Despite belonging to a relatively new class of pharmaceuticals, biological drugs have been used since the 1980s, when they brought about a breakthrough in the treatment of chronic diseases, especially cancer. They conquered a large space in the pipeline of the pharmaceutical industry and boosted the innovation portfolio and arsenal of therapeutic compounds available. Here, we report on biological drug approvals by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2015 to 2021. The number of drugs included in this class grew over this period, totaling 90 approvals, with an average of 13 authorizations per year. This figure contrasts with previous periods, which registered between 2 and 8 approvals per year. We highlight the great potential and advantages of biological drugs. In this context, these therapeutics show high efficacy and high selectivity, and they have brought about a significant increase in patient survival and a reduction of adverse reactions. The development and production of biopharmaceuticals pose a major challenge because these processes require cutting-edge technology, thereby making the drugs very expensive. However, we believe that, in the near future, biological medicines will be more accessible and new drugs belonging to this class will become available as new technologies emerge. Such advances will enhance the production of these biopharmaceuticals, thereby making the process increasingly profitable and less expensive, thereby bringing about greater availability of these drugs.

Objetivo: realizou-se uma revisão integrativa e demonstrou-se a relevância de uma classe natural de metabólitos secundários, os flavonoides, presentes em diversas espécies do reino vegetal, como maçã, repolho, uva, cebola e brócolis, visando o possível desenvolvimento de futuros medicamentos eficazes contra diversas doenças consideradas problemas de saúde pública. Metodologia: a identificação dos artigos foi baseada em pesquisas de trabalhos científicos publicados no PubMed, SciELO e Google Acadêmico. Foram incluídos artigos que abordaram os conceitos gerais dos flavonoides, com foco em sua atividade antioxidante, atividade dos radicais livres, ação das espécies reativas de oxigênio e função das vitaminas C e E. Resultados e discussão: 31 artigos, com resultados variados conforme os ensaios clínicos realizados e suas características e objetivos específicos, demonstrando características gerais dos flavonoides e suas principais aplicações terapêuticas. Conclusões: foi possível observar as principais características dos flavonoides como sua estrutura básica, suas diferentes classes e aplicações terapêuticas, principalmente, sua atividade antioxidante.

The design of compounds with directed action to a defined organ or tissue is a very promising approach, since it can decrease considerably the toxicity of the drug/bioactive compound. For this reason, this kind of strategy has been greatly important in the scientific community. Dendrimers, on the other hand, comprise extremely organized macromolecules with many peripheral functionalities, stepwise controlled synthesis, and defined size. These nanocomposites present several biological applications, demonstrating their efficiency to act in the pharmaceutical field. Considering that, the main purpose of this review was describing the potential of dendrons and dendrimers as drug targeting, applying different targeting groups. This application has been demonstrated through interesting examples from the literature considering the last ten years of publications.

Objetivos: O objetivo deste estudo foi realizar uma análise comportamental da utilização de psicoativos lícitos durante a pandemia da Covid-19. Metodologia: Realizou-se uma busca bibliográfica de materiais disponíveis em meio eletrônicos de diversas bases de dados renomadas: Elsevier, Google Scholar, Literatura Latino Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde – LILACS, Biblioteca Nacional de Medicina do Instituto Nacional de Saúde dos Estados Unidos (PubMed Central – PMC) e Scielo. Foram selecionados 39 materiais, considerando o fator de impacto das publicações. Resultados: A maioria dos estudos selecionados apresentaram mudanças nos padrões de utilização de substâncias psicoativas. Só no Brasil houve um aumento de 13,1% no consumo de bebidas alcoólicas, já o número de cigarros diários consumidos por tabagistas aumentou aproximadamente 34%, sem contabilizar outras formas de consumo de tabaco e seus derivados. O consumo de benzodiazepínicos subiu 12,7% no último ano e houve um crescimento de quase 14% na comercialização de antidepressivos e estabilizadores de humor. Conclusão: Em análise, foi possível estabelecer uma relação entre ou aumento do consumo de substâncias psicotrópicas e o impacto à saúde mental gerado pela pandemia da Covid-19, que é devido em grande parte ao isolamento social, as grandes mudanças na rotina e no perfil econômico de grande parte da população o que afetou negativamente a saúde mental, um dos pilares da saúde humana derrubado nesse período gerando grande alteração no consumo de medicamentos psicotrópicos, álcool e tabaco. Portanto, atualmente temos um grande problema de saúde pública que pode perdurar durante muito tempo e levar a outros problemas de saúde, sendo assim, são necessárias intervenções dos órgãos governamentais de orientação e promoção à saúde. O presente artigo demonstra a necessidade de novos estudos e relatos capazes de elucidar de maneira consistente o rumo dessa problemática, entretanto, consegue exercer um auxílio significativo nas ações de combate à situação.

The essential oil from C. aurantium has been widely studied due to its potential anxiolytic action on several receptors in the Central Nervous System (CNS). Although it presents variations in its phytochemical composition depending on its origin, we can highlight that many compounds remain present, such as linalool that demonstrated antagonistic activity on glutamatergic receptors, possible inhibitory action of noradrenaline and serotonin receptors, besides the ability to activate GABA receptors in association with some flavonoids present in the oil. It is globally known that the underlying pathology called anxiety influences worldwide as an antecedent of conflicting psychological and physical disorders, which are associated with various neuronal disorders. In this regard, the oil extracted from C. aurantium flowers shows a potential therapeutic application for the treatment of anxiety disorders. However, more studies are needed to elucidate its complete role on the CNS and to verify and prove its safety and efficacy profile.

The therapeutic properties of Cannabis have been described since antiquity and are of great relevance for the Egyptian, Chinese, Indian, Arab and Latin people. Cannabis-based medicines show several therapeutic purposes, mainly to treat disorders as constipation, some types of pain, epilepsy, anxiety and among others. In addition, the genus Cannabis exhibits great clinical relevance due to its Central Nervous System activities attributed to some phytochemicals compounds, as cannabidiol and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol. The interest in the pharmacological properties of Cannabis is growing and several new studies are being carried out to prove its pharmacotherapeutic use which are important to design of novel drugs with different routes of administration and for multiple pathologies resistant to the conventional treatments. In this context, there is a pressure on countries to review the laws that still limit the research development related to medicinal Cannabis purposes. Herein, our aim is to perform an overview about the plant, endocannabinoid system, Cannabis-based medicines and clinical uses, regulatory aspects of Cannabis sp and its chemical compounds of therapeutic interest.