Current Issue : July - September Volume : 2016 Issue Number : 3 Articles : 4 Articles
The ââ?¬Å?Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Agingââ?¬Â (MFRTA) hypothesizes that\nreactive oxygen species (ROS) arising from aged and/or defective mitochondria\nare associated with the pathogenesis of various age-related diseases. The\nglutathione antioxidant response, in particular glutathione redox cycling, is a\ncritical mechanism for protection against ROS-induced cell death. Over the past\nfew decades, a number of phytochemicals [such as curcumin, epigallocatechin\ngallate (EGCG), resveratrol and schisandrin B (Sch B)], which all possess the ability\nto elicit a nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2)-mediated antioxidant\nresponse, have been identified. Despite the fact that these phytochemicals can\nproduce cyto/tissue protection against oxidant-induced injury in various types of\ncultured cells/rodent tissues, the underlying protective mechanism can vary. While\ncurcumin, EGCG and resveratrol likely confer cytoprotection via the activation of\nglutathione S-transferase and glutathione peroxidase, Sch B is thought to produce\nits protective effect via the induction of glutathione redox cycling, which is of\nprimary importance in preventing cell death. Recent studies have suggested\nthat the electrophilicity of phytochemicals and/or their metabolites determines\ntheir ability to activate Nrf2 by the oxidative modification of a cysteine residue\non the repressor of Nrf2 [namely, Kelch-Like ECH-Associated Protein 1 (Keap1)].\nThe differences in structures of phytochemicals could produce differential\naccessibility to this critical cysteine residue of Nrf2/Keap1, presumably leading to\nvarying degrees of Nrf2 activation and antioxidant gene expression. In the hope of\ndeveloping safe and effective interventions for protection against oxidant-induced\ninjuries, further studies are required to define the protective mechanism(s),\nparticularly the array of antioxidant enzyme expressions, induced by the various\nphytochemicals....
Bee pollen is becoming an important product thanks to its nutritional properties, including\na high content of bioactive compounds such as essential amino acids, antioxidants, and vitamins.\nFresh bee pollen has a high water content (15%ââ?¬â??30% wt %), thus it is a good substrate for\nmicroorganisms. Traditional conservation methods include drying in a hot air chamber and/or\nfreezing. These techniques may significantly affect the pollen organoleptic properties and its content\nof bioactive compounds. Here, a new conservation method, microwave drying, is introduced\nand investigated. The method implies irradiating the fresh pollen with microwaves under vacuum,\nin order to reduce the water content without reaching temperatures capable of thermally deteriorating\nimportant bioactive compounds. The method was evaluated by taking into account the nutritional\nproperties after the treatment. The analyzed parameters were phenols, flavonoids, with special\nreference to rutin content, and amino acids. Results showed that microwave drying offers important\nadvantages for the conservation of bee pollen. Irrespective of microwave power and treatment time,\nphenol and flavonoid content did not vary over untreated fresh pollen. Similarly, rutin content was\nunaffected by the microwave drying, suggesting that the microwave-assisted drying could be a\npowerful technology to preserve bioprotective compounds in fresh pollen....
The physicochemical and antimicrobial properties of cocoa pod husk (CPH) pectin intended as a versatile pharmaceutical excipient\nand nutraceutical were studied. Properties investigated include pH, moisture content, ash values, swelling index, viscosity, degree of\nesterification (DE), flow properties, SEM, FTIR,NMR, and elemental content. Antimicrobial screening and determination of MICs\nagainst test micro organisms were undertaken using agar diffusion and broth dilution methods, respectively.CPHpectin had aDE of\n26.8% and exhibited good physicochemical properties. Pectin had good microbiological quality and exhibited pseudoplastic, shear\nthinning behaviour, and high swelling capacity in aqueous media.TheDE, FTIR, and NMRresults were similar to those of previous\nstudies and supported highly a cetylated low methoxy pectin. CPH pectin was found to be a rich source of minerals and has potential\nas a nutraceutical. Pectin showed dose-dependent moderate activity against gram positive and gram negative microorganisms but\nweak activity against Listeria spp. and A. niger.The MICs of pectin ranged from 0.5 to 4.0mg/mL, with the highest activity against E.\ncoli and S. aureus (MIC: 0.5ââ?¬â??1.0mg/mL) and the lowest activity against A. niger (MIC: 2.0ââ?¬â??4.0mg/mL).The study has demonstrated\nthat CPH pectin possesses the requisite properties for use as a nutraceutical and functional pharmaceutical excipient....
Despite multimodal treatment approaches, the prognosis of brain metastases\n(BM) from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains poor. Untreated patients with\nBM have a median survival of about 1 month, with almost all patients dying from\n \n\n\n\n \n\n\n \n\n\n \n\n \n\n\n \n ! \nextracted from the seeds of the milk thistle. We present evidence of how the use of the\nsilibinin-based nutraceutical Legasil�®\n \n \n\n \n \n\nimprovement of BM from NSCLC patients with poor performance status that\nprogressed after whole brain radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The suppressive effects\nof silibinin on progressive BM, which involved a marked reduction of the peritumoral\nbrain edema, occurred without affecting the primary lung tumor outgrowth in NSCLC\npatients. Because BM patients have an impaired survival prognosis and are in need\nfor an immediate tumor control, the combination of brain radiotherapy with silibininbased\nnutraceuticals might not only alleviate BM edema but also prove local control\nand time for either classical chemotherapeutics with immunostimulatory effects\nor new immunotherapeutic agents such as checkpoint blockers to reveal their full\ntherapeutic potential in NSCLC BM patients. New studies aimed to illuminate the\nmechanistic aspects underlying the regulatory effects of silibinin on the cellular and\nmolecular pathobiology of BM might expedite the entry of new formulations of silibinin\ninto clinical testing for progressive BM from lung cancer patients....
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