scholarly journals Health-Promoting Effects of Dietary Polyamines

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Rika Hirano ◽  
Hideto Shirasawa ◽  
Shin Kurihara

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the latest information on the various aspects of polyamines and their health benefits. In recent years, attempts to treat cancer by reducing elevated polyamines levels in cancer cells have been made, with some advancing to clinical trials. However, it has been reported since 2009 that polyamines extend the healthy life span of animals by inducing autophagy, protecting the kidneys and liver, improving cognitive function, and inhibiting the progression of heart diseases. As such, there is conflicting information regarding the relationship between polyamines and health. However, attempts to treat cancer by decreasing intracellular polyamines levels are a coping strategy to suppress the proliferation-promoting effects of polyamines, and a consensus is being reached that polyamine intake does not induce cancer in healthy individuals. To provide further scientific evidence for the health-promoting effects of polyamines, large-scale clinical studies involving multiple groups are expected in the future. It is also important to promote basic research on polyamine intake in animals, including elucidation of the polyamine balance between food, intestinal bacteria, and biosynthesis.

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khadija Murtaza ◽  
Zahra Saleem ◽  
Sajid Malik

This paper aims to assess the status of scientific literature on talipes equinovarus (TEV) published from Pakistan, to get an insight into the trend in knowledge over the years, and to highlight study gaps in this area. A detailed review of published literature was conducted from November 2019 to January 2020. ‘Talipes/congenital talipes’, ‘clubfoot/congenital clubfoot’, ‘talipes equinovarus /congenital talipes equinovarus’ AND ‘Pakistan’ were used as key terms. Different search engines, PubMed, PakMediNet, ScienceDirect, Embase and Google Scholar were utilized to retrieve articles. A total of 63 articles were retrieved. The hotspot of TEV research in Pakistan has been its treatment and management. Over the years, treatment trend has shifted from operative to conservative; Ponseti method is predominantly employed. Hospital-based studies focusing on pediatric patients are common while population-based studies are devoid. In majority of cohorts, there is preponderance of male patients, idiopathic and unilateral cases. There is, however, scarcity of basic research on the prevalence, etiology, risk factors, clinical heterogeneity, associated anomalies, genetics, and molecular diagnostics of TEV. In conclusion, prudent scientific evidence is required for any policy-making and relevant public health action. Hence, large scale population-based studies are required for a broader overview and understanding the clinical spectrum of TEV. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.6.2514 How to cite this:Murtaza K, Saleem Z, Malik S. Talipes equinovarus or Clubfoot: A review of study approaches, management and trends in Pakistan. Pak J Med Sci. 2020;36(6):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.6.2514 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


Author(s):  
Marcus Zulian Teixeira

Homeopathy is based on principles and a system of knowledge different from the ones supporting the conventional biomedical model: this epistemological conflict is the underlying reason explaining why it is so difficult to accept by present-day scientific reason. To legitimize homeopathy according to the standards of the latter, research must confirm the validity of its basic assumptions: principle of therapeutic similitude, trials of medicines on healthy individuals, individualized prescriptions and use of high dilutions. Correspondingly, basic research must supply experimental data and models to substantiate these principles of homeopathy, whilst clinical trials aim at confirming the efficacy and effectiveness of homeopathy in the treatment of disease. This article discusses the epistemological model of homeopathy relating its basic assumptions with data resulting from different fields of modern experimental research and supporting its therapeutic use on the outcomes of available clinical trials. In this regard, the principle of individualization of treatment is the sine qua non condition to make therapeutic similitude operative and consequently for homeopathic treatment to exhibit clinical efficacy and effectiveness.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 2051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicja M. Nogacka ◽  
María Gómez-Martín ◽  
Adolfo Suárez ◽  
Oscar González-Bernardo ◽  
Clara G. de los Reyes-Gavilán ◽  
...  

The colonic epithelium is exposed to a mixture of compounds through diet, among which some are procarcinogens, whereas others have a protective effect. Therefore, the net impact of these compounds on human health depends on the overall balance between all factors involved. Strong scientific evidence has demonstrated the relationship between nitrosamines (NA), heterocyclic amines (HCAs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are the major genotoxins derived from cooking and food processing, and cancer. The mechanisms of the relationship between dietary toxic xenobiotics and cancer risk are not yet well understood, but it has been suggested that differences in dietary habits affect the colonic environment by increasing or decreasing the exposure to mutagens directly and indirectly through changes in the composition and activity of the gut microbiota. Several changes in the proportions of specific microbial groups have been proposed as risk factors for the development of neoplastic lesions and the enrichment of enterotoxigenic microbial strains in stool. In addition, changes in the gut microbiota composition and activity promoted by diet may modify the faecal genotoxicity/cytotoxicity, which can be associated with a higher or lower risk of developing cancer. Therefore, the interaction between dietary components and intestinal bacteria may be a modifiable factor for the development of colorectal cancer in humans and deserves more attention in the near future.


Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susana Delgado ◽  
Borja Sánchez ◽  
Abelardo Margolles ◽  
Patricia Ruas-Madiedo ◽  
Lorena Ruiz

Probiotics are live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host. The probiotic microorganisms most commonly used in the food and pharmacy industry belong to Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, and several strains of these genera have demonstrated beneficial attributes. In addition, some other intestinal bacteria inhabiting the human microbiota, such as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Akkermansia muciniphila, have recently been discovered and are able to display health-promoting effects in animal and human trials. The beneficial properties of probiotics have been known for a long time, although little is known about the molecular mechanisms and the molecules responsible for their effects. However, in recent years, advances in microbiome studies, and the use of novel analytical and molecular techniques have allowed a deeper insight into their effects at the molecular level. This review summarizes the current knowledge of some of the molecules of probiotics and other intestinal commensal bacteria responsible for their immunomodulatory effect, focusing on those with more solid scientific evidence.


Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1622
Author(s):  
Ravindra Kolhe ◽  
Nikhil Shri Sahajpal ◽  
Sagar Vyavahare ◽  
Akhilesh S. Dhanani ◽  
Satish Adusumilli ◽  
...  

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) is an infectious virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmitted mainly through droplets and aerosol affecting the respiratory tract and lungs. Little is known regarding why some individuals are more susceptible than others and develop severe symptoms. In this study, we analyzed the nasopharyngeal microbiota profile of aged patients with COVID-19 (asymptomatic vs. symptomatic) vs. healthy individuals. We examined the nasopharynx swab of 84 aged-matched patients, out of which 27 were negative asymptomatic (NegA), 30 were positive asymptomatic (PA), and 27 patients were positive symptomatic (PSY). Our analysis revealed the presence of abundant Cyanobacterial taxa at phylum level in PA (p-value = 0.0016) and PSY (p-value = 0.00038) patients along with an upward trend in the population of Litoricola, Amylibacter, Balneola, and Aeromonas at the genus level. Furthermore, to know the relationship between the nasal microbiota composition and severity of COVID-19, we compared PA and PSY groups. Our data show that the nasal microbiota of PSY patients was significantly enriched with the signatures of two bacterial taxa: Cutibacterium (p-value = 0.045) and Lentimonas (p-value = 0.007). Furthermore, we also found a significantly lower abundance of five bacterial taxa, namely: Prevotellaceae (p-value = 7 × 10−6), Luminiphilus (p-value = 0.027), Flectobacillus (p-value = 0.027), Comamonas (p-value = 0.048), and Jannaschia (p-value = 0.012) in PSY patients. The dysbiosis of the nasal microbiota in COVID-19 positive patients might have a role in contributing to the severity of COVID-19. The findings of our study show that there is a strong correlation between the composition of the nasal microbiota and COVID-19 severity. Further studies are needed to validate our finding in large-scale samples and to correlate immune response (cytokine Strome) and nasal microbiota to identify underlying mechanisms and develop therapeutic strategies against COVID-19.


VASA ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Hanji Zhang ◽  
Dexin Yin ◽  
Yue Zhao ◽  
Yezhou Li ◽  
Dejiang Yao ◽  
...  

Summary: Our meta-analysis focused on the relationship between homocysteine (Hcy) level and the incidence of aneurysms and looked at the relationship between smoking, hypertension and aneurysms. A systematic literature search of Pubmed, Web of Science, and Embase databases (up to March 31, 2020) resulted in the identification of 19 studies, including 2,629 aneurysm patients and 6,497 healthy participants. Combined analysis of the included studies showed that number of smoking, hypertension and hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) in aneurysm patients was higher than that in the control groups, and the total plasma Hcy level in aneurysm patients was also higher. These findings suggest that smoking, hypertension and HHcy may be risk factors for the development and progression of aneurysms. Although the heterogeneity of meta-analysis was significant, it was found that the heterogeneity might come from the difference between race and disease species through subgroup analysis. Large-scale randomized controlled studies of single species and single disease species are needed in the future to supplement the accuracy of the results.


2020 ◽  
pp. 27-34
Author(s):  
Vladimir Batiuk

In this article, the ''Cold War'' is understood as a situation where the relationship between the leading States is determined by ideological confrontation and, at the same time, the presence of nuclear weapons precludes the development of this confrontation into a large-scale armed conflict. Such a situation has developed in the years 1945–1989, during the first Cold War. We see that something similar is repeated in our time-with all the new nuances in the ideological struggle and in the nuclear arms race.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaotong Ji ◽  
Yingying Zhang ◽  
Guangke Li ◽  
Nan Sang

Recently, numerous studies have found that particulate matter (PM) exposure is correlated with increased hospitalization and mortality from heart failure (HF). In addition to problems with circulation, HF patients often display high expression of cytokines in the failing heart. Thus, as a recurring heart problem, HF is thought to be a disorder characterized in part by the inflammatory response. In this review, we intend to discuss the relationship between PM exposure and HF that is based on inflammatory mechanism and to provide a comprehensive, updated evaluation of the related studies. Epidemiological studies on PM-induced heart diseases are focused on high concentrations of PM, high pollutant load exposure in winter, or susceptible groups with heart diseases, etc. Furthermore, it appears that the relationship between fine or ultrafine PM and HF is stronger than that between HF and coarse PM. However, fewer studies paid attention to PM components. As for experimental studies, it is worth noting that coarse PM may indirectly promote the inflammatory response in the heart through systematic circulation of cytokines produced primarily in the lungs, while ultrafine PM and its components can enter circulation and further induce inflammation directly in the heart. In terms of PM exposure and enhanced inflammation during the pathogenesis of HF, this article reviews the following mechanisms: hemodynamics, oxidative stress, Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and epigenetic regulation. However, many problems are still unsolved, and future work will be needed to clarify the complex biologic mechanisms and to identify the specific components of PM responsible for adverse effects on heart health.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (15) ◽  
pp. 1603-1615
Author(s):  
Eva Alvarez-Vieites ◽  
Arora López-Santamarina ◽  
José M. Miranda ◽  
Alicia del Carmen Mondragón ◽  
Alexandre Lamas ◽  
...  

In recent decades, there has been a very rapid increase in the prevalence of diabetes globally, with serious health and economic implications. Although today there are several therapeutic treatments for this disease, these do not address the causes of the disease and have serious side effects, so it is necessary to seek new treatments to replace or complement the existing ones. Among these complementary treatments, a strong link between the intestinal microbiota and diabetes has been demonstrated, which has focused attention on the use of biotherapy to regulate the function of the intestinal microbiota and, thus, treat diabetes. In this way, the main objective of this work is to provide a review of the latest scientific evidence on diabetes, gathering information about new trends in its management, and especially, the influence of the intestinal microbiota and microbiome on this pathology. It is possible to conclude that the relationship between the intestinal microbiota and diabetes is carried out through alterations in energy metabolism, the immune system, changes in intestinal permeability, and a state of low-intensity systemic inflammation. Although, currently, most of the experimental work, using probiotics for diabetes management, has been done on experimental animals, the results obtained are promising. Thus, the modification of the microbiota through biotherapy has shown to improve the symptoms and severity of diabetes through various mechanisms related to these alterations.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document