Ecraprost [AS 013, Circulase] is a prodrug of prostaglandin E(1) within lipid microspheres that is being developed in Japan by Mitsubishi Pharma Corporation and Asahi Glass. It was originally in development with Welfide Corporation. On 1 October 2001, Welfide Corporation (formerly Yoshitomi) merged with Mitsubishi-Tokyo Pharmaceuticals to form Mitsubishi Pharma Corporation. The new company is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical. Taisho and Seikagaku Corporation had been involved in the development of ecraprost but discontinued their licences to do so. The effects of ecraprost on reperfusion injury, in preclinical studies, had been reported by Taisho. Ecraprost is in phase II in Japan and was in phase II in Europe for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease. It was also in a phase II study in the treatment of diabetic neuropathies. However, this is no longer an active indication. A phase III trial using a lipid emulsion of ecraprost [Circulase] is underway with Mitsubishi Pharma Corporation in the US, using ecraprost for the treatment of patients with severe peripheral arterial disease, which, because of decreased blood flow to the extremities, can lead to painful ulcers on the legs and feet and subsequent amputation. Alpha Therapeutic Corporation (a former subsidiary of Mitsubishi Pharma) was initially involved in trials of ecraprost in the US, but this responsibility has been taken over by the parent company.

Ketoconazole is an azole antifungal. Ketoconazole was the first broad-spectrum oral antifungal agent available to treat systemic and superficial mycoses. Evidence of hepatotoxicity associated with its use emerged within the first few years of its approval. Due to its hepatotoxic side effects, oral ketoconazole was withdrawn from the European and Australian markets in 2013. The United States imposed strict relabeling requirements and restrictions for prescription, with Canada issuing a risk communication echoing these concerns. Today, oral ketoconazole is only indicated for endemic mycoses, where alternatives are not available or feasible. Meanwhile, topical ketoconazole is effective, safe, and widely prescribed for superficial mycoses, particularly as the first-line treatment for tinea versicolor. Topically administered ketoconazole is usually prescribed for fungal infections of the skin and mucous membranes, such as athlete's foot, ringworm, candidiasis (yeast infection or thrush), jock itch, and tinea versicolor. Topical ketoconazole is also used as a treatment for dandruff (seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp) and for seborrheic dermatitis on other areas of the body, perhaps acting in these conditions by suppressing levels of the fungus Malassezia furfur on the skin. Ketoconazole interacts with 14-α demethylase, a cytochrome P-450 enzyme necessary for the conversion of lanosterol to ergosterol. This results in inhibition of ergosterol synthesis and increased fungal cellular permeability. Other mechanisms may involve the inhibition of endogenous respiration, interaction with membrane phospholipids, inhibition of yeast transformation to mycelial forms, inhibition of purine uptake, and impairment of triglyceride and/or phospholipid biosynthesis. Ketoconazole can also inhibit the synthesis of thromboxane and sterols such as aldosterone, cortisol, and testosterone. Ketoconazole is active against clinical infections with Blastomyces dermatitidis, Coccidioides immitis, Histoplasma capsulatum, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis.

Praziquantel, marketed as Biltricide, is an anthelmintic used in humans and animals for the treatment of tapeworms and flukes. Specifically, it is effective against schistosoma, Clonorchis sinensis the fish tape worm Diphyllobothrium latum. Praziquantel works by causing severe spasms and paralysis of the worms' muscles. This paralysis is accompanied - and probably caused - by a rapid Ca 2+ influx inside the schistosome. Morphological alterations are another early effect of praziquantel. These morphological alterations are accompanied by an increased exposure of schistosome antigens at the parasite surface. The worms are then either completely destroyed in the intestine or passed in the stool. An interesting quirk of praziquantel is that it is relatively ineffective against juvenile schistosomes. While initially effective, effectiveness against schistosomes decreases until it reaches a minimum at 3-4 weeks. Effectiveness then increases again until it is once again fully effective at 6-7 weeks. Glutathione S-transferase (GST), an essential detoxification enzyme in parasitic helminths, is a major vaccine target and a drug target against schistosomiasis. Schistosome calcium ion channels are currently the only known target of praziquantel. The antibiotic rifampicin decreases plasma concentrations of praziquantel. Carbamazepine and phenytoin are reported to reduce the bioavailability of praziquantel. Chloroquine reduces the bioavailability of praziquantel. The drug cimetidine heightens praziquantel bioavailability.

Tobramycin, an aminoglycoside antibiotic obtained from cultures of Streptomyces tenebrarius, it is effective against gram-negative bacteria, especially the pseudomonas species. Tobramycin is used in combination with other antibiotics to treat urinary tract infections, gynecologic infections, peritonitis, endocarditis, pneumonia, bacteremia and sepsis, respiratory infections including those associated with cystic fibrosis, osteomyelitis, and diabetic foot and other soft-tissue infections. It acts primarily by disrupting protein synthesis, leading to altered cell membrane permeability, progressive disruption of the cell envelope, and eventual cell death. Tobramycin has in vitro activity against a wide range of gram-negative organisms including Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Tobramycin binds irreversibly to one of two aminoglycoside binding sites on the 30 S ribosomal subunit, inhibiting bacterial protein synthesis. Tobramycin may also destabilize bacterial memebrane by binding to 16 S 16 S r-RNA. An active transport mechanism for aminoglycoside uptake is necessary in the bacteria in order to attain a significant intracellular concentration of tobramycin. KITABIS PAK (co-packaging of tobramycin inhalation solution and PARI LC PLUS Reusable Nebulizer) is indicated for the management of cystic fibrosis in adults and pediatric patients 6 years of age and older with P. aeruginosa.

Doxorubicin is an antineoplastic in the anthracycline class. General properties of drugs in this class include: interaction with DNA in a variety of different ways including intercalation (squeezing between the base pairs), DNA strand breakage and inhibition with the enzyme topoisomerase II. Most of these compounds have been isolated from natural sources and antibiotics. However, they lack the specificity of the antimicrobial antibiotics and thus produce significant toxicity. The anthracyclines are among the most important antitumor drugs available. Doxorubicin is widely used for the treatment of several solid tumors while daunorubicin and idarubicin are used exclusively for the treatment of leukemia. Doxorubicin may also inhibit polymerase activity, affect regulation of gene expression, and produce free radical damage to DNA. Doxorubicin possesses an antitumor effect against a wide spectrum of tumors, either grafted or spontaneous. Doxorubicin is used to produce regression in disseminated neoplastic conditions like acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloblastic leukemia, Wilms’ tumor, neuroblastoma, soft tissue and bone sarcomas, breast carcinoma, ovarian carcinoma, transitional cell bladder carcinoma, thyroid carcinoma, gastric carcinoma, Hodgkin’s disease, malignant lymphoma and bronchogenic carcinoma in which the small cell histologic type is the most responsive compared to other cell types. Doxorubicin is also indicated for use as a component of adjuvant therapy in women with evidence of axillary lymph node involvement following resection of primary breast cancer.

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is a clear odorless liquid, inexpensively produced as a by-product of the paper industry. It is widely available in the USA as a solvent but its medical use is currently restricted by the FDA to the palliative treatment of interstitial cystitis and to certain experimental applications. In medicine, DMSO is also used as a topical analgesic, a vehicle for topical application of pharmaceuticals, as an anti-inflammatory, and an antioxidant.

Minocycline is a tetracycline analog, having a 7-dimethylamino and lacking the 5 methyl and hydroxyl groups, which is effective against tetracycline-resistant staphylococcus infections. Minocycline has many brand names one of them is minocin, Minocin is indicated in the treatment of the following infections due to susceptible isolates of the designated bacteria: Rocky Mountain spotted fever, typhus fever and the typhus group, Q fever, rickettsialpox and tick fevers caused by rickettsiae. Respiratory tract infections caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Lymphogranuloma venereum caused by Chlamydia trachomatis. Psittacosis (Ornithosis) due to Chlamydophila psittaci etc. Minocycline is indicated for the treatment of infections caused by the following Gram-negative bacteria when bacteriologic testing indicates appropriate susceptibility to the drug: Escherichia coli. Enterobacter aerogenes. Shigella species etc. MINOCIN also is indicated for the treatment of infections caused by the following Gram-positive bacteria when bacteriologic testing indicates appropriate susceptibility to the drug: Upper respiratory tract infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. Skin and skin structure infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus (Note: Minocycline is not the drug of choice in the treatment of any type of staphylococcal infection, etc. When penicillin is contraindicated, minocycline is an alternative drug in the treatment of the following infections: Meningitis due to Neisseria meningitidis. Syphilis caused by Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. Yaws caused by Treponema pallidum subspecies pertenue, etc. Minocycline passes directly through the lipid bilayer or passively diffuses through porin channels in the bacterial membrane. Minocycline inhibits protein synthesis by binding to 30S and possibly 50S ribosomal subunits of susceptible bacteria.

Melphalan, also known as L-phenylalanine mustard, phenylalanine mustard, L-PAM, or L-sarcolysin, is a phenylalanine derivative of nitrogen mustard. Melphalan is a bifunctional alkylating agent which produces a number of DNA adducts with the DNA interstrand crosslink (ICL) considered to be the critical cytotoxic lesion. Melphalan is used to treat different cancers including myeloma, melanoma and ovarian cancer.

Metronidazole was synthesized by France's Rhone-Poulenc laboratories and introduced in the mid-1950s under the brand name Flagel in the US, while Sanofi-Aventis markets metronidazole globally under the same trade name, Flagyl, and also by various generic manufacturers. Metronidazole is one of the rare examples of a drug developed as ant parasitic, which has since gained broad use as an antibacterial agent. Metronidazole, a nitroimidazole, exerts antibacterial effects in an anaerobic environment against most obligate anaerobes. Metronidazole is indicated for the treatment of the following infections due to susceptible strains of sensitive organisms: Trichomoniasis: symptomatic, asymptomatic, asymptomatic consorts; Amebiasis: acute intestinal amebiasis (amebic dysentery) and amebic liver abscess; Anaerobic bacterial infections; Intra-abdominal infections, including peritonitis, intra-abdominal abscess, and liver abscess; Skin and skin structure infections; Gynecologic infections, including endometritis, endomyometritis, tubo-ovarian abscess, and postsurgical vaginal cuff infection; Bacterial septicemia; Bone and joint infections, as adjunctive therapy; Central Nervous System infections, including meningitis and brain abscess; Lower Respiratory Tract infections, including pneumonia, empyema, and lung abscess; Endocarditis. Metronidazole is NOT effective for infections caused by aerobic bacteria that can survive in the presence of oxygen. Metronidazole is only effective against anaerobic bacterial infections because the presence of oxygen will inhibit the nitrogen-reduction process that is crucial to the drug's mechanism of action. Once metronidazole enters the organism by passive diffusion and activated in the cytoplasm of susceptible anaerobic bacteria, it is reduced; this process includes intracellular electron transport proteins such as ferredoxin, transfer of an electron to the nitro group of the metronidazole, and formation of a short-lived nitroso free radical. Because of this alteration of the metronidazole molecule, a concentration gradient is created and maintained which promotes the drug’s intracellular transport. The reduced form of metronidazole and free radicals can interact with DNA leading to inhibition of DNA synthesis and DNA degradation leading to death of the bacteria. The precise mechanism of action of metronidazole is unknown. Metronidazole has a limited spectrum of activity that encompasses various protozoans and most Gram-negative and Gram-positive anaerobic bacteria. Metronidazole has activity against protozoans like Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia and Trichomonas vaginalis, for which the drug was first approved as an effective treatment.

Acetylcysteine (also known as N-acetylcysteine or N-acetyl-L-cysteine or NAC) is primarily used as a mucolytic agent and in the management of acetaminophen poisoning. Acetylcysteine likely protects the liver by maintaining or restoring the glutathione levels, or by acting as an alternate substrate for conjugation with, and thus detoxification of, the reactive metabolite. Nacystelyn (NAL), a recently-developed lysine salt of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is known to have excellent mucolytic capabilities and is used to treat cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease. NAC as a precursor to the antioxidant glutathione modulates glutamatergic, neurotrophic, and inflammatory pathways. The potential applications of NAC to facilitate recovery after traumatic brain injury, cerebral ischemia, and in treatment of cerebrovascular vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage. Acetylcysteine serves as a prodrug to L-cysteine, which is a precursor to the biologic antioxidant, glutathione, and hence administration of acetylcysteine replenishes glutathione stores. L-cysteine also serves as a precursor to cystine, which in turn serves as a substrate for the cystine-glutamate antiporter on astrocytes hence increasing glutamate release into the extracellular space. Acetylcysteine also possesses some anti-inflammatory effects possibly via inhibiting NF-κB through redox activation of the nuclear factor kappa kinases thereby modulating cytokine synthesis. NAC is associated with reduced levels of inflammatory cytokines and acts as a substrate for glutathione synthesis. These actions are believed to converge upon mechanisms promoting cell survival and growth factor synthesis, leading to increased neurite sprouting.