COX-2 inhibitors are important drugs with analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. The discovery of COX-2, the evolution of drug development in this field and the implications of these developments in patient therapy are topics of this volume. This book presents both pre-clinical and clinical information and is important for clinicians interested in the latest information about this class of drugs, for researchers and for students in the field.

This book presents the chemical and biological nature as well as the mechanisms of environmental toxins, snake venoms, heavy metals, and bacterial toxins in poisoning and highlights the most recent approaches and theories for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. It examines the possible repositioning of highly toxic glycoalkaloids found in potatoes to life-saving anticancer drugs.

“This book uses Caenorhabditis elegans as model animal to introduce the toxicity induction of toxicants at environmentally relevant concentrations under different conditions. It also discusses the systematic introduction of different molecular signaling pathways, as well as G protein coupled receptors and ion channels, in regulating the toxicity of toxicants at environmentally relevant concentrations.

This book provides an overview of the drug discovery process from natural sources such as plants and microbes. While technological advances have streamlined the drug discovery process, enhancing the throughput and success rates, the structural features of natural products remain the primary reference for small-molecule drug discovery.

In May of 2011, Western Europe experienced a severe outbreak of Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing E. coli (STEC) that culminated in more than 3200 cases and 39 deaths. While Stx is not the only virulence factor associated with STEC, it is certainly the primary determinant associated with the onset of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). At the present time, there are no clinically approved measures to neutralize Stx in individuals suffering from STEC infection. Nor are there any preventatives or therapeutics for ricin toxin. Although incidents of ricin exposure are largely unheard of, federal agencies and public health officials consider it a significant threat. It is well documented that domestic and international terrorist groups have stockpiled, and in some cases weaponized ricin with the intent of releasing it into the public sphere and causing panic, illness and/or death on a local, regional, or possibly national scale.

More than 70 years have elapsed since U. S. von Euler and I. H. Gaddum dis­ covered an unidentified depressor substance in the brain and gut. The effects of the powdery extracts were marked as 'P' on the kymograph tracings, and the nondescript name of 'substance P' still carries the breath of this adventurous period. In the 1960s, substance P returned in another disguise, staging as a hypothalamic peptide that causes copious salivary secretion (see chapter by F. Lembeck and I. Donnerer). This time, though, the mysterious substance was tracked down by S. E. Leeman and her collaborators as an undecapeptide, after it had eluded its identification for some 40 years.

This volume compiles student reports from the 2023 Simula Summer School in Computational Physiology. The reports provide an overview of some tools available to model physiology in excitable tissues across scales and scientific questions.

This book comprehensively reviews the recent progress in their pathogenesis and management approaches for neurological disorders. It focuses on understanding the molecular mechanism, pathology, novel nanotechnology-based approaches against stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson disease, Huntington’s disease, Multiple sclerosis, and Epilepsy. The book provides the basic understanding about the development and progression of these diseases, and recent pharmacotherapeutic approaches for their management. It also discusses challenges in drug development for neurological disorders, including preclinical models of disorders, the need for drugs to cross the blood-brain-barrier, and limited understanding of relevant pathophysiology. The book also focuses on different conventional and novel strategies for drug delivery in neurological disorders. Towards the end, the book reviews the applications of nanotechnology for the diagnosis of neurological disorders. One of the chapters is focused on the role of herbal actives in the treatment of neurological disorders. Finally, a chapter is included on nanotechnology-based approaches for diagnosis of neurological disorders. This book is a useful resource for students and researchers of pharmaceutical sciences, life sciences, material sciences, and nanosciences.

The development of innovative drugs is becoming more difficult while relying on empirical approaches. This inspired all major pharmaceutical companies to pursue alternative model-based paradigms. The key question is: How to find innovative compounds and, subsequently, appropriate dosage regimens?

One of the striking features of our times is the increasing utilization of chemical products in different fields of human activities, as a result of the spectacular progress of chemical research. Our food supply has not been spared from this general trend, however, and chemical sub­ stances are being continuously incorporated in foodstuffs. Some of these substances are added to food for technological purposes such as pre­ serving food from bacterial deterioration (antimicrobials), protecting it from oxidative changes (antioxidants), and improving its organoleptic characteristics (sweeteners, flavors, and flavor enhancers), or texture (stabilizers, emulsifiers, colorants). These substances are generally referred to as intentional food additives.