Publications by authors named "Panagiotis Zagaliotis"

Carbapenemase-producing (KPC) are globally emerging pathogens that cause life-threatening infections. Novel treatment alternatives are urgently needed. We therefore investigated the effectiveness of three novel bacteriophages (Spivey, Pharr, and Soft) in a neutropenic murine model of KPC gastrointestinal colonization, translocation, and disseminated infection.

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Major obstacles faced by the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are their gastrointestinal toxicity induced by non-selective inhibition of both cyclooxygenases (COX) 1 and 2 and their cardiotoxicity associated with a certain class of COX-2 selective inhibitors. Recent studies have demonstrated that selective COX-1 and COX-2 inhibition generates compounds with no gastric damage. The aim of the current study is to develop novel anti-inflammatory agents with a better gastric profile.

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A series of previously synthesized 5-benzyliden-2-(5-methylthiazole-2-ylimino)thiazoli- din-4-one were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activity on the basis of PASS predictive outcomes. The predictive compounds were found to demonstrate moderate to good anti-inflammatory activity, and some of them displayed better activity than indomethacin used as the reference drug. Structure-activity relationships revealed that the activity of compounds depends not only on the nature of the substituent but also on its position in the benzene ring.

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Article Synopsis
  • Sargramostim (rhu GM-CSF) is used to enhance immune responses and help recover from chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, but its effectiveness against invasive fungal diseases (IFDs) is not well studied.
  • A review of 15 pediatric patients with malignancies and IFDs treated with sargramostim showed a high response rate, with 92% of evaluable patients responding positively to treatment.
  • The literature review, including 50 cases, also indicated a strong response rate of 82%, suggesting sargramostim could serve as a promising adjunctive therapy for patients with hematological cancers and difficult-to-treat IFDs.*
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Drug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial pathogens are an increasingly serious health threat causing worldwide nosocomial infections with high morbidity and mortality. Of these, the most prevalent and severe are and The extended use of antibiotics has led to the emergence of multidrug resistance in these bacteria. Drug-inactivating enzymes produced by these bacteria, as well as other resistance mechanisms, render drugs ineffective and make treatment of such infections more difficult and complicated.

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Broad-spectrum antiviral agents that are effective against many viruses are difficult to develop, as the key molecules, as well as the biochemical pathways by which they cause infection, differ largely from one virus to another. This was more strongly highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which found health systems all over the world largely unprepared and proved that the existing armamentarium of antiviral agents is not sufficient to address viral threats with pandemic potential. The clinical protocols for the treatment of COVID-19 are currently based on the use of inhibitors of the inflammatory cascade (dexamethasone, baricitinib), or inhibitors of the cytopathic effect of the virus (monoclonal antibodies, molnupiravir or nirmatrelvir/ritonavir), using different agents.

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Since the time of its appearance until present, COVID-19 has spread worldwide, with over 71 million confirmed cases and over 1.6 million deaths reported by the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition to the fact that cases of COVID-19 are increasing worldwide, the Delta and Omicron variants have also made the situation more challenging.

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Invasive fungal diseases due to resistant yeasts and molds are an important and increasing public health threat, likely due to a growing population of immunosuppressed hosts, increases in antifungal resistance, and improvements in laboratory diagnostics.  The significant morbidity and mortality associated with these pathogens bespeaks the urgent need for novel safe and effective therapeutics.  This review highlights promising investigational antifungal agents in clinical phases of development: fosmanogepix, ibrexafungerp, rezafungin, encochleated amphotericin B, oteseconazole (VT-1161), VT-1598, PC945, and olorofim.

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In continuation of our efforts to develop new compounds with antimicrobial properties we describe design, synthesis, molecular docking study and evaluation of antimicrobial activity of seventeen novel 2-{[5-(adamantan-1-yl)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl]-imino}-5-arylidene-1,3-thiazolidin-4-ones. All compounds showed antibacterial activity against eight Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial species. Twelve out of seventeen compounds were more potent than streptomycin and all compounds exhibited higher potency than ampicillin.

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