Browsing by Author "Sharma V."

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    Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase in the metabolism of the anticancer drugs
    (Springer Verlag, 2019) Sharma V.; Gupta S.K.; Verma M.
    Cancer caused by fundamental defects in cell cycle regulation leads to uncontrolled growth of cells. In spite of the treatment with chemotherapeutic agents of varying nature, multiple resistance mechanisms are identified in cancer cells. Similarly, numerous variations, which decrease the metabolism of chemotherapeutics agents and thereby increasing the toxicity of anticancer drugs have been identified. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is an anticancer drug widely used to treat many cancers in the human body. Its broad targeting range is based upon its capacity to act as a uracil analogue, thereby disrupting RNA and DNA synthesis. Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) is an enzyme majorly involved in the metabolism of pyrimidines in the human body and has the same metabolising effect on 5-FU, a pyrimidine analogue. Multiple mutations in the DPD gene have been linked to 5-FU toxicity and inadequate dosages. DPD inhibitors have also been used to inhibit excessive degradation of 5-FU for meeting appropriate dosage requirements. This article focusses on the role of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase in the metabolism of the anticancer drug 5-FU and other associated drugs.
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    Safety and ethics in biotechnology and bioengineering: What to follow and what not to
    (Elsevier Inc., 2017) Munshi A.; Sharma V.
    Biotechnology and bioengineering are disciplines of science, which use knowledge of biological sciences and advanced technologies to generate new and useful products and processes for the benefit of society. The potential of biotechnology and bioengineering is immense because it touches the entire spectrum of life including agriculture, food processing, medicine, and many other areas. The rapid advances in biotechnology and bioengineering have restricted most of the resources. Although, genetically modified organisms have many benefits, they are always considered to impose a threat to the environment and human health in some way or the other. The deliberate modification and transfer of specifically constructed gene assemblies by using advanced techniques has created continuing disagreement globally. Apart from blessings and benefits of these fields, ethical concerns such as informed consent, confidentiality, subjects for research, equal access to the benefits of research, mortality, benefits to the person employed for research such as insurance, intellectual property rights, and liability are required to be articulated. Beside this, major emphasis is on how to control bioterrorism using genetically engineered super pathogens and drugs to erase memory and immune system. Therefore, the bioethics for the safe regulation of potential benefits of biotechnology and bioengineering and for welfare of mankind and nature is of paramount consideration. Apex regulatory agencies such as US FDA, Environmental Protection Agency, and ICMR has proposed "Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research on Human Subjects," guidelines to regulate the developments in the area of Biomedical Science. The aim of this chapter is to delineate the ethical and safety concerns raised by applications of biotechnology and bioengineering.