Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine Special Issues
Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis
Lead Editor:
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Dr Fabio Timeus
Ospedale Infantile Regina Margherita. Pediatric Onco-Hematology.
Italy
Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is characterized by an uncontrolled immune response upon exposure to various triggers. A common feature is the severity of the clinical picture caused by the cytokine storm, and the ominous outcome in the absence of early diagnosis and treatment. Familial forms typically affect childhood, but manifestations of onset in adulthood are possible. Malignancies and infections can cause secondary forms, not related to hereditary defects. There are close affinities between HLH and macrophage activation syndrome (MAS), sometimes observed at the onset or in the course of autoimmune diseases. The clinical picture of HLH can be confused with that of sepsis. This suggests interesting problems of differential diagnosis and pathophysiology. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has a central role in the therapy of familiar forms. Misdiagnosis or late diagnosis of HLH is not rare and a better knowledge of this pathology is necessary to improve its prognosis. New aspects of this topic are the forms secondary to immunotherapy, the role of monoalleic mutations, the anti-cytokine therapies.
Submission deadline: 29 June 2024
Adolescent Health & Medicine
Lead Editor:
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Professor Flora Bacopoulou
Center for Adolescent Medicine and UNESCO Chair on Adolescent Health Care, First Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital
Greece
A focus on adolescence is central in the new era of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health. Although progress has been made in recent decades, far too many adolescents still face numerous health challenges such as communicable and non-communicable diseases, mental illnesses, injuries and violence, and have little or no access to quality health services, education, reproductive health care, and good nutrition. Greater attention to adolescence is needed to attain the highest standards of health and well-being—physical, mental and social—if global health targets are to be met. The ambition of this Special Issue “Adolescent Health & Medicine” is to acknowledge not only the unique health challenges that young people face, but also their pivotal role as key drivers of change in the post-2015 era.
Submission deadline: 25 June 2024
Congenital Growth and Development Defects
Lead Editor:
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Dr Qiang Huang
Duke University
United States
Congenital growth and developmental defects are mainly caused by congenital malformations, which are structural or functional anomalies occurring as the fetus is growing within its mother’s womb. They are caused by genetic, infectious, nutritional, or environmental factors. There is no specific therapy for these defects, even though some have existing therapeutic methods, such as surgeries, vaccination, specific medicine. Many therapeutic methods are in development, such as gene editing and stem cell therapy. In this special issue, we will talk about the defect-related aspects, including experimental models, the development of therapeutic methods (including surgeries in development), etiology, diagnosis, and prevention. We invite review and original research papers related, but not limited, to the above topics in order to realize a special issue that will further the defect medicine.
Submission deadline: 24 June 2024
Molecular and cellular advances in obstetric and gynaecological research
Lead Editor:
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Dr Antonio Simone Laganà
University of Palermo
Italy
The idea of this special issue titled "Molecular and cellular advances in obstetric and gynaecological research" derives from the desire to create a collection of manuscripts providing new evidence or summarizing the most recent available pieces of evidence in the field. The special issue focuses on the molecular and cellular advances about gynaecological malignancies, male and female infertility, obstetric diseases, benign diseases, aiming to provide a collection able to become the starting point of new researches.
Submission deadline: 24 June 2024
Novel nanoparticles for cancer treatment
Lead Editor:
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Professor Xiaoqing Cai
Sun Yat-sen University
China
Cancer is one of leading causes of death worldwide to date. In 2020, nearly 10 million deaths caused by cancers were reported. For the treatment of cancers, current strategies include removing the primary tumor by surgery or inhibiting the growth of the cancer by chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and antibody-targeted therapy. Recently, nanotechnology has been extensively exploited for cancer treatment. Compared to conventional drugs, nanoparticle agents have several specific advantages, such as precise targeting, enhanced efficiency, improved biocompatibility and stability. This Research Topic aims to collect articles that developed encouraging progresses for novel nanoparticle agents that specifically target cancer cells for cancer treatment. This collection welcomes Original Research, Review, Mini Review, and Perspectives on the cancer treatment. Areas of interest could include, but not limited to: • Development of novel nanoparticle agents for cancer treatment. • Using nanoparticle to deliver small molecule drugs to cancer cells. • DNA or RNA nanoparticles to regulate the gene expression of target proteins.
Submission deadline: 22 June 2024
Place of photodynamic therapy in cancer treatment: news on new photosensitizers
Lead Editor:
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Mr Bertrand Liagre
Faculté de Pharmacie, Laboratoire de Biochimie et Biologie Moléculaire
France
Laser therapy for the focal treatment of cancers, whether photodynamic therapy or photothermal therapy, is clinically authorised for certain types of cancer, notably for dermatological cancers. For other types of cancers, such as deep cancers, it is still at the stage of therapeutic innovation, i.e. it is not yet authorised as a cancer treatment but is in the clinical trial phase. This laser therapy is presented as a therapeutic strategy that greatly limits the undesirable side effects of conventional treatments and as a new approach for the many cases of recurrence or resistance to current chemotherapies.
Submission deadline: 22 June 2024
Options for conservative management as a therapy option of uterine fibroids
Lead Editor:
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Professor Panagiotis Tsikouras
DEMOCRITUS UNIVERSITY OF THRACE,GREECE
Greece
Fibroids are the most common benign of the genitals that occurs in women of reproductive age. Their presence varies depending on the age of the woman and her nationality. The incidence in the age of up to 50 years is 70-80%, while in asymptomatic women aged 33 to 40 years in 7.8% Fibroids are benign, monoclonal tumors of the smooth muscle fibers of the myometrium. During their development, they repel the surrounding tissues (myometrium and connective tissue), gradually creating a pseudocapsule rich in collagen fibers (type I and II), fibrous tissue and blood vessels. The following factors are considered to be involved in pathophysiology: 1) Genetic changes: a) chromosomal abnormalities (shifts between chromosomes 12 and 14, deletions on chromosome 7 and trisomy of chromosome) and b) genes related to hormone receptors (hormone receptors) and β, progesterone receptors A and B, growth hormone receptor, prolactin and extracellular substance and collagen, 2) growth factors (eg TGF-β, bFGF, EGF, PDGF, VEGF, IGF and prolactin), 3) hormonal changes, 4) ischemic damage during menstruation. The clinical semiology of fibroids includes one or more of the following: 1) Menorrhagia and / or uterine bleeding (with or without anemia), 2) Pain (dyspareunia, dysmenorrhea, pain due to obstructive or stressful phenomena or degeneration of fibroids), 3) Symptoms from the urinary tract (frequency, nocturia, urgency to urinate, difficulty urinating, urinary incontinence), 4) Symptoms from the gastrointestinal tract (constipation, tension). Alongside they can also contribute to clinical issues such as hypersensitivity, miscarriages and obstetric complications. The treatment of fibroids depends on the symptoms and clinical signs created by their presence, their size and location, on the woman's desire to maintain or not her fertility, her age, the balance between potential risk and benefit, the availability of treatment and the experience of the treating physician. In cases of desire fertility conservative management including also medical therapies offer an effective treatment option. It is distinguished into conservative and invasive. Conservative treatment includes:1) Simple monitoring, 2) Medication: a) Contraceptives (low-dose contraceptives do not increase the size of fibroids, while they are effective in reducing uterine bleeding), Progestogens / Intrauterine device levonorgestrel (natural progesteronen and synthetic progestogens cause endometrial atrophy and therefore may contribute to the reduction of menstrual blood loss in women with fibroids) . The intrauterine device levonorgestrel significantly reduces blood loss during menstruation and uterine volume in women with or without fibroids and is more effective than combined contraceptives in the treatment of menorrhagia), c) Gonadotrophin agonists (GnRHagonists) (fibroids are expected to shrink by 50% within 3 months of treatment, but their use should not exceed 3-6 months within 12 weeks of discontinuation .GnRHagonists are considered useful in some cases to be given preoperatively because they shrink fibroids and reduce anemia caused by uterine bleeding), d) Gonadotropin antagonists (as treatment for fibroids) need further investigation) Danazol (reduces the size of fibroids by 20-25%). Danazole is chemically related to 17-α-ethynyltestosterone, competes with natural androgens, progesterone and glucocorticoids, lowers estrogen levels by lowering GnRH and promotes ovarian steroidogenesis (inhibits androgens reduce the size of fibroids by 46% after 12 weeks of use, but the data on the treatment of women with fibroids are insufficient g) Estrogen receptor antagonists their action is less effective than GnRH agonists, selective estrogen receptor converts SERMS selective progesterone receptor SPRMS, MEFIPRISTONE, Ulipristal acetate Invasive treatment includes minimally invasive methods and surgical methods. Minimally invasive methods include: Uterine artery embolization indicate to improve excessive abnormal uterine bleeding and pelvic flatulence symptoms caused by uterine fibroids It is an imaginatively guided method performed by invasive radiologists. It has fewer complications than the surgical method but shows a 28-32% chance of reoperation (including arterial re-embolization, fibromyectomy, hysterectomy) within the next 4-5 years. Targeted fibroid destruction energy devices: i) MR-guided focused ultrasound, ii) Laparoscopic and ultrasound-guided radiofrequency myolysis, iii) Laser, iv) Microwave Their disadvantage is that they cure one fibroid at a time and that they target the center of the fibroids, but the growth of fibroids is mainly from the periphery. 3) Thermal destruction of the endometrium: This method can be used in women who do not want to maintain their fertility and show abnormal uterine bleeding due to submucosal fibroids. In the future, tissue specific medical therapy ,minimally invasive techniques and pharmacogenetics will offer various directions of fibroid management research and will lead to new future safe and satisfactory therapy options.
Submission deadline: 22 June 2024
Metabolic drug targets for cancer therapy
Lead Editor:
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Dr Alan Richardson
Keele University
United Kingdom
This special issue will include a selection of review papers each discussing different metabolic targets in cancer, including the following pathways: -glycoylysis -the mevalonate pathway -mitochondria and ROS -fatty acid synthesis -amino acid metabolism -phosphopentose pathway -autophagy -eicosinoids -mTORC as a master metabolic regulator -myc as a master metabolic regulator and -the role to the tumor microenvironment in metabolism.
Submission deadline: 22 June 2024
Experimental or clinical therapy or improvement in cerebrovascular disease
Lead Editor:
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Professor Won Moo ho
Department of Neurobiology, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University
Republic of Korea
Cerebrovascular diseases (CVD) include stroke (ischemic and hemorrhagic), transient ischemic attack (TIA), aneurysm, and vascular malformation. CVD can develop from a variety of causes, including atherosclerosis (arteries become narrow), thrombosis or embolic arterial blood clot, and hemorrhage. This special issue welcomes papers dealing therapy and/or improvement including their mechanisms in humans and experimental animals.
Submission deadline: 22 June 2024
Experimental, therapeutic, and pharmaceutical medicine in the field of ophthalmology
Lead Editor:
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Professor Naoki Yamamoto
Fujita Health University
Japan
Research on molecular cell biology and pharmacological content, including exploration of disease-causing factors in the field of ophthalmology, examination of experimental tools and therapeutic agents that can be used for new research.
Submission deadline: 22 June 2024
