Synergy: an old wisdom, a new paradigm for pharmacotherapy

Abstract

Synergy is one of the governing principles of the natural world, and is one of the reasons for the increasing complexity of the evolutionary process. Broadly speaking, it relates to the cooperative effects produced by the interaction between various forces, elements, parts or individuals in a given context. Since the last century, some clinical studies have described the increased efficiency of a combination of drugs. To study the effects of the drug interactions, the most commonly cited model is that of Loewe, and the classical graphical representation is the iso-effect curve (isobologram). Plants contain an enormous diversity of specialized micromolecules, therefore there is a high likelihood of interactions between them. Through recent synergy studies, various synergistic interactions have been demonstrated among extracts of different plants, and between components of the same extract.Uniterms: Natural extracts. Synergy. Phytotherapeutics.Sinergia é um dos princípios que rege o mundo natural, apontado como uma das razões para a crescente complexidade do processo evolutivo. De uma forma ampla, ela se refere aos efeitos cooperativos produzidos pela interação entre diversas forças, elementos, partes ou indivíduos em um dado contexto. Desde o ultimo século, alguns estudos clínicos tem descrito a eficiência ampliada da combinação de fármacos. Para estudar os efeitos da interação de fármacos, o modelo mais citado é o da aditividade de Loewe, e também a representação clássica é o isobolograma, ou curva iso-efeito. As plantas contem uma diversidade enorme de micromoléculas especializadas, e consequentemente, alta probabilidade de interações entre elas. Através de estudos recentes dos efeitos sinérgicos, varias interações sinérgicas estão sendo demonstradas entre extratos de diferentes plantas e também entre componentes de um mesmo extrato.Unitermos: Extratos naturais. Sinergia. Fitoterápicos.

In vitro Synergy Testing of Anidulafungin with Fluconazole, Tioconazole, 5-Flucytosine and Amphotericin B against some Candida spp.

“…When the curve of the isobole moves towards the origin (concave line) this indicates that the agents in the mixture are synergic, and when the opposite occurs (convex line) they present antagonism. In the other words, the same biological effects of the agents in isolation is obtained at lower (or higher) doses of mixture [22]. In the Figs.…”

Encecalol angelate, an unstable chromene from Ageratum conyzoides L.: Total synthesis and investigation of its antiprotozoal activity

“…One explanation may be degradation of unstable compounds which could be ruled out for 1 in the present study. In some cases, loss of activity can be attributed to synergistic effects that are lost if the original constituents of a crude extract are separated from each other (Williamson, 2001;Weber Biavatti, 2009 and references cited there). The possibility that such an effect is responsible for the loss Table 1 Antiprotozoal activity of synthetic encecalol angelate (1) and samples of the dichloromethane extract of A. conyzoides against protozoan parasites (Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense (Tbr), T. cruzi (Tcr), Leishmania donovani (Ldo) and Plasmodium falciparum (Pfc) and assayed for cytotoxicity against L6 rat skeletal myoblasts); IC50 (g/mL).…”

Antimicrobial Effect of Multilayered Carbon Nanotubes on Multi-Drug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa

“…[12] Conjugation of nanoparticles with antibiotics may produce a synergistic effect, which can permit lower doses of the antibiotics to be used, minimizing the side effects. [13] In this study, we investigated antimicrobial properties of multilayered CNTs for clinical isolates of MDR P. aeruginosa.…”