Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are well-known for playing a dual role as destructive and constructive species. Indeed, ROS are engaged in many redox-governing activities of the cells for the preservation of cellular homeostasis. However, its overproduction has been reported to result in oxidative stress, which is considered as a deleterious process, and is involved in the damage of cell structures that causes various diseased states. This review provides a concise view on some of the current research published in this topic for an improved understanding of the key roles of ROS in diverse conditions of health and disease. Previous research demonstrated that ROS perform as potential signaling molecules to control several normal physiological functions at the cellular level. Additionally, there is a growing body of evidence supporting the role of ROS in various pathological states. The binary nature of ROS with their profitable and injurious characteristics indicates the complexities of their specific roles at a biological compartment and the difficulties in establishing convenient intervention procedures to treat ROS-related diseases. Cite this article as: Bardaweel SK, Gul M, Alzweiri M, Ishaqat A, AlSalamat HA, Bashatwah RM. Reactive Oxygen Species: the Dual Role in Physiological and Pathological Conditions of the Human Body. Eurasian J Med 2018; 50(3): 193-201.

In the drug discovery setting, undesirable ADMET properties of a pharmacophore with good predictive power obtained after a tedious drug discovery and development process may lead to late-stage attrition. The earlystage ADMET profiling has brought a new dimension to lead drug development. Although several high-throughput in vitro models are available for ADMET profiling, the in silico methods are gaining more importance because of their economic and faster prediction ability without the requirements of tedious and expensive laboratory resources. Nonetheless, in silico ADMET tools alone are not accurate, and therefore, ideally adopted along with in vitro and or in vivo methods in order to enhance the predictability power. This review summarizes the significance and challenges associated with the application of in silico tools as well as the possible scope of in vitro models for integration to improve the ADMET predictability power of these tools.

Homochirality is fundamental for life. L-Amino acids are exclusively used as substrates for the polymerization and formation of peptides and proteins in living systems. However, D- amino acids were recently detected in various living organisms, including mammals. Of these D-amino acids, D-serine has been most extensively studied. D-Serine was found to play an important role as a neurotransmitter in the human central nervous system (CNS) by binding to the N-methyl- D-aspartate receptor (NMDAr). D-Serine binds with high affinity to a co-agonist site at the NMDAr and, along with glutamate, mediates several vital physiological and pathological processes, including NMDAr transmission, synaptic plasticity and neurotoxicity. Therefore, a key role for D-serine as a determinant of NMDAr mediated neurotransmission in mammalian CNS has been suggested. In this context, we review the known functions of D-serine in human physiology, such as CNS development, and pathology, such as neuro-psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases related to NMDAr dysfunction.

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is an enzyme responsible for inflammation and pain. Etoricoxib is the most recent selective (COX-2) inhibitor that has a higher COX-2 selectivity than the other COX-2-selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which significantly improves its gastric safety profile. The current therapeutic indications of etoricoxib includes the treatment of several painful conditions, such as osteoarthritis, acute gout, ankylosing spondylitis, and rheumatoid arthritis. To the best of found knowledge, no decent method has been reported that can be used for the routine determination of etoricoxib and additives in pharmaceutical suspensions by a single, rapid and cost-effective run of HPLC, using an UV-Vis detector. Earlier reported methods, such as liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC), capillary zone electrophoresis, and ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), are all tedious and time consuming. A reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) was used as a first reported single run method to achieve developed and validated simultaneous determination for sodium saccharin, vanillin, methyl paraben, etoricoxib, and butyl paraben, in prepared oral suspensions of etoricoxib. Reversed phase column of octadecylsilane (ODS) C18 with isocratic mobile phase containing methanol, and phosphate buffer of pH 6 in a ratio of 70:30 (v/v). Celecoxib is used as an internal standard at a detection wavelength of 215 nm. This method separates the analytes in a total running time less than 13 min. Linearity is obtained in the calibration curve for all analytes with a R² value of > 0.999. Furthermore, beta-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) were added, either alone or combined, to prevent the crystal formation, and any unpleasant taste of etoricoxib in oral formulations. After testing both HP-β-CD and β-CD at 3% w/w for each, the results showed that HP-β-CD is more efficient in preventing the crystal formation of etoricoxib in suspensions at room temperature than β-CD is.