Publications by authors named "Vitoria S Foletto"

Infectious diseases are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Combating them becomes more complex when caused by the pathogens of the ESKAPE group, which are Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter spp. The purpose of this study was to investigate the repositioning potential of the benzodiazepines clonazepam and diazepam individually and in combination with the antibacterial ciprofloxacin against ESKAPE.

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Purpose: The absence of specific treatments for COVID-19 leads to an intense global effort in the search for new therapeutic interventions and better clinical outcomes for patients. This review aimed to present a selection of accepted studies that reported the activity of antidepressant drugs belonging to the selective serotonin receptor inhibitor (SSRI) class for treating the novel coronavirus.

Methods: A search was performed in PubMed and SciELO databases using the following search strategies: [(coronavirus) OR (COVID) OR (SARS-CoV-2) AND (antidepressant) OR (serotonin) OR (selective serotonin receptor inhibitors)].

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The identification of molecules that exhibit potent antibacterial activity and are capable of circumventing resistance mechanisms is an unmet need. The repositioning of approved drugs is considered an advantageous alternative in this case, and has gained prominence. In addition, drug synergism can reduce morbidity and mortality in the treatment of nosocomial infections caused by multi-drug resistant microorganisms (MDR).

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Infectious diseases are among the main causes of morbidity and mortality today. In facing this crisis, the development of new drug options and combat strategies is necessary. In this sense, drug repositioning or drug redirection has emerged for the faster identification of effective drugs.

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The global spread of microbial resistance coupled with high costs and slow pace in the discovery of a new antibiotic have made drug repositioning an attractive and promising alternative in the treatment of infections caused by multidrug resistant (MDR) microorganisms. The reuse involves the production of compounds with lower costs and development time, using diversified production technologies. The present systematic review aimed to present a selection of studies published in the last 20 years, which report the antimicrobial activity of non-antibiotic drugs that are candidates for repositioning, which could be used against the current microbial multidrug resistance.

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The repositioning of drugs has been shown to be an advantageous alternative for treating diseases caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) microorganisms. The study aimed to investigate the in vitro antibacterial activity of the antidepressants fluoxetine and paroxetine alone and in combination with the antibacterial ciprofloxacin against standard strains and clinical isolates to explore the repositioning of these drugs in severe bacterial infections. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), tolerance level, fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) and interaction of antidepressants with the ciprofloxacin antibiotic were determined using the Checkerboard method against six American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) standard strains and seventy MDR clinical isolates.

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Bacterial resistance has become one of the most serious public health problems, globally, and drug repurposing is being investigated to speed up the identification of effective drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate the repurposing of escitalopram oxalate and clonazepam drugs individually, and in combination with the antibiotics ciprofloxacin and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, to treat multidrug-resistant (MDR) microorganisms and to evaluate the potential chemical nuclease activity. The minimum inhibitory concentration, minimum bactericidal concentration, fractional inhibitory concentration index, and tolerance level were determined for each microorganism tested.

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What Is Known And Objective: The widespread use of antibiotics as therapeutic agents caused an increase of multidrug resistant bacteria (MDR) appearance. Regarding MDRs, we highlight the Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter spp..

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Given the extreme importance of the current pandemic caused by COVID-19, and as scientists agree there is no identified pharmacological treatment, where possible, therapeutic alternatives are raised through drug repositioning. This paper presents a selection of studies involving drugs from different pharmaceutical classes with activity against SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV, with the potential for use in the treatment of COVID-19 disease.

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Background: The worldwide increase in the occurrence of cancer associated with the limitations of immunotherapy and the emergence of resistance have impaired the prognosis of cancer patients, which leads to the search for alternative treatment methods. Drug repositioning, a well-established process approved by regulatory agencies, is considered an alternative strategy for the fast identification of drugs, because it is relatively less costly and represents lower risks for patients.

Areas Of Uncertainty: We report the most relevant studies about drug repositioning in oncology, emphasizing that its implementation faces financial and regulatory obstacles, making the creation of incentives necessary to stimulate the involvement of the pharmaceutical industry.

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A porous iron-based adsorbent obtained from litchi peel via pyrolysis process was prepared in this work, in order to evaluate its adsorptive potential for the removal of a pharmaceutical dye (amaranth) from aqueous solution. The material was characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, and scanning electron microscopy. Several isotherm and kinetic models were tested aiming to represent the amaranth dye adsorption.

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FeWO4 particles were synthesized by a simple, rapid and facile microwave technique and their catalytic properties in heterogeneous photo-Fenton reaction were evaluated. This material was employed in the degradation of Amaranth azo dye. Individual and interactive effects of operational parameters such as pH, dye concentration and H2O2 dosage on the decolorization efficiency of Amaranth dye were evaluated by 2(3) central composite design.

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