of doubt about the value of agricultural biotechnology and triggered large-scale investments in plant genomics. Genetic maps are also an important resource for plant gene isolation, as once the genetic position of any mutation. Since the invention of plant cell and tissue culture techniques more than half a century ago, scientists have been trying to understand the morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular changes associated with tissue culture responses. Establishment of de novo developmental cell fate in vitro is governed by factors such as genetic make-up, stress and plant growth regulators.

Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry is a scientific journal focusing on the results of research on the molecular structure of biological organisms and the interaction of biological targets with chemical agents.

 Antibiotics are powerful medicines that fight bacterial infections. Most antibiotics fall into their individual antibiotic classes. An antibiotic class is a grouping of different drugs that have similar chemical and pharmacologic properties. Penicillin’s, tetracycline, cephalosporin, quinolones, lincomycins, macrolides, sulphonamides, aminoglycosides, carbapenems are few classes of antibiotics. Some antibiotics work by killing germs (bacteria or the parasite). This is often done by interfering with the structure of the cell wall of the bacterium or parasite. Some work by stopping bacteria or the parasite from multiplying. Most side-effects of antibiotics are not serious. Common side-effects include soft stools (faeces), diarrhoea, or mild stomach upset such as feeling sick (nausea). The overuse of antibiotics in recent years means they're becoming   less effective and has led to the emergence of "superbugs". These are strains of bacteria that have developed resistance to many different types of antibiotics.

Coronaviruses are types of viruses that typically affect the respiratory tracts of birds and mammals, including humans. Doctors associate them with the common cold, bronchitis, pneumonia, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and they can also affect the gut. Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.  Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans. Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, and cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death. Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.

A worldwide increase in the rate of autism diagnoses—likely driven by broadened diagnostic criteria and increased awareness—has fuelled concerns that an environmental exposure like vaccines might cause autism. Substantial data demonstrate immune abnormality in many autistic children consistent with impaired resistance to infection, activation of inflammatory response, and autoimmunity. T lymphocytes (t cells) are abnormal in many autistic children. Cytokines from t cells regulate the full spectrum of antibody and cell-mediated response, the latter being particularly important in resistance to viral infections. In autism, there is clear-cut evidence of activation of the immune response system, which may be due to innate, toxic, or infectious influences - or some combination of these factors.  Changes in certain genes increase the risk that a child will develop autism. If a parent carries one or more of these gene changes, they may get passed to a child (even if the parent does not have autism). Certain environmental influences may further increase – or reduce – autism risk in people who are genetically predisposed to the disorder.

Huge progression has been made in the treatment of immune system sicknesses by presenting novel, for the most part biologic, sedates instead of substance particles. Biologic agents are biologically emerged and used therapeutically. Most of these agents are based on receptor proteins or antibodies. Biologic therapies help in the treatment of lupus erythematous, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Grave's disease, and inflammatory bowel disease.

The term “nutraceutical” is used to describe these medicinally or nutritionally functional foods. Nutraceuticals, which have also been called medical foods, designer foods, phytochemicals, functional foods and nutritional supplements, include such everyday products as “bio” yoghurts and fortified breakfast cereals, as well as vitamins, herbal remedies and even genetically modified foods and supplements. Both can have a similar effect on the body but the long term affect is devastatingly different. The idea is that, “we can produce the same type of effect as drugs without all of the side effects”. Nutraceuticals, in contrast to pharmaceuticals, are substances, which usually have not patent protection. The straightforward application of pharmaceutical standards, especially across national borders, is likely to be a difficult challenge and could effectively paralyze the industry. We are all advocates for all natural nutrition, but due to the legal claim that only drugs can cure, prevent or mitigate. Nutraceuticals   cannot be recommended by doctors when someone is suffering from illness.

Neurons are the building blocks of the nervous system which includes the brain and spinal cord. Neurons normally don’t reproduce or replace themselves, so when they become damaged or die they cannot be replaced by the body. Examples of neurodegenerative diseases include Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s disease. Dementias are responsible for the greatest burden of neurodegenerative diseases, with Alzheimer’s representing approximately 60-70% of dementia cases. Many of these diseases are genetic. Sometimes the cause is a medical condition such as alcoholism, a tumour, or a stroke. Other causes may include toxins, chemicals, and viruses. Sometimes the cause is not known. Degenerative nerve diseases include Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, fried Reich’s ataxia, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, spinal muscular atrophy. Degenerative nerve diseases can be serious or life-threatening. It depends on the type. Most of them have no cure. Treatments may help improve symptoms, relieve pain, and increase mobility.

This paper provides a mini-review of some recent approaches for the treatment of brain pathologies examining both medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical technology contributions. Medicinal chemistry-based strategies are essentially aimed at the chemical modification of low molecular weight drugs in order to increase their lipophilicity or the design of appropriate prodrugs, although this review will focus primarily on the use of prodrugs and not analog development. Recently, interest has been focused on the design and evaluation of prodrugs that are capable of exploiting one or more of the various endogenous transport systems at the level of the blood brain barrier (BBB). The technological strategies are essentially non-invasive methods of drug delivery to malignancies of the central nervous system (CNS) and are based on the use of nanosystems (colloidal carriers) such as liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, solid lipid nanoparticles, polymeric micelles and dendrimers. The biodistribution of these nanocarriers can be manipulated by modifying their surface physico-chemical properties or by coating them with surfactants and polyethylene-glycols (PEGs). Liposomes, surfactant coated polymeric nanoparticles, and solid lipid nanoparticles are promising systems for delivery of drugs to tumors of the CNS. This mini-review discusses issues concerning the scope and limitations of both the medicinal chemistry and technological approaches. Based on the current findings, it can be concluded that crossing of the BBB and drug delivery to CNS is extremely complex and requires a multidisciplinary approach such as a close collaboration and common efforts among researchers of several scientific areas, particularly medicinal chemists, biologists and pharmaceutical technologists.

Medicinal Chemistry Understanding Drug Metabolism. These metabolic transformations are sometimes referred to as biotransformations. The body generally identifies drugs as foreign substances. Enzymes such as the Cytochrome P450 superfamily are heavily involved in the metabolism of foreign (xenobiotic) substances.

Infectious disease and antimicrobial agent use imply deep knowledge and expertise in this field by medical team and clinical pharmaceutical care principle can complete the clinician’s works in more rational way preserving the activity of some critical drugs from MDR diffusion. We think that using the methods of the researcher in 1800-1900 in their laboratory without a lot of burocratic rules we can obtain more relevant pharmacological molecules to introduce in therapy today. We can think also that a more rapid process in improving some chemical characteristics of some drugs is today requested and this can be reached also by single research level. This work must be favored by registrative institution in an acceptable toxicity risk level in order to have more chances in drug discovering and re-designing

Medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry are disciplines at the intersection of chemistry, especially synthetic organic chemistry, and pharmacology and various other biological specialties, where they are involved with design, chemical synthesis and development for market of pharmaceutical agents, or bio-active molecules (drugs).

Drug design, often referred to as rational drug design or simply rational design, is the inventive process of finding new medications based on the knowledge of a biological target. Drug design frequently but not necessarily relies on computer modeling techniques. This type of modeling is sometimes referred to as computer-aided drug design.

Chemical biology is a scientific discipline spanning the fields of chemistry and biology. The discipline involves the application of chemical techniques, analysis, and often small molecules produced through synthetic chemistry, to the study and manipulation of biological systems. In contrast to biochemistry, which involves the study of the chemistry of biomolecules and regulation of biochemical pathways within and between cells, chemical biology deals with chemistry applied to biology.

Chemical biology is a scientific discipline spanning the fields of chemistry and biology. The discipline involves the application of chemical techniques, analysis, and often small molecules produced through synthetic chemistry, to the study and manipulation of biological systems. In contrast to biochemistry, which involves the study of the chemistry of biomolecules and regulation of biochemical pathways within and between cells, chemical biology deals with chemistry applied to biology.

Diagnostic specialties: Clinical laboratory sciences are the clinical diagnostic services that apply laboratory techniques to diagnosis and management of patients. In the United States, these services are supervised by a pathologist. The personnel that work in these medical laboratory departments are technically trained staff who do not hold medical degrees, but who usually hold an undergraduate medical technology degree, who actually perform the tests, assays, and procedures needed for providing the specific services. Subspecialties include transfusion medicine, cellular pathology, clinical chemistry, hematology, clinical microbiology and clinical immunology.

Drug delivery devices are specialized tools for the delivery of a drug or therapeutic agent via a specific route of administration. Such devices are used as part of one or more medical treatments. A medical device is defined within the Food Drug & Cosmetic Act as " an instrument, apparatus, implement, machine, contrivance, implant, in vitro reagent, or other similar or related article, including a component part, or accessory which is: recognized in the official National Formulary, or the United States Pharmacopoeia, or any supplement to them, intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, in man or other animals, or intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals, and which does not achieve any of it's primary intended purposes through chemical action within or on the body of man or other animals and which is not dependent upon being metabolized for the achievement of any of its primary intended purposes.

Targeted drug delivery, sometimes called smart drug delivery,is a method of delivering medication to a patient in a manner that increases the concentration of the medication in some parts of the body relative to others. It is a special form of drug delivery system where the medicament is selectively targeted or delivered only to its site of action or absorption and not to the non-target organs or tissues or cells.

Drug delivery refers to approaches, formulations, technologies, and systems for transporting a pharmaceutical compound in the body as needed to safely achieve its desired therapeutic effect. It may involve scientific site-targeting within the body, or it might involve facilitating systemic pharmacokinetics. Drug delivery technologies modify drug release profile, absorption, distribution and elimination for the benefit of improving product efficacy and safety, as well as patient convenience and compliance.

Applied Medicinal Chemistry in its most common practice focusing on small organic molecules. Applied Medicinal Chemistry encompasses synthetic organic chemistry and aspects of natural products and computational chemistry in close combination with chemical biology, enzymology and structural biology, together aiming at the discovery and development of new therapeutic agents.

Directed disease treatments are drugs or other therapeutic substances which hinders the development and spread of tumour by hindering with the particles called sub-atomic targets which are associated with the development, movement and spread of malignancy. In this manner, advancement of novel-tumour ligand or pharmaceutical Nano bearers is very alluring. Hostile to disease drugs are likewise called Anti neoplastic-operators or Chemotherapeutic-specialists.