Antibiotics are considered as a cornerstone of modern medicine and their discovery offers the resolution to the infectious diseases problem. However, the excessive use of antibiotics worldwide has generated a critical public health issue and the bacterial resistance correlated with antibiotics inefficiency is still unsolved. Finding novel therapeutic approaches to overcome bacterial resistance is imperative, and natural compounds with antibacterial effects could be considered a promising option. The role played by antibiotics in tumorigenesis and their interrelation with the microbiota are still debatable and are far from being elucidated. Thus, the present manuscript offers a global perspective on antibiotics in terms of evolution from a historical perspective with an emphasis on the main classes of antibiotics and their adverse effects. It also highlights the connection between antibiotics and microbiota, focusing on the dual role played by antibiotics in tumorigenesis. In addition, using the natural compounds with antibacterial properties as potential alternatives for the classical antibiotic therapy is discussed.

Clinical trials have evidenced that several natural compounds, belonging to the phytochemical classes of alkaloids, terpenes, phenols and flavonoids, are effective for the management of various types of cancer. Latest research has proven that natural products and their semisynthetic variants may serve as a starting point for new drug candidates with a diversity of biological and pharmacological activities, designed to improve bioavailability, overcome cellular resistance, and enhance therapeutic efficacy. This review was designed to bring an update regarding the anticancer potential of betulonic acid and its semisynthetic derivatives. Chemical derivative structures of betulonic acid including amide, thiol, and piperidine groups, exert an amplification of the in vitro anticancer potential of betulonic acid. With the need for more mechanistic and in vivo data, some derivatives of betulonic acids may represent promising anticancer agents.

Dental pathology remains a global health problem affecting both children and adults. The most important dental diseases are dental caries and periodontal pathologies. The main cause of oral health problems is overpopulation with pathogenic bacteria and for this reason, conventional therapy can often be ineffective due to bacterial resistance or may have unpleasant side effects. For that reason, studies in the field have focused on finding new therapeutic alternatives. Special attention is paid to the plant kingdom, which offers a wide range of plants and active compounds in various pathologies. This review focused on the most used plants in the dental field, especially on active phytocompounds, both in terms of chemical structure and in terms of mechanism of action. It also approached the in vitro study of active compounds and the main types of cell lines used to elucidate the effect and mechanism of action. Thus, medicinal plants and their compounds represent a promising and interesting alternative to conventional therapy.

Since the prevalence of heart failure (HF) increases with age, HF is now one of the most common reasons for the hospitalization of elderly people. Although the treatment strategies and overall outcomes of HF patients have improved over time, hospitalization and mortality rates remain elevated, especially in developed countries where populations are aging. Therefore, this paper is intended to be a valuable multidisciplinary source of information for both doctors (cardiologists and general physicians) and pharmacists in order to decrease the morbidity and mortality of heart failure patients. We address several aspects regarding pharmacological treatment (including new approaches in HF treatment strategies [sacubitril/valsartan combination and sodium glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors]), as well as the particularities of patients (age-induced changes and sex differences) and treatment (pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes in drugs; cardiorenal syndrome). The article also highlights several drugs and food supplements that may worsen the prognosis of HF patients and discusses some potential drug–drug interactions, their consequences and recommendations for health care providers, as well as the risks of adverse drug reactions and treatment discontinuation, as an interdisciplinary approach to treatment is essential for HF patients.

Malignant melanoma is one of the most pressing problems in the developing world. New therapeutic agents that might be effective in treating malignancies that have developed resistance to conventional medications are urgently required. Semisynthesis is an essential method for improving the biological activity and the therapeutic efficacy of natural product precursors. Semisynthetic derivatives of natural compounds are valuable sources of new drug candidates with a variety of pharmacological actions, including anticancer ones. Two novel semisynthetic derivatives of betulinic acid—N-(2,3-indolo-betulinoyl)diglycylglycine (BA1) and N-(2,3-indolo-betulinoyl)glycylglycine (BA2)—were designed and their antiproliferative, cytotoxic, and anti-migratory activity against A375 human melanoma cells was determined in comparison with known N-(2,3-indolo-betulinoyl)glycine (BA3), 2,3-indolo-betulinic acid (BA4) and naturally occurring betulinic acid (BI). A dose-dependent antiproliferative effect with IC50 values that ranged from 5.7 to 19.6 µM was observed in the series of all five compounds including betulinic acid. The novel compounds BA1 (IC50 = 5.7 µM) and BA2 (IC50 = 10.0 µM) were three times and two times more active than the parent cyclic structure B4 and natural BI. Additionally, compounds BA2, BA3, and BA4 possess antibacterial activity against Streptococcus pyogenes ATCC 19615 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 with MIC values in the range of 13–16 µg/mL and 26–32 µg/mL, respectively. On the other hand, antifungal activity toward Candida albicans ATCC 10231 and Candida parapsilosis ATCC 22019 was found for compound BA3 with MIC 29 µg/mL. This is the first report of antibacterial and antifungal activity of 2,3-indolo-betulinic acid derivatives and also the first extended report on their anti-melanoma activity, which among others includes data on anti-migratory activity and shows the significance of amino acid side chain on the observed activity. The obtained data justify further research on the anti-melanoma and antimicrobial activity of 2,3-indolo-betulinic acid derivatives.