Global sex selection techniques for family planning: a narrative review.

Objective: To document the varying methods of sex selection, both primitive (traditional) as well as advanced forms available around the world.

Context: With the increasing desire of couples to choose the gender of their offspring, scientific sex-selection methods and techniques have evolved over time; unfortunately, the medical and social consequences have remained poorly emphasised.

Methods: We searched electronic search engines and grey literature that included research articles from journals, books, websites and news articles in English until August 2016.

Heavy Metals in Indigenous Preparations Used for Sex Selection During Pregnancy in India.

Indigenous preparations (IPs) have evoked a considerable interest in alleviating infections and chronic diseases and improving wellbeing. While such formulations have been a part of traditional practice in several countries and many have been reviewed scientifically for their claims, several of them until date remain to be investigated. A class of IPs for sex selection by Indian pregnant women exists with an aim of begetting a male offspring.

Synthesis and biological activity of novel MIF antagonists.

Two series of novel furan and indole compounds were synthesized and probed for inhibition of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) activity. Several compounds from both series inhibited the enzymatic activity of MIF at levels equal to or significantly better than ISO-1 (an early MIF inhibitor). The majority of the compounds that robustly inhibited the spontaneous secretion/release/recognition of MIF from freshly isolated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells were from the furan series (compounds 5, 9, 13, 15, and 16).

Novel derivatives of ISO-1 as potent inhibitors of MIF biological function.

A series of novel 1,2,4-oxadiazole, phthalimide, amide and other derivatives of ISO-1 were synthesized and probed for inhibition of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) activity. Several compounds inhibited MIF enzymatic activity at levels better than ISO-1. Of note, compounds 7, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 27 inhibited the spontaneous secretion/release/recognition of MIF from freshly isolated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and, more importantly, inhibited the MIF-induced production of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and/or interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) significantly better than ISO-1.

Pharmacology of a novel, orally active PDE4 inhibitor.

Background: Intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) in inflammatory cells and airway smooth muscle is critical to the modulation of inflammatory response generation. Phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4), an enzyme that catalyzes cAMP degradation, is therefore being actively explored as a molecular target for the treatment of airway inflammation, particularly asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The field has undergone major advances in optimizing generation of compounds with a safe therapeutic margin; however, most PDE4 inhibitors tested so far have unacceptable side effects, particularly nausea and vomiting.

A fluorinated analog of ISO-1 blocks the recognition and biological function of MIF and is orally efficacious in a murine model of colitis.

A promising therapeutic approach to diminish pathological inflammation is to inhibit the synthesis and/or biological activity of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF). Prior studies have shown that intraperitoneal administration of small-molecule inhibitors targeting the catalytic pocket of MIF (e.g.

Discovery of diacylphloroglucinols as a new class of GPR40 (FFAR1) agonists.

In this letter, we report discovery of diacylphloroglucinol compounds as a new class of GPR40 (FFAR1) agonists. Several diacylphloroglucinols with varying length of acyl functionality and substitution on aromatic hydroxyls were synthesized and evaluated for GPR40 agonism using functional calcium-flux assay. Out of 17 compounds evaluated, 14, 17, 19 and 25 exhibited good GPR40 agonistic activity with EC(50) values ranging from 0.

Synthesis and evaluation of pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridines and its structural analogues as TNF-alpha and IL-6 inhibitors.

In the present article, we have synthesized three different series of pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridines and their structural analogues using novel synthetic strategy involving one-pot condensation of 5,6-dihydro-4H-pyran-3-carbaldehyde/2-formyl-3,4,6-tri-O-methyl-D-glucal/chromone-3-carbaldehyde with heteroaromatic amines. All synthesized compounds were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activity against TNF-alpha and IL-6. Out of 28 compounds screened, 40, 51, 52 and 56 exhibited promising activity against IL-6 with 60-65% inhibition at 10 microM concentration.