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Topic Review
The Cannabis Terpenes
Terpenes are the primary constituents of essential oils and are responsible for the aroma characteristics of cannabis. Together with the cannabinoids, terpenes illustrate synergic and/or entourage effect and their interactions have only been speculated in for the last few decades. Hundreds of terpenes are identified that allude to cannabis sensory attributes, contributing largely to the consumer’s experiences and market price. They also enhance many therapeutic benefits, especially as aromatherapy.
  • 2.3K
  • 16 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Inorganic Nanoparticles for Cancer Treatment
The application of porphyrins and their derivatives have been investigated extensively over the past years for phototherapy cancer treatment. Phototherapeutic Porphyrins have the ability to generate high levels of reactive oxygen with a low dark toxicity and these properties have made them robust photosensitizing agents. In recent years, Porphyrins have been combined with various nanomaterials in order to improve their bio-distribution. These combinations allow for nanoparticles to enhance photodynamic therapy (PDT) cancer treatment and adding additional nanotheranostics (photothermal therapy—PTT) as well as enhance photodiagnosis (PDD) to the reaction. This review examines various porphyrin-based inorganic nanoparticles developed for phototherapy nanotheranostic cancer treatment over the last three years (2017 to 2020). Furthermore, current challenges in the development and future perspectives of porphyrin-based nanomedicines for cancer treatment are also highlighted.
  • 2.3K
  • 28 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Doxorubicin
The antibiotic doxorubicin is often used as an anti-neoplastic drug; however, many patients showed very unpleasant side-effects. Previous studies have demonstrated that dietary substances such as Aloe arborescens, Annona muricata, Morinda citrifolia, Beta rubra, Scutellaria baicalensis, and Vaccinium myrtillus may have anti-oxidant, anti-proliferative, and anti-inflammatory effects. The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effects of a mixture of these components in an experimental model of doxorubicin toxicity. Rats (n = 30) received doxorubicin (5 mg/kg/day) for 4 weeks and were randomized to receive the dietary mixture 2 hours following the first doxorubicin injection and until the end of the experiment. Animals were killed following 4 weeks, and blood, liver, and heart were collected for further analysis. The dietary supplement improved the depressed body weight and food consumption induced by DOX. In addition, the nutraceutical mixture reduced oxidative stress, ameliorated the morphological score, and preserved liver and heart structure, demonstrating a protective effect. These data show for the first time that the mixture of Aloe arborescens, Annona muricata, Morinda citrifolia, Beta rubra, Scutellaria baicalensis, and Vaccinium myrtillus may be useful to reduce the side effects following treatment with doxorubicin, and might ameliorate the quality of life of patients following chemotherapy.
  • 2.3K
  • 06 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Peripheral Muscle Fatigue
Muscle fatigue is defined as a decrease in maximal force or power generated in response to contractile activity, and it is a risk factor for the development of musculoskeletal injuries. One of the many stressors imposed on skeletal muscle through exercise is the increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), which intensifies as a function of exercise intensity and duration. The progressive reduction in muscle fibers’ ability to generate force originates at different levels of the motor system and can be categorized into two types, namely, central and peripheral fatigue. Peripheral mechanisms of fatigue refer to activity-induced mechanical failure through processes at or distal to neuromuscular junctions, so they can be attributed to neuromuscular transmission and excitation–contraction coupling.
  • 2.3K
  • 10 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Rosemary
Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis L.) belongs to the Lamiaceae family and is native to the Mediterranean region and part of Asia. It is the most well-known plant with antioxidant activity, and the only one currently approved as natural antioxidant in EU (E-392). The main antioxidant components and the extraction procedures are reviewed in the present work.
  • 2.3K
  • 30 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Boron Essentiality in Humans and Animals
Boron (B) is considered a prebiotic chemical element with a role in both the origin and evolution of life, as well as an essential micronutrient for some bacteria, plants, fungi, and algae. B has beneficial effects on the biological functions of humans and animals, such as reproduction, growth, calcium metabolism, bone formation, energy metabolism, immunity, and brain function. Naturally organic B (NOB) species may become promising novel prebiotic candidates. NOB-containing compounds have been shown to be essential for the symbiosis between organisms from different kingdoms. New insights into the key role of NOB species in the symbiosis between human/animal hosts and their microbiota will influence the use of natural B-based colon-targeting nutraceuticals. The mechanism of action (MoA) of NOB species is related to the B signaling molecule (autoinducer-2-borate (AI-2B)) as well as the fortification of the colonic mucus gel layer with NOB species from B-rich prebiotic diets. Both the microbiota and the colonic mucus gel layer can become NOB targets. The evidence supporting the essentiality of the NOB species in the symbiosis between the microbiota and the human/animal hosts is reviewed, with the stated aim of highlighting the MoA and targets of these species.
  • 2.3K
  • 13 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Red Blood Cells Metabolism beyond Glycolysis
Red blood cells (RBC) are the most abundant cell in the human body, with a central role in oxygen transport and its delivery to tissues. The relative simplicity of RBCs, as historically perceived, has attracted multiple efforts to leverage them as a model of simplified human cell metabolism. Indeed, RBCs exclusively rely on glycolysis (Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas pathway) to generate high-energy phosphate compounds, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP)—whose main source in other cells is oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria.
  • 2.3K
  • 13 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Endocytosis in Health and Disease
Endocytosis is a mechanistic process, associated with internalization of the extracellular materials such as microbes, cellular components, nutrients, or macromolecules. Conventionally, eukaryotic cells use the endocytosis process for the absorption of molecules and secretion of signaling transmitters (hormones and cytokines) to maintain cellular homeostasis. Endocytosis machinery is a well-conserved physiological process in lower to higher organisms, which has been frequently acquired for cellular defense, immune responses, uptake, and energy metabolism. 
  • 2.3K
  • 13 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Natural Products from Madagascar
Natural products with biological activity represent a primary source of commodities ranging from human nutrition to therapy. Also they may represent cosmetic principles and/or recreational tools. These natural means have been used by mankind for centuries, if not millennia. They are commonly used all over the world in socio-economical contexts, but are particularly attractive in disadvantaged areas or economically emerging situations all over the world because of their accessibility and low cost/use ratio.
  • 2.3K
  • 08 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Melanogenesis in Immune Systems
Melanocytes and melanin play a wide range of roles such as adsorption of metals, thermoregulation, and protection from foreign enemies by camouflage.
  • 2.3K
  • 14 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Soybean Isoflavones
Soybeans are rich in proteins and lipids and have become a staple part of the human diet. Besides their nutritional excellence, they have also been shown to contain various functional components, including isoflavones, and have consequently received increasing attention as a functional food item. Isoflavones are structurally similar to 17-β-estradiol and bind to estrogen receptors (ERα and ERβ). The estrogenic activity of isoflavones ranges from a hundredth to a thousandth of that of estrogen itself. Isoflavones play a role in regulating the effects of estrogen in the human body, depending on the situation. Thus, when estrogen is insufficient, isoflavones perform the functions of estrogen, and when estrogen is excessive, isoflavones block the estrogen receptors to which estrogen binds, thus acting as an estrogen antagonist. In particular, estrogen antagonistic activity is important in the breast, endometrium, and prostate, and such antagonistic activity suppresses cancer occurrence. 
  • 2.3K
  • 06 Jul 2021
Topic Review
m6A Demethylases Inhibitors
N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is a post-transcriptional RNA modification and one of the most abundant types of RNA chemical modifications. m6A functions as a molecular switch and is involved in a range of biomedical aspects, including cardiovascular diseases, the central nervous system, and cancers.
  • 2.3K
  • 06 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Chitin and Chitin Biosynthesis in Filamentous Fungi
Chitin, a major structural component of the fungal cell wall, synthesized via the activityof the enzyme chitin synthase (chs), has become a high-profifile target for investigating the effect on morphology, development and pathogenicity of filamentous fungi. Besides, disruption of chitin biosynthesis can modify the mycelial morphology of filamentous fungi and regulate the biosynthesis of the target metabolites during submerged fermentation. Thus, we summarize the classifification, structure and function of chs enzymes, the biosynthetic pathway of chitin of filamentous fungi. 
  • 2.3K
  • 15 May 2023
Topic Review
The Autophagic Pathway
Autophagy is a catabolic pathway that accounts for degradation and recycling of cellular components to extend cell survival under stress conditions. In addition to this prominent role, recent evidence indicates that autophagy is crucially involved in the regulation of the inflammatory response, a tightly controlled process aimed at clearing the inflammatory stimulus and restoring tissue homeostasis. To be efficient and beneficial to the host, inflammation should be controlled by a resolution program, since uncontrolled inflammation is the underlying cause of many pathologies. Resolution of inflammation is an active process mediated by a variety of mediators, including the so-called specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators (SPMs), a family of endogenous lipid autacoids known to regulate leukocyte infiltration and activities, and counterbalance cytokine production. Recently, regulation of autophagic mechanisms by these mediators has emerged, uncovering unappreciated connections between inflammation resolution and autophagy. Here, we summarize mechanisms of autophagy and resolution, focusing on the contribution of autophagy in sustaining paradigmatic examples of chronic inflammatory disorders. Then, we discuss the evidence that SPMs can restore dysregulated autophagy, hypothesizing that resolution of inflammation could represent an innovative approach to modulate autophagy and its impact on the inflammatory response.
  • 2.2K
  • 09 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Acetylation
Acetylation, also known as acetylation or acetylation, refers to the chemical reaction of adding an acetyl functional group to an organic compound. Conversely, the reaction in which the acetyl group is removed is called deacetylation or deacetylation. Acetylation of proteins is a post-translational modification.
  • 2.2K
  • 16 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Biogenesis and Composition of RBC-Derived Extracellular Vesicles
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell-derived membrane vesicles that represent an endogenous mechanism for intercellular communication. The original classification distinguished exosomes (nano-sized vesicles with a diameter in the range of 30 to 120 nm), originating from the formation of multivesicular bodies, microvesicles, which are formed by cell membrane budding, and apoptotic bodies, derived from dying cells. 
  • 2.2K
  • 20 Feb 2023
Topic Review
β-glucosidases
β-glucosidases (EC. 3.2.1.21) are enzymes that hydrolyze glucosidic bonds of oligosaccharides, in special disaccharides, such as cellobiose, realizing glucose at the end of the process. They are highly used in second-generation biofuel production. 
  • 2.2K
  • 29 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Lactosylceramide
Lactosylceramide (LacCer), also known as CD17/CDw17, is a member of a large family of small molecular weight compounds known as glycosphingolipids. It plays a pivotal role in the biosynthesis of glycosphingolipids, primarily by way of serving as a precursor to the majority of its higher homolog sub-families such as gangliosides, sulfatides, fucosylated-glycosphingolipids and complex neutral glycosphingolipids—some of which confer “second-messenger” and receptor functions. LacCer is an integral component of the “lipid rafts,” serving as a conduit to transduce external stimuli into multiple phenotypes, which may contribute to mortality and morbidity in man and in mouse models of human disease.
  • 2.2K
  • 02 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Medical Applications of Chitin
Chitin is a universal biopolymer that is found in microbes, plants, fungi, the exoskeleton of insects, various species of algae, and bottom-feeding crustaceans. This (1–4)-linked N-acetyl-ß-D-glucosamine polysaccharide can be readily processed with simple chemical procedures without putting a species at risk. Chitin has garnered interest as an alternative substance that can be used in the medical, environmental, and agricultural sectors.
  • 2.2K
  • 29 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Melatonin in Wine and Beer
Melatonin is a hormone secreted in the pineal gland with several functions, especially regulation of circadian sleep cycle and the biological processes related to it. This review evaluates the bioavailability of melatonin and resulting metabolites, the presence of melatonin in wine and beer and factors that influence it, and finally the different benefits related to treatment with melatonin. When administered orally, melatonin is mainly absorbed in the rectum and the ileum; it has a half-life of about 0.45–1 h and is extensively inactivated in the liver by phase 2 enzymes. Melatonin (MEL) concentration varies from picograms to ng/mL in fermented beverages such as wine and beer, depending on the fermentation process. These low quantities, within a dietary intake, are enough to reach significant plasma concentrations of melatonin, and are thus able to exert beneficial effects. Melatonin has demonstrated antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, immunomodulatory and neuroprotective actions. These benefits are related to its free radical scavenging properties as well and the direct interaction with melatonin receptors, which are involved in complex intracellular signaling pathways, including inhibition of angiogenesis and cell proliferation, among others. In the present review, the current evidence on the effects of melatonin on different pathophysiological conditions is also discussed.
  • 2.2K
  • 08 Feb 2021
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