This publication discusses two compounds belonging to the psychoactive substances group which are studied in the context of depression treatment—psilocybin and esketamine. The former is a naturally occurring psychedelic. The latter was invented in the laboratory exactly 60 years ago. Although the substances were controversial in the past, recent studies indicate the potential of those substances as novel antidepressant agents. The PubMed/MEDLINE database was used to identify articles for systematic review, using the following search terms: (depression) AND (psilocybin) OR (ketamine). From 617 items, only 12 articles were obtained in the final analyses. Three articles were devoted to psilocybin in depression treatment and nine to esketamine. In most studies, esketamine showed a significant reduction in both depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation shortly after intake and after a month of treatment compared to baseline and to standard-of-care antidepressant agents. Psilocybin’s antidepressive effects occurred one day after intake and after 6–7 weeks of treatment and were maintained for up to 6 or 8 months of follow-up. One study indicated that psilocybin’s effects are comparable with and may be superior to escitalopram treatment. Both esketamine and psilocybin demonstrated rapid and long-term effects in reducing depression symptoms and, after overcoming some limitations, may be considered as novel antidepressant agents in future.

Due to an increasing number of depression diagnoses and limited effective treatments, researchers continue to explore novel therapeutic strategies for this disorder. Recently, interest has revolved around the use of serotonergic psychedelics to reduce the symptoms of depression. In this systematic review, we summarize the currently available knowledge on the safety and efficacy of psychedelic substances for the treatment of depression. A literature search of the PubMed/MEDLINE database identified 14 clinical trials from the last 10 years that examined the use of psilocybin, MDMA, DMT, or LSD for the treatment of depression symptoms. Some psychedelics, especially psilocybin, demonstrated an ability to reduce depressive symptoms as measured by several psychological scales, which was often sustained for months after the last psychedelic session. Moreover, one study revealed that psilocybin has comparable efficacy to escitalopram in the treatment of depression. None of the studies reported any serious adverse events associated with psychedelic administration. The reviewed studies suggest that psychedelics have great potential in depression therapy and, after addressing and overcoming the current study limitations, may be used as a novel method of treating depression in the future.

Background Resveratrol is a polyphenol with many properties, including activity against glycation, oxidative stress, inflammation, neurodegeneration, carcinogenesis and aging. It appears to be a promising compound for the prevention and treatment of metabolic diseases. The aim of this review is to summarize the results of the latest clinical trials that concern effects of resveratrol in diabetes mellitus type 1 and 2 and its complications - diabetic foot ulcers, diabetic nephropathy and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Aim of the study Based on in vitro studies and animal models, it has been observed that resveratrol reverses the factors causing premature death: obesity, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. Because of its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, cardioprotective and blood lowering glucose effects, it appears to be a promising compound for the treatment of metabolic conditions. The review presents different clinical trials concerning the efficiency of resveratrol supplementation in patients with diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome and their complications. Most studies focused on assessing the effect of resveratrol supplementation as an adjunctive treatment of diabetes mellitus type 2 and in this group of patients it gave the best results causing reduction of fasting glucose levels, fasting insulin concentration, insulin resistance and improvement of insulin sensitivity and lipid profiles. Conclusions Resveratrol remains a potential drug in the treatment of metabolic diseases like diabetes mellitus. However, the results of the conducted trials are inconscient. More research is needed to confirm the effectiveness of resveratrol supplementation in treating diabetes, its complications and other metabolic conditions.

Introduction and purpose: Amyloid Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is progressive, cachectic neurodegenerative disease. The lack of effective therapy, which could prevent disease progression and minimize degeneration of motor neurons, contributes to unceasing exploration for novel therapeutic methods. Nanotechnology remains one of the most promising areas among novel agents in neurodegenerative diseases treatment. Recent studies have shown that application of nanoparticles for drug delivery might develop greater effects in ALS treatment.The aim of the study is to analyze literature (database PubMed) for potential nanotechnology usage in ALS therapy.A brief description of the state of knowledge: Nanotechnology is one of the most promising agent in many aspects of medicine, for example drug delivery, cancer therapy and wound healing. There are different kinds of nanoparticles for example gold, silver, metal-oxide, silica, lipid-based. There was one randomized clinical trial that used nanoparticles to improve bioavailability of turmeric, potential anti-inflammatory agent, in patients with ALS. This study showed that using nanoparticles is safe. Most of the recent analysis were carried out using animal models. Promising results were demonstrated in many studies. Conclusions: The available research confirms the usefulness of nanotechnology in increasing the effectiveness of ALS treatment. Animal studies have produced surprising results. Nanoparticles can improve the absorption of drugs and bioavailability, affecting the clinical improvement of patients, which gives new possibilities and therapeutic perspectives for patients with ALS. Personalized therapy based on using molecules and profund control of such therapy can greatly improve the effectiveness of treating people with ALS.

Introduction and purpose: Blood-brain barrier (BBB) consists of capillary endothelium, in which there are three types of intercellular junctions - adherent, tight and gap junctions.Efficient therapy involves delivering a therapeutic dose of drug into a specific site in the body, and maintaining this dose for adequate time afterwards. The aim of this study is to review current knowledge of new strategies in drug delivery to CNS and the effectiveness of these methods in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) treatment. This review was performed using the PubMed database. A brief description of the state of knowledge: Methods for delivering drugs to the brain are divided into invasive and non-invasive. Invasive methods involve temporary disrupting tight intercellular junctions of the vascular endothelial cells and delivering drugs intracerebrally or intraventricularly during neurosurgical procedures. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of nanoparticles as drug carriers to the central nervous system via blood-brain barrier. The usage of nanoparticles implies many advantages, such as non-invasive, low cost, good biodegradability, stability, ability to carry various types of agents, selectivity and ability to control drug release. Conclusions: Limited options in treating brain located tumors, including glioblastoma multiforme, due to difficulties in drug penetration through the BBB engages scientists to search for new treatments. Crossing the BBB using invasive methods based on interruption of cell junctions show promising results, but they are associated with i.a. a high risk of uncontrolled influx of toxins to the CNS or ion-electrolyte imbalance, which may lead to neuronal dysfunction. Invasive methods can be effective only in tumors, while treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease is impossible. Recent studies show that nanoparticles would be a great, non-invasive alternative, but they are difficult to use with relatively low permeability through undamaged BBB. In some studies using nanoparticles as nanocarriers (EDVDox) or SYMPHONY method (combining photothermal therapy with GNS and immunotherapy of checkpoints in a mouse model) against GBM shows positive results. More research is required to confirm the effectiveness and safety of these treatments.

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumour in the paediatric population. It is an embryonal tumour of the autonomic nervous system which arises in tissues of the sympathetic nervous system, typically in the adrenal medulla or paraspinal ganglia, and thus can present as mass...