Pharmacology is a branch of medicine and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous molecule which exerts a biochemical or physiological effect on the cell, tissue, organ, or organism. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function. If substances have medicinal properties, they are considered pharmaceuticals.
The pomegranate is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between 5 and 10 m tall.
A receptor antagonist is a type of receptor ligand or drug that blocks or dampens a biological response by binding to and blocking a receptor rather than activating it like an agonist. Antagonist drugs interfere in the natural operation of receptor proteins. They are sometimes called blockers; examples include alpha blockers, beta blockers, and calcium channel blockers. In pharmacology, antagonists have affinity but no efficacy for their cognate receptors, and binding will disrupt the interaction and inhibit the function of an agonist or inverse agonist at receptors. Antagonists mediate their effects by binding to the active site or to the allosteric site on a receptor, or they may interact at unique binding sites not normally involved in the biological regulation of the receptor's activity. Antagonist activity may be reversible or irreversible depending on the longevity of the antagonist–receptor complex, which, in turn, depends on the nature of antagonist–receptor binding. The majority of drug antagonists achieve their potency by competing with endogenous ligands or substrates at structurally defined binding sites on receptors.
Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, or mAChRs, are acetylcholine receptors that form G protein-coupled receptor complexes in the cell membranes of certain neurons and other cells. They play several roles, including acting as the main end-receptor stimulated by acetylcholine released from postganglionic fibers in the parasympathetic nervous system.
Cytochrome P450 3A4 is an important enzyme in the body, mainly found in the liver and in the intestine. It oxidizes small foreign organic molecules (xenobiotics), such as toxins or drugs, so that they can be removed from the body.
Five Alive is a line of fruit juice blends created by Minute Maid, a brand of The Coca-Cola Company. The name refers to the five fruit juices each variety contains.
The Color of Pomegranates is a 1969 Soviet Armenian art film written and directed by Sergei Parajanov. The film is a poetic treatment of the life of 18th-century Armenian poet and troubadour Sayat-Nova. It has appeared in many polls as one of the greatest films ever made and was hailed as revolutionary by Mikhail Vartanov.
Ellagic acid is a natural phenol antioxidant found in numerous fruits and vegetables. The antiproliferative and antioxidant properties of ellagic acid have prompted research into its potential health benefits, but it has been identified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a fake cancer cure. Ellagic acid is the dilactone of hexahydroxydiphenic acid.
Punicalagin is an ellagitannin, a type of phenolic compound. It is found in forms alpha and beta in pomegranates, in Terminalia catappa and Terminalia myriocarpa, and in Combretum molle, the velvet bushwillow, a plant species found in South Africa. These three genera are all Myrtales and the last two are both Combretaceae.
Pomegranate juice is made from the fruit of the pomegranate. It is used in cooking both as a fresh juice and as a concentrated syrup.
Some fruit juices and fruits can interact with numerous drugs, in many cases causing adverse effects. The effect was first discovered accidentally, when a test of drug interactions with alcohol used grapefruit juice to hide the taste of the ethanol.
In the field of pharmacology, potency is a measure of drug activity expressed in terms of the amount required to produce an effect of given intensity. A highly potent drug evokes a given response at low concentrations, while a drug of lower potency evokes the same response only at higher concentrations. Higher potency does not necessarily mean more side effects.
Dotarizine is a drug used in the treatment of migraine, which acts as a calcium channel blocker, and also as an antagonist at the 5HT2A receptor, and to a lesser extent at the 5HT1A and 5HT2C receptors. The anti-migraine action is thought to be due to its action as a vasodilator, but it also has some anxiolytic effects and blocks amnesia produced by electroconvulsive shock in animals.
BRL-15,572 is a drug which acts as a selective antagonist for the serotonin receptor subtype 5-HT1D, with around 60x selectivity over other related receptors. The 5-HT1D receptor has a very similar pharmacology to the closely related 5-HT1B receptor, and most older ligands for these receptors bind to both subtypes with approximately equal affinity, so development of compounds such as BRL-15572 which are able to selectively block the 5-HT1D subtype while leaving 5-HT1B unaffected, have been a significant advance which has helped scientists in researching the function of these serotonin receptor subtypes. One function of the 5-HT1D receptor this research has revealed is its role in modulating release of the neurotransmitter glutamate in the brain, as well as functions in regulation of cerebral blood pressure which are important in the pathogenesis of migraine headaches.
Osemozotan (MKC-242) is a selective 5-HT1A receptor agonist with some functional selectivity, acting as a full agonist at presynaptic and a partial agonist at postsynaptic 5-HT1A receptors. 5-HT1A receptor stimulation influences the release of various neurotransmitters including serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine. 5-HT1A receptors are inhibitory G protein-coupled receptor. Osemozotan has antidepressant, anxiolytic, antiobsessional, serenic, and analgesic effects in animal studies, and is used to investigate the role of 5-HT1A receptors in modulating the release of dopamine and serotonin in the brain, and their involvement in addiction to abused stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine.
Teniloxazine, also known as sufoxazine and sulfoxazine, is a drug which is marketed in Japan. Though initially investigated as a neuroprotective and nootropic agent for the treatment of cerebrovascular insufficiency in the 1980s, it was ultimately developed and approved as an antidepressant instead. It acts as a potent norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, with fair selectivity over the serotonin and dopamine transporters, and also behaves as an antagonist of the 5-HT2A receptor.
Punicalin is an ellagitannin. It can be found in Punica granatum (pomegranate) or in the leaves of Terminalia catappa, a plant used to treat dermatitis and hepatitis. It is also reported in Combretum glutinosum, all three species being Myrtales, the two last being Combretaceae.
The pomegranate ellagitannins, which include punicalagin isomers, are ellagitannins found in the sarcotestas, rind (peel), bark or heartwood of pomegranates.
The IUPHAR/BPS Guide to PHARMACOLOGY is an open-access website, acting as a portal to information on the biological targets of licensed drugs and other small molecules. The Guide to PHARMACOLOGY is developed as a joint venture between the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) and the British Pharmacological Society (BPS). This replaces and expands upon the original 2009 IUPHAR Database. The Guide to PHARMACOLOGY aims to provide a concise overview of all pharmacological targets, accessible to all members of the scientific and clinical communities and the interested public, with links to details on a selected set of targets. The information featured includes pharmacological data, target, and gene nomenclature, as well as curated chemical information for ligands. Overviews and commentaries on each target family are included, with links to key references.
POM Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Co., 573 U.S. 102 (2014), was a United States Supreme Court case that held that a statutory private right of action under the Lanham Act is not precluded by regulatory provisions of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
