Advances in sickle cell disease treatment: From drug discovery until the patient monitoring

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is one of the most prevalent hematological diseases in the world. Despite the immense progress in molecular knowledge about SCD in last years few therapeutical sources are currently available. Nowadays the treatment is performed mainly with drugs such as hydroxyurea or other fetal hemoglobin inducers and chelating agents. This review summarizes current knowledge about the treatment and the advancements in drug design in order to discover more effective and safe drugs. Patient monitoring methods in SCD are also discussed. © 2011 Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.

Current advances in antitubercular drug discovery: potent prototypes and new targets

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by bacterium of the Mycobacterium genus, mainly by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). The World Health Organization aims to substantially reduce the number of cases in the coming years; however, the increased number of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extremely drug-resistant (XDR) forms of the bacterium and the lack of treatment for latent tuberculosis are challenges to be overcome. In this review, we have identified the most potent compounds described in the literature during recent years with MIC values < 7 µM, low toxicity and a high selective index. In addition, emerging targets in MTB are presented to provide new perspectives for the discovery of new antitubercular drugs. This review aims to summarize the current advances in and promote insights into antitubercular drug discovery.