Advances in Anti-inflammatory Therapy explores the cutting-edge in anti-inflammation therapy in clear and concise language, with insights from academia and industry. Sections cover key regulatory pathways that mediate acute and chronic inflammation and disease onset. Further chapters are devoted to advanced anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals, including chemical moieties, pharmacophores, APIs, natural products, herbal therapies, molecular nanomedicine and advanced drug delivery vectors. Systematically planned chapters and illustrations enable potential readers to gain essential insights on the most recent advancements in the field. Arranged with systematic chapters covering a broad range of inflammatory diseases, discussions on past, current and future therapeutics and advanced anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals, this book will be useful to a wide range of researchers, especially medicinal chemists, drug design experts, and biological and translational researchers working in the field of inflammation. - Identifies recent developments and current trends in anti-inflammation therapy - Discusses advanced chemotherapeutics, SAR analysis of novel pharmacophores and natural products - Outlines the pathophysiology of inflammatory pathways in the pathogenesis of disease onset, including strategies to counter these intricacies - Contains a blend of editors from both academia and industry

Inflammation has become one of the most exciting and rewarding areas of medical research. Recent years have seen a revolution in our understanding of how blood and tissue cells interact and of the intracellular mechanisms controlling their activation. This has revealed the underlying inflammatory pathology of many diseases and provided multiple new targets for anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory therapy. The Encyclopedia of Inflammatory Diseases will cover the following areas: Inflammatory Processes and Cells Inflammatory Diseases Mediators of Inflammation Pharmacology of Inflammation Since inflammatory diseases and their therapy cover a broad range of scientific and medical fields, the encyclopedia will be co-edited by four international experts, a clinician and three researchers from the disciplines of immunology, biochemistry, and pharmacology, in this way providing students, basic and clinical scientists and practitioners in academia, hospitals and industry with valuable interlinked information. This living project will serve as a reliable and comprehensive data pool for everybody working in inflammation research. Owing to its dynamic nature, it will grow with time and future editions, becoming an indispensible source of information for academia, clinical practitioners and industry.

1. 1. Invasive versus Non-Invasive Clinical Measurements in Medicine Clinical measurement has become an essential complement to traditional physical diagnosis. An ideal clinical measurement should be quantitative, have a high level of reliability and accuracy, be safe, acceptable to the patient, easy to perform and non-invasive. The latter demands that the technique should not break the skin or the lining epithelium and should be devoid of effects on the tissues of the body by the dissipation of energy or the introduction of infection [1]. It is therefore logical that for a given measurement, a non-invasive test will be preferred if it provides the same information with the same accuracy and precision. In the following sections, we will discuss the role of various non-invasive or relatively non-invasive methods to assess airway inflammation in asthma and concentrate on the only direct method of induced sputum examination. 1. 2. Why Is Assessment of Airway Inflammation Important in Asthma? Inflammation is a localized protective response elicited by injury or destruc tion of tissues which serves to destroy, dilute or wall off both the injurious agent and the injured tissue [2]. The role of inflammation in asthma was rec ognized long ago. In his textbook The Principles and Practice of Medicine, in 1892, Sir William Osler described "bronchial asthma . . . in many cases is a spe cial form of inflammation of the smaller bronchioles . . .

At present we may be at the cross-roads in the therapeutic approaches we have for the treatment of the 100 or more rheumatic conditions. This is be cause we now recognise that although some advances have been made with the development of a large range of non-steroidal and steroidal drugs during the past two decades or so, we now recognise that many, if not all, of these have rather limited effects on many of the disease processes which underlie the manifestations of the various rheumatic states. Advances in molecular bi- 010gy in the past 5-10 years have enabled these tools to be applied extensive ly for developing further our understanding of the rheumatic disease processes. In some cases these molecular tools (e. g. ,),-interferon, interleukin- 2, T-cell antibodies) have been directly employed as therapies themselves. While the outcome from trials with such agents in rheumatoid arthritis in particular has not been as would have been hoped, these results as with cy closporin A and low-dose methotrexate in the therapy of rheumatoid arth ritis have given us important indications for the approach employing what are generally described as "immunomodulators" to control this disease. But this may not be the same type of approach which is desirable for all types of rheumatic conditions. Indeed, even the way which the present range of drugs and other therapies are applied may not be the most effective and safe means of treating different types of arthritic conditions.

Discovery and Development of Anti-inflammatory Agents from Natural Products, the latest volume in the Natural Product Drug Discovery series, presents cutting-edge research advances in the field of bioactive natural products and natural drug formulations, with this volume focusing on molecules of natural origin and their synthetic analogues that have the potential to act against the pathogens responsible for inflammatory diseases. All aspects of each are covered, including isolations and structure elucidations, in vitro and in vivo biological activity, synthetic optimization, investigations of pharmacodynamics and kinetics, and the structure-activity relationships of anti-inflammatory natural products. Written by active researchers and leading experts, this book brings together an overview of current discoveries and trends in this field. It will be a valuable resource for researchers working to discover promising leads for the development of pharmaceuticals in the prevention and treatment of anti-inflammatory diseases. - Features contributions from active researchers and leading experts working in medicinal natural products and herbal formulations - Includes recent, cutting-edge advances on medicinal natural products, along with preventative therapies for different kinds of inflammation-directed diseases - Offers an authoritative source of information on the industrial application of natural products for medicinal purposes

Microneedles in Drug Delivery and Therapeutics details the design, characterization and applications of this novel drug delivery system.Microneedles offer several advantages over traditional oral and parenteral approaches, due to their ability to be fabricated and altered in shape, size and material type, matched to specific treatment needs.This book covers the materials selection, design and fabrication approaches, and clinical translation of microneedles for a range of therapeutic applications, including: cancer therapy, gene and vaccine delivery, wound healing and more. Microneedles in Drug Delivery and Therapeutics is a forward-thinking resource for those working in the development of materials and devices for novel drug delivery. - Introduces the reader to skin anatomy and materials development in regard to microneedles as smart carriers for drug delivery, offering an interdisciplinary approach that will appeal to a wide audience - Covers a broad range of therapeutic applications, from ocular diseases and photodynamic therapy to sensing and cancer treatment - Provides an overview of the materials, design, fabrication, clinical translation, commercial aspects of microneedle development, and their applications in drug delivery

A comprehensive guide for integrating pathology into a clinical setting. Pathological Basis of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases presents the basic principles involved in disease mechanisms in an easy-to-understand way. By integrating recent advances in molecular, immunologic, and genetic understanding of oral disease, the book helps readers enhance their knowledge and its application in a clinical setting. This book is divided into nine sections, covering key topics such as inflammation, genetic diseases, and neoplasia, with contributions from over 50 international authors. Diagrams, clinical, radiographic, and histopathology images and tables supplement the text, and the editors have ensured a consistent approach throughout. Topics covered in Pathological Basis of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases include: The influences of nutrition and the environment Cellular structure and function, causes and mechanisms of cellular pathology. Immunity and host defence mechanisms, immune dysfunctions affecting the oro-facial complex. Inflammation and inflammatory diseases of the oro-facial complex Human microbiome, with reference to dysbiosis in dental caries and periodontal diseases Oral manifestations of systemic diseases and the oral-systemic link and its impact on general and oral health Oral potentially malignant and malignant disorders that are a major threat to global public health. Bridging the gap in dental training programs from basic medical science in the initial years to clinical practice, Pathological Basis of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases is an essential reference for dental students, trainees and practitioners seeking to grasp the pathological basis of disease and apply that knowledge to the oral and maxillofacial regions.