The market of functional foods has experienced a huge growth in the last decades due to the increased consumers’ awareness in a healthy lifestyle. Dried fruits constitute good snacks, in alternative ...to salty or sweet ones, and food ingredients due to their taste and nutritional/health benefits. Bioactive molecules are interesting sources to develop functional foods, as they play a major role in improving the health status and minimizing disease risks. The bioactive compounds most widely discussed in literature are presented in this review, for example, polyphenols, phytosterols, and prebiotics. Different technologies to dry bioproducts for producing functional foods or ingredients are presented. New drying techniques for the preservation of bioactive compounds are proposed, focusing more specifically on dielectric drying. A discussion on the techniques that can be used to optimize drying processes is performed. An overview on dehydrated plant based foods with probiotics is provided. The microorganisms used, impregnation procedures, drying methods, and evaluated parameters are presented and discussed. The principal bioactive compounds responsible for nutritional and health benefits of plant derived dried food products—fruits and vegetables, fruits and vegetables by-products, grains, nuts, and algae—are presented. Phytochemical losses occurring during pretreatments and/or drying processes are also discussed.
Please cite this paper as: Vitiligo pathogenesis: autoimmune disease, genetic defect, excessive reactive oxygen species, calcium imbalance, or what else?. Experimental Dermatology 2008; 17: ...139-160.Abstract:The pathobiology of vitiligo has been hotly disputed for as long as one remembers, and has been a magnet for endless speculation. Evidently, the different schools of thought - ranging, e.g. from the concept that vitiligo essentially is a free-radical disorder to that of vitiligo being a primary autoimmune disease - imply very different consequences for the best therapeutic strategies that one should adopt. As a more effective therapy for this common, often disfiguring pigmentary disorder is direly needed, we must strive harder to settle the pathogenesis debate definitively - on the basis of sound experimental evidence, rather than by a war of dogmatic theories. Recognizing, however, that it is theories which tend to guide our experimental designs and choice of study parameters, the various pathogenesis theories on the market deserve to be critically, yet unemotionally re-evaluated. This Controversies feature invites you to do so, and to ask yourself: Is there something important or worthwhile exploring in other pathogenesis scenarios than those already favoured by you that may help you improve your own study design, next time you have a fresh look at vitiligo? Vitiligo provides a superb model for the study of many fundamental problems in skin biology and pathology. Therefore, even if it later turns out that, as far as your own vitiligo pathogenesis concept is concerned, you have barked-up the wrong tree most of the time, chances are that you shall anyway have generated priceless new insights into skin function along the way.
: The pathobiology of vitiligo has been hotly disputed for as long as one remembers, and has been a magnet for endless speculation. Evidently, the different schools of thought – ranging, e.g. from ...the concept that vitiligo essentially is a free‐radical disorder to that of vitiligo being a primary autoimmune disease – imply very different consequences for the best therapeutic strategies that one should adopt. As a more effective therapy for this common, often disfiguring pigmentary disorder is direly needed, we must strive harder to settle the pathogenesis debate definitively – on the basis of sound experimental evidence, rather than by a war of dogmatic theories.
Recognizing, however, that it is theories which tend to guide our experimental designs and choice of study parameters, the various pathogenesis theories on the market deserve to be critically, yet unemotionally re‐evaluated. This Controversies feature invites you to do so, and to ask yourself: Is there something important or worthwhile exploring in other pathogenesis scenarios than those already favoured by you that may help you improve your own study design, next time you have a fresh look at vitiligo?
Vitiligo provides a superb model for the study of many fundamental problems in skin biology and pathology. Therefore, even if it later turns out that, as far as your own vitiligo pathogenesis concept is concerned, you have barked‐up the wrong tree most of the time, chances are that you shall anyway have generated priceless new insights into skin function along the way.
Summary
The effects of dimethoate (5, 15 and 28 mg kg−1 day−1), deltamethrin (5 mg kg−1 day−1) and their mixture (5 mg kg−1 day−1) on male reproduction in mice were studied. The insecticides were ...given orally by gavage to male mice for 21 days. At the end of the treatment period, body, testes and epididymides weights and sperm parameters were determined. Alone mixture treatment has significantly decreased body weights. Dimethoate at 28 mg kg−1 day−1, deltamethrin at 5 mg kg−1 day−1 and their mixture at 5 mg kg−1 day−1 were associated with a significantly decreased sperm count, motility and viability and significantly increased percent morphologically abnormal spermatozoa compared with the controls. This study demonstrated the adverse effects of dimethoate at high dose, deltamethrin and their combining at 5 mg kg−1 day−1 on reproductive system and sperm parameters in male mice.
Summary
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of date seed oil (DSO) on epididymal sperm characteristics and testicular antioxidant enzymes in male mice. DSO was diluted into isotonic ...saline solution (0.9%) and different doses (5, 10, 15 and 20%) were prepared. Fifty male mice were divided into five groups; in four groups DSO was given by intraperitoneal injection of oil solution for 28 days. The control group was injected by isotonic saline solution without DSO. Body and reproductive organ weights, sperm characteristics (count, motility, viability and morphology) were assessed. In addition, levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were investigated in testes. A significant increase in sperm count, motility and viability of all treated animal groups was observed when compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Unlike, the percentage of abnormal sperm was significantly lower in all treated groups than in the control group (P < 0.05). A significant decrease in MDA levels and marked increase in SOD and CAT activities in mice treated with high doses of DSO (15 and 20%) were also noted. We suggest that DSO can improve the epididymal sperm quality and could ameliorate the testicular strategy defences.
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