Snigdha Pattnaik

By Snigdha Pattnaik, Laxmidhar Maharana and Manoj Sethi

In normal human microbiome, the polymorphic fungus Candida albicans is a crucial member. C. albicans resides mostly in individual as harmless commensal life. In specific situations, however, C. albicans can cause diseases that cause contaminations of the skin to life-threatening fundamental contaminations. Pathogenesis of Candida species is contributed by multiple factors. Some of the major contributors are enlisted here. These include host pathogen interaction, receptors molecule like TLR recognition, TLR signaling, C type lectin receptors, Dectin 1,2 and 3, mannose receptor, mincle, DC sign, Nod-Like Receptors (NLRs) and inflammasomes, soluble molecules in candida recognition, cellular responses to candida such as neutrophils, macrophages. This chapter enlightens all the components of candida pathogenicity by the assessment of Candida species pathogenic determinants. All together these will explain the current knowledge about how these determinant factors and receptors modulate virulence as well as consequent infection. Better understanding of candida pathogenicity mechanism can be the resultant of better treatment guidelines along with development of novel antifungal agents. Overall, in this review we present an update in the current understanding of the insight of pathogenicity mechanisms in this important human pathogen.

Part of the book: Advances in Candida albicans

By Bhabani Sankar Satapathy, Snigdha Pattnaik, Sangram Keshari Biswal, Biswabhusan Biswal, Pralaya Kumar Sahoo, Himansu Bhusan Samal and Binapani Barik

Effective treatment of brain disorders remains a tough task in medical science. Age-old brain disorders like Parkinson’s (PD) and Alzheimer’s (AD) are yet to be managed effectively in spite of fabulous scientific progress over the last decades. Presently available treatment strategies have been found insufficient to tackle the out bursting cases of AD and PD. Indeed, presence of blood-brain barrier (BBB) highly hijacks success of conventional drug therapy. In this regard, phyto bioactive components delivered through nanocarrier (NCs) systems hold ray of hope in improving treatment benefits in brain disorders. Several NCs including polymeric nanoparticles, nanoliposomes, micelles, dendrimers have now being heavily researched to effectively deliver the phyto active components to brain tissue. NCs owing to their structural and physiological uniqueness have now been evolved with great potential for the treatment of brain disorders. Functionalization of brain specific ligands on the surface of NCs further makes them target specific, which might significantly improve bioavailability or reduce the off-target adverse effects. This chapter primarily focuses on recent advancements in phyto component loaded NCs employed for the treatment of brain disorders. The chapter especially covers existing impediments of phyto component based NCs for Parkinson and Alzheimer’s disease.

Part of the book: Drug Repurposing

By Bhabani Sankar Satapathy, Jnanranjan Panda, Biswabhusan Biswal, Abhishek Mishra, Snigdha Pattnaik, Pralaya Kumar Sahoo and Anshuman Gouda

Effective treatment of glioma; the most aggressive primary brain tumor has been a worrisome medical challenge across the globe. Owing to the architectural uniqueness of the brain coupled with the presence of the blood-brain barrier hijacks the success of conventional treatment strategies. In this context, magnetic nanocarriers (MNCs) have garnered significant attention over the past decade as efficient imaging and targeted drug delivery platforms in glioma. In many recent research, ferrite-based drug carriers have shown preferential anticancer activity against glioma cells both in vitro and in vivo. Under the influence of an externally applied magnetic field, anticancer drug-loaded MNCs could be directed at specific tumor locations and can release the cytotoxic drugs more precisely at the tumor area, thereby reducing off-target toxic effects. Among the ferrite-based MNCs, superparamagnetic nanocarriers are considered more biocompatible. Further, the outer surface of MNCs is coated with biodegradable hydrophilic polymers like PEG to make them suitable for in vivo applications. Additionally, MNCs can be functionalized with specific ligands like monoclonal antibodies, peptides, aptamers, etc., to improve tumor-specific targeting. The chapter highlights research advancements in MNCs-based drug targeting investigated over the past years for the treatment of glioma along with key challenges on the roads of technology transfer for industrial viability.

Part of the book: Molecular Biology and Treatment Strategies for Gliomas