Cancer treatments which include conventional chemotherapy have not proven very successful in curing human malignancies. The failures of these treatment modalities include inherent resistance, systemic toxicity and severe side effects. Out of 50% patients administrated to chemotherapy, only 5% survive. For these reasons, the identification of new drug designs and therapeutic strategies that could target cancer cells while leaving normal cells unaffected still continues to be a challenge. Despite advances that have led to the development of new therapies, treatment options are still limited for many types of cancers. This review provides an overview of platinum, copper and ruthenium metal based anticancer drugs in clinical trials and in vitro/in vivo studies. Presumably, copper and ruthenium complexes have greater potential than Pt(II) complexes, showing reduced toxicity, a new mechanism of action, a different spectrum of activity and the possibility of non-cross-resistance. We focus the discussion towards past, present and future aspects.

This study was designed to examine the in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities and to characterize the polyphenolic composition of the ethanolic extracts of Hyssopus officinalis, Ocimum basilicum and Teucrium chamaedrys. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the major phenolic compounds were conducted using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). The total polyphenols, caffeic acid derivatives and flavonoids content was spectrophotometrically determined. The phenolic profile showed the presence of phenolic acid derivatives (caftaric, gentisic, caffeic, p-coumaric, chlorogenic and ferulic acids), flavonoid glycosides (rutin, isoquercitrin and quercitrin) and free flavonoid aglycons (luteolin, quercetin), in different concentrations. DPPH radical scavenging assay, Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) method, hemoglobin ascorbate peroxidase activity inhibition (HAPX) assay, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) radicals detection were employed, revealing several aspects of the antioxidant activities of these species. The antimicrobial tests were performed using the disk diffusion assay. These extracts contained a large amount of the polyphenolic compounds (77.72, 175.57, and 243.65 mg/g, respectively), and they showed a good antioxidant activity, as witnessed by a number of methods. T. chamaedrys had a high antimicrobial activity. Besides their antioxidant activity, the antimicrobial effect of these extracts confirms the biological activities of these herbal medicinal products.

The biological properties and main phenolic compounds of the O. vulgare L. ssp. vulgare extract are described in the present paper. The polyphenolic compounds were analyzed by chromatographic and spectrophotometric techniques. The antioxidant potential was evaluated using several methods: CUPRAC (cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity), FRAP (ferric reducing ability of plasma), inhibition of lipid peroxidation catalyzed by cytochrome c, and superoxide (SO) scavenging assays. The antimicrobial activity of the oregano extract was evaluated by means of agar-well diffusion assay. The hepatoprotective effect of the O. vulgare extract on CCl₄-induced hepatotoxicity was evaluated in rats. Liver injury was estimated by determination of alanine aminotransaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransaminase (AST), gamma-glutamyl transferase GGT, total protein and albumin concentrations, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA). These values were improved by the administration of oregano extract. A specific phenolic profile was evidenced by these data, with large amounts of rosmarinic and chlorogenic acids. The oregano extract showed very strong antioxidant activity in good agreement with the phenolic content. Antimicrobial activity was good, especially against Salmonella enteritidis and Aspergillus niger strains. The high hepatoprotective, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity, along with polyphenol-rich content, can support the use of O. vulgare in therapy. We also expect our results to open new research directions for designing important new drug products, using indigenous plant material.

DNA structure has many potential places where endogenous compounds and xenobiotics can bind. Therefore, xenobiotics bind along the sites of the nucleic acid with the aim of changing its structure, its genetic message, and, implicitly, its functions. Currently, there are several mechanisms known to be involved in DNA binding. These mechanisms are covalent and non-covalent interactions. The covalent interaction or metal base coordination is an irreversible binding and it is represented by an intra-/interstrand cross-link. The non-covalent interaction is generally a reversible binding and it is represented by intercalation between DNA base pairs, insertion, major and/or minor groove binding, and electrostatic interactions with the sugar phosphate DNA backbone. In the present review, we focus on the types of DNA–metal complex interactions (including some representative examples) and on presenting the methods currently used to study them.

Rosmarinus officinalis L. is a widely known species for its medicinal uses, that is also used as raw material for the food and cosmetic industry. The aim of the present study was to offer a novel perspective on the medicinal product originating from this species and to test its hepatoprotective activity. The tested sample consisted in a tincture obtained from the fresh young shoots. Compounds that are evaluated for this activity are polyphenols and terpenoids, that are identified and quantified by HPLC–UV–MS and GC–MS. Antioxidant activity was assessed in vitro, using the DPPH, FRAP and SO assays. Hepatoprotective activity was tested in rats with experimentally-induced hepatotoxicity. In the chemical composition of the tincture, phenolic diterpenes (carnosic acid, carnosol, rosmanol, rosmadial) and rosmarinic acid were found to be the majority compounds, alongside with 1,8-cineole, camphene, linalool, borneol and terpineol among monoterpenes. In vitro, the tested tincture proved significant antioxidant capacity. Results of the in vivo experiment showed that hepatoprotective activity is based on an antioxidant mechanism. In this way, the present study offers a novel perspective on the medicinal uses of the species, proving significant amounts of polyphenols and terpenes in the composition of the fresh young shoots tincture, that has proved hepatoprotective activity through an antioxidant mechanism.

The discovery of a new non-toxic metal complex with biological activity represents a very active area of research. Two Cu⁺² complexes, [Cu₄(L1)₄(OH)₄(DMF)₂(H₂O)] (C1) (HL1 = N-(5-ethyl-[1,3,4]–thiadiazole–2-yl)-benzenesulfonamide) and [Cu(L2)₂(phen)(H₂O)] (C2) (HL2 = N-(5-(4-methylphenyl)-[1,3,4]–thiadiazole–2-yl)-naphtalenesulfonamide), with two new ligands were synthesized. The X-ray crystal structures of the complexes were determined. In both complexes, Cu⁺² is five-coordinated, forming a CuN₂O₃ and CuN₄O chromophore, respectively. The ligands act as monodentate, coordinating the metal ion through a single N_thiadiazole atom; for the two complexes, the molecules from the reaction medium (phenantroline, dimethylformamide and water) are also involved in the coordination of Cu⁺². The complexes have a distorted square pyramidal square-planar geometry. The compounds were characterized by FT-IR and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Using the microdilution method, the antibacterial activity of the complexes was determined against four Gram-positive and two Gram-negative bacteria, with Gentamicin as the positive control. Cytotoxicity studies were carried out on two tumor cell lines (HeLa, DLD-1) and on a normal cell line (HFL1) using the MTT method and Cisplatin as a positive control. Flow cytometric assessment of apoptosis induced by the complexes on the three cell lines was also performed. Both complexes present in vitro biological activities but complex C2 is more active.