Publications by authors named "Alvarez-Almazan S"

A strategy to increase the transfection efficiency of chitosan-based nanoparticles for gene therapy is by adding nuclear localization signals through karyophilic peptides. Here, the effect of the length and sequence of these peptides and their interaction with different plasmids on the physical characteristics and biological functionality of nanoparticles is reported. The karyophilic peptides (P1 or P2) were used to assemble nanoparticles by complex coacervation with pEGFP-N1, pQBI25 or pSelect-Zeo-HSV1-tk plasmids, and chitosan.

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Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is one of the most common diseases and the 8th leading cause of death worldwide. Individuals with T2D are at risk for several health complications that reduce their life expectancy and quality of life. Although several drugs for treating T2D are currently available, many of them have reported side effects ranging from mild to severe.

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Article Synopsis
  • Thiazolidinediones (TZDs) are used for type 2 diabetes treatment but have side effects like weight gain and heart failure.
  • The study tested two TZD derivatives (C40 and C81) and a new compound (C4) for their effectiveness in managing diabetes and antioxidant activity in diabetic rats.
  • C40 effectively achieved normal blood sugar levels, C81 reduced blood glucose, and C4 showed the best antioxidant benefits without lowering glucose.
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Article Synopsis
  • Diabetes mellitus (DM) causes complications in microvascular, macrovascular, and nervous systems, but the link to weak bones is less understood.
  • Various molecular mechanisms resulting from chronic high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia) differ depending on the organ and tissue affected.
  • The complexity of diabetes treatment stems from individual patient conditions and the side effects of therapies, with an emphasis on the role of osmotic changes, oxidative stress, and inflammation in disease progression.
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Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease characterized by hyperglycemia, insulin resistance and hyperlipidemia. Glitazones or thiazolidinediones (TZD) are drugs that act as insulin-sensitizing agents whose molecular target is the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ). The euglycemic action of TZD has been linked with the induction of type 4 glucose transporter.

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Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are nuclear receptors involved in the metabolism of lipids and carbohydrates. The exogenous ligands of these receptors are thiazolidinediones (TZDs), which are used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2). However, drugs from this group produce adverse effects such as hepatic steatosis.

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The present review summarizes the current advances in the biochemical and physiological aspects in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) with thiazolidinediones (TZDs). DM2 is a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia, triggering the abnormal activation of physiological pathways such as glucose autooxidation, polyol's pathway, formation of advance glycation end (AGE) products, and glycolysis, leading to the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and proinflammatory cytokines, which are responsible for the micro- and macrovascular complications of the disease. The treatment of DM2 has been directed toward the reduction of hyperglycemia using different drugs such as insulin sensitizers, as the case of TZDs, which are able to lower blood glucose levels and circulating triglycerides by binding to the nuclear peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) as full agonists.

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