In recent years, interest has surged among researchers to determine compounds from bee products such as honey, royal jelly, propolis and bee pollen, which are beneficial to human health. Mass ...spectrometry techniques have shown that bee products contain a number of proven health-promoting compounds but also revealed rather high diversity in the chemical composition of bee products depending on several factors, such as for example botanical sources and geographical origin. In the present paper, we present recent scientific advances in the field of major bioactive compounds from bee products and corresponding regenerative properties. We also discuss extracellular vesicles from bee products as a potential novel bioactive nutraceutical component. Extracellular vesicles are cell-derived membranous structures that show promising potential in various therapeutic areas. It has been extensively reported that the use of vesicles, which are naturally formed in plant and animal cells, as delivery agents have many advantages. Whether the use of extracellular vesicles from bee products represents a new solution for wound healing remains still to be elucidated. However, promising results in specific applications of the bee products in wound healing and tissue regenerative properties of extracellular vesicles provide a good rationale to further explore this idea.
The Mediterranean diet is recognized as a sustainable dietary approach with beneficial health effects. This is highly relevant, although the production of typical Mediterranean food, i.e., olive oil ...or wine, processed tomatoes and pomegranate products, generates significant amounts of waste. Ideally, this waste should be disposed in an appropriate, eco-friendly way. A number of scientific papers were published recently showing that these by-products can be exploited as a valuable source of biologically active components with health benefits, including anticancer effects. In this review, accordingly, we elaborate on such phytochemicals recovered from the food waste generated during the processing of vegetables and fruits, typical of the Mediterranean diet, with a focus on substances with anticancer activity. The molecular mechanisms of these phytochemicals, which might be included in supporting treatment and prevention of various types of cancer, are presented. The use of bioactive components from food waste may improve the economic feasibility and sustainability of the food processing industry in the Mediterranean region and can provide a new strategy to approach prevention of cancer.
Fighting Cancer with Bacteria and Their Toxins Trivanović, Dragan; Pavelić, Krešimir; Peršurić, Željka
International journal of molecular sciences,
11/2021, Letnik:
22, Številka:
23
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Cancer is one of the most important global health problems that continues to demand new treatment strategies. Many bacteria that cause persistent infections play a role in carcinogenesis. However, ...since bacteria are well studied in terms of molecular mechanisms, they have been proposed as an interesting solution to treat cancer. In this review, we present the use of bacteria, and particularly bacterial toxins, in cancer therapy, highlighting the advantages and limitations of bacterial toxins. Proteomics, as one of the omics disciplines, is essential for the study of bacterial toxins. Advances in proteomics have contributed to better characterization of bacterial toxins, but also to the development of anticancer drugs based on bacterial toxins. In addition, we highlight the current state of knowledge in the rapidly developing field of bacterial extracellular vesicles, with a focus on their recent application as immunotherapeutic agents.
In spite of significant advancements and success in antiretroviral therapies directed against HIV infection, there is no cure for HIV, which scan persist in a human body in its latent form and become ...reactivated under favorable conditions. Therefore, novel antiretroviral drugs with different modes of actions are still a major focus for researchers. In particular, novel lead structures are being sought from natural sources. So far, a number of compounds from marine organisms have been identified as promising therapeutics for HIV infection. Therefore, in this paper, we provide an overview of marine natural products that were first identified in the period between 2013 and 2018 that could be potentially used, or further optimized, as novel antiretroviral agents. This pipeline includes the systematization of antiretroviral activities for several categories of marine structures including chitosan and its derivatives, sulfated polysaccharides, lectins, bromotyrosine derivatives, peptides, alkaloids, diterpenes, phlorotannins, and xanthones as well as adjuvants to the HAART therapy such as fish oil. We critically discuss the structures and activities of the most promising new marine anti-HIV compounds.
Pomegranate (
L.) is a rich source of constituents with confirmed strong biological activities. However, pomegranate peel, which encompasses approximately 30-40% of its weight, is treated as a ...biological waste. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the potential of pomegranate peel extracts and to propose its functional properties that can be used for development of functional products. Eight ethanol extracts of pomegranate peels (PPEs) were characterized by use of direct infusion quadrupole-time of flight (Q-TOF), and afterwards tested on their antioxidant, antibacterial and antiproliferative activities. Mass spectrometry analysis revealed that the most prevalent compounds in pomegranate peels were punicalagin, granatin and their derivatives. Analysed extracts had high total phenolic contents that ranged from 5766.44 to 10599.43 mg GAE/100 g, and strong antioxidant activity (7551.31-7875.42 and 100.25-176.60 μmol TE/100 g for DPPH and FRAP assays, respectively). The results of biological activity assays showed that all PPEs possessed antibacterial activity, and that
was the most sensitive specie with minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentrations ranging from 0.8 to 6.4 mg/mL. Additionally, the analysis of antiproliferative activity revealed high potency of PPEs, as the IC50 values ranged from 0.132 mg/mL to 0.396 mg/mL. Multivariate analysis pointed out the most discriminative metabolites for antioxidant or antiproliferative activity. Overall, the pomegranate peel confirmed to be a highly valuable source of bioactive compounds that could be used to improve the food functional characteristics.
KEY POLICY HIGHLIGHTSNanobubbles and nanoparticles may enhance the polyphenols' bioavailabilityNanobubbles may stimulate the activation of Nrf2 and detox enzymesArmoured oxygen nanobubbles may ...enhance radiotherapy or chemotherapy effects.
The Interplay of Lung Cancer, COVID-19, and Vaccines Trivanović, Dragan; Peršurić, Željka; Agaj, Andrea ...
International journal of molecular sciences,
2022-Dec-01, 2022-12-01, 20221201, Letnik:
23, Številka:
23
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Patients with cancer are more susceptible to a higher risk of coronavirus infection and its severe complications than the general population. In addition, these patients were not included in the ...pivotal clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines. Therefore, considerable uncertainty remains regarding the management of cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and the safety of COVID-19 vaccinations in cancer patients. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge generated from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic on the vulnerability of cancer patients to the coronavirus disease, as well as the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in this population. We also discuss the available data on the effects of anticancer treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors on the immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in cancer patients. Special attention in this review will be given to patients with lung cancer, as such patients are at an increased risk for severe effects from COVID-19.
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•Phenolic profiling of propolis from different geographical regions of Croatia.•Significant differences in phenolic composition of the Croatian propolis discovered.•Synergy of LC-QQQ, ...LC-QTOF and chemometrics in propolis profiling demonstrated.
Propolis is a complex biological matrix consisting mostly of plant resins and waxes, and in a small proportion of the herbal secondary metabolites, phenols. Phenols are components that are responsible for biological activities of propolis, however, their qualitative and quantitative composition is strongly influenced by climate and vegetation. Although studies on profiling of propolis samples from different countries have been carried out for some time propolis from Croatia is still not characterized till now. Targeted liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole (LC-QQQ), untargeted liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight (LC-QTOF) and direct injection QTOF methods were developed and 56 propolis samples from different geographical regions of Croatia were analyzed. Results revealed that there is not only one expected type of propolis in the territory of Croatia; i.e. beside expected European "poplar" propolis another type can be distinguished. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Partial least squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) indicated that the phenolic content of propolis samples significantly changes under the influence of the Mediterranean, so the “European” propolis type mixes with the Mediterranean type on the Croatian coast, especially on the islands. For fast screening of propolis type, direct injection QTOF analysis demonstrated to be fast and reliable method, but for unambiguous identification of phenolic compounds, chromatographic separation is indispensable. This paper presents the findings from the first research on phenolic profiling of propolis from Croatia.
Synergy of analytical methods based on chromatography, mass spectrometry and spectroscopy combined with chemometrics was tested in the herein presented pilot authentication study of Croatian extra ...virgin olive oils (EVOOs). Fatty acid (FA) composition was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), triacylglycerol (TAG) composition by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight/mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/MS), and non-selective analysis was done by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Chemometric methods were applied on measured data where TAG and NIR spectra showed the highest potential for geographical origin discrimination. TAG profiling data had the best classification power for EVOOs in the PCA, whereas PLS-DA models with high classification accuracy were based on NIRS significant variables or TAG data. Furthermore, NIRS data proved valuable in prediction of quality parameters. Therefore, we presented NIRS as quick, cheap and reliable technique for authenticity study of EVOOs, but for complete characterization of olive oils MALDI-TOF/MS was indispensable.
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•Analytical methods were evaluated for determination of EVOOs origin.•PCA showed that the best grouping parameter was the MALDI-TOF/MS TAG profile.•In PLS-DA, EVOOs origin was successfully determined by use of NIRS significant variables.
Nutrigenomics is a discipline that studies the effects of various dietary components on gene expression and molecular mechanisms via "omics" technologies. Many studies are focused on revealing the ...pathways of the anticancer properties of various nutraceuticals. However, it has been shown that metastasis, a multifactorial disease that develops from primary tumors in cascades, is responsible for almost 90% of cancer deaths. Regrettably, the effects of consumption of different nutraceuticals on metastasis development have not yet been sufficiently explored. A few studies on the subject have revealed the promotional effects of some nutraceuticals on metastasis development. Additionally, it has been shown that certain compounds can have beneficial effects on reduction of the primary tumor, but afterwards promote the spread of metastases. Therefore, in this review we discuss results published in the past five years focused on the effects of different nutraceuticals on metastasis development.
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