Mussel Shells, a Valuable Calcium Resource for the Pharmaceutical Industry

(1) Background: The mussel (Mytilus edulis, Mytilus galloprovincialis) is the most widespread lamellibranch mollusk, being fished on all coasts of the European seas. Mussels are also widely grown in Japan, China, and Spain, especially for food purposes. This paper shows an original technique for mussel shell processing for preparation of calcium salts, such as calcium levulinate. This process involves synthesis of calcium levulinate by treatment of Mytilus galloprovincialis shells with levulinic acid. The advantage of mussel shell utilization results in more straightforward qualitative composition. Thus, the weight of the mineral component lies with calcium carbonate, which can be used for extraction of pharmaceutical preparations. (2) Methods: Shell powder was first deproteinized by calcination, then the mineral part was treated with levulinic acid. The problem of shells generally resulting from the industrialization of marine molluscs creates enough shortcomings, if one only mentions storage and handling. One of the solutions proposed by us is the capitalization of calcium from shells in the pharmaceutical industry. (3) Results: The toxicity of calcium levulinate synthesized from the mussel shells was evaluated by the method known in the scientific literature as the Constantinescu phytobiological method (using wheat kernels, Triticum vulgare Mill). Acute toxicity of calcium levulinate was evaluated; the experiments showed the low toxicity of calcium levulinate. (4) Conclusion: The experimental results highlighted calcium as the predominant element in the composition of mussel shells, which strengthens the argument of capitalizing the shells as an important natural source of calcium.

Label-Free Quantitative Proteomics To Explore The Action Mechanism of The Pharmaceutical Grade Triticum Vulgare Extract In Speeding Up Keratinocytes Healing.

Plant extracts have shown beneficial properties in skin repair, promoting wound-healing through a plethora of mechanisms. In particular, the poly/oligosaccharidic aqueous extract of Triticum vulgare (TVE), as well as TVE-based products, showed interesting biological assets, fastening wound repair. Indeed, TVE acts in the treatment of tissue regeneration mainly on decubitus and venous leg ulcers. Moreover, on scratched monolayers, TVE prompted HaCat cell migration, correctly modulating the expression of metalloproteases towards a physiological matrix remodeling. Here, using the same HaCat based in vitro scratch model, TVE effect has been investigated thanks to an LFQ proteomic analysis of HaCat secretome and immunoblotting. Indeed, TVE behavior on secreted proteins has not yet been fully deepened and it could be helpful to obtain a comprehensive picture of its bio-pharmacological profile. It is emerged that the TVE treatment induced an up regulation of several proteins in the secretome (to be exact 219) whereas only few were down regulated (to be exact 85). Interestingly, many of the up-regulated proteins are implicated in promoting wound-healing related processes such as modulating cell-cell interaction and communication, cell proliferation and differentiation and prompting cell adhesion and migration.

Efecto del Triticum Vulgare intravaginal, en el tratamiento del síndrome genitourinario de la menopausia, en mujeres del Quindío, 2017-2019.

Introducción: el principal objetivo terapéutico, en el síndrome genitourinario de la menopausia, es aliviar los síntomas. Objetivo: determinar el efecto del Triticum vulgare, en el tratamiento del síndrome genitourinario de la menopausia. Métodos: estudio observacional; incluyó mujeres en posmenopausia, sexualmente activas con diagnóstico de síndrome genitourinario de la menopausia; entre 2017 y 2019, en Armenia (Colombia). El efecto se evaluó mediante la observación de la evolución de la mejoría y desaparición de los síntomas del síndrome genitourinario de la menopausia y con la puntuación del índice de función sexual femenino. Se midió la aparición de reacciones adversas. Se utilizó dosis de 200 mg vía intravaginal diario por cinco semanas, luego cada tercer día por cinco semanas y finalmente una vez a la semana por cinco semanas; se completaron quince semanas de seguimiento. Resultados: el estudio incluyó 109 mujeres, con edad media de 58,29 ± 3,17 años. Los síntomas vaginales fueron los más frecuentes, en el 69,72% de las participantes. Al final del estudio el positivo efecto fue notorio al observarse mejoras significativas en los síntomas, con una disminución de la severidad del 91,74%, y en la mediana de los síntomas (4 vs. 1, p=0,001). En el índice de función sexual femenino la puntuación final alcanzó 27,16 ± 5,29 con una elevación media de 3,57 ±1,18 puntos (p=0,001). No se presentaron reacciones adversas. Conclusión: el Triticum Vulgare intravaginal, mostró un efecto positivo en el tratamiento del síndrome genitourinario de la menopausia. Se requieren ensayos clínicos aleatorizados controlados, sobre su eficacia y seguridad en poblaciones más numerosas.

Biotesting of cultivation zoocompost of Hermetia illucens larvae

A by-product of protein production from the larvae of the black soldier fly ( Hermetia illucens ) is a zoocompost consisting of a variety of organic compounds. The purpose of the work was to determine the hazard class of the zoo complex - the waste of cultivation of Hermetia illucens larvae using biotesting methods, since the use of calculated methods to determine the hazard class is difficult. Biotesting experiments were carried out on test organisms: planktonic crustacean Daphnia magna , algae Chlorella vulgaris , seeds of Avena sativa , Triticum vulgare and Hordeum sativum . It has been established that the zoocompost refers to low-risk waste. Extractions of the zoocompost stimulate the growth of plants Avena sativa and Hordeum sativum , it is supposed to be used as a phytostimulator. It has been shown that an environmentally friendly wasteless method for the production of protein additive from insects is possible.

Producción de forrajes de avena y trigo bajo sistemas hidropónico y convencional

En la Región Sur del Ecuador se comparó la producción de avena (Avena sativa L.) y trigo (Triticum vulgare L.) obtenida a partir de un sistema de forraje verde hidropónico (FVH), frente al sistema de producción convencional o a campo abierto (CA). El experimento para cada sistema y cultivo se estableció bajo un diseño de bloques al azar, instalando cuatro tratamientos (dos en FVH y dos a CA), con tres repeticiones cada uno. Se evaluó la altura de la planta (AP) de cada cultivo para cada sistema productivo, mientras que para cada sistema y cultivo se determinó la producción de biomasa, la proteína cruda (PC) (p < 0,05) y el cociente de la relación beneficio-costo (B/C). La mayor altura se obtuvo en trigo FVH con 17,67 cm y en avena CA con 82,78 cm. En relación con la producción de biomasa, el trigo FVH alcanzó 23,57 kg/m2 de materia verde (MV) o 3,10 kg/m2 de materia seca (MS); el resto de tratamientos estuvo por debajo de 13 kg/m2 de MV (1,39 kg/m2 de MS); el porcentaje de proteína en el trigo CA fue mayor con 19,90 %, seguido de avena CA, mientras que el trigo y la avena FVH tuvieron valores de alrededor del 10 %; en beneficio-costo, el trigo FVH obtuvo un puntaje mayor de 1,46 frente a la avena FVH (0,67), el trigo CA (0,26) y la avena CA (1,00). Por esta razón, la complementariedad de los dos sistemas de producción, especialmente en el cultivo de trigo, podría ser una opción para la alimentación animal.

Triticum vulgare Extract Modulates Protein-Kinase B and Matrix Metalloproteinases 9 Protein Expression in BV-2 Cells: Bioactivity on Inflammatory Pathway Associated with Molecular Mechanism Wound Healing

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a large family of ubiquitously expressed zinc-dependent enzymes with proteolitic activities. They are expressed in physiological situations and pathological conditions involving inflammatory processes including epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), neuronal injury, and cancer. There is also evidence that MMPs regulate inflammation in tumor microenvironment, which plays an important role in healing tissue processes. Looking at both inflammatory and neuronal damages, MMP9 is involved in both processes and their modulation seems to be regulated by two proteins: tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin 6 (IL-6). However other important genes are involved in molecular regulation of transcription factors, protein-kinase B (AKT), and p65. In addition, Triticum vulgare extract (TVE) modulated the biological markers associated with inflammatory processes, including p65 protein. While there are no evidence that TVE might be involved in the biological modulation of other inflammatory marker as AKT, we would like to assess whether TVE is able to (1) modulate phosphorylation of AKT (pAKT) as an early marker of inflammatory process in vitro and (2) affect MMP9 protein expression in an in vitro model. The BV-2 cells (microglial of mouse) have been used as an in vitro model to simulate both inflammatory and neuronal injury pathologies. Here, MMP9 seems to be involved in cellular migration through inflammatory marker activation. We simulate an inflammatory preclinical model treating BV-2 cells with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce proinflammatory activation affecting pAKT and p65 proteins. TVE is revealed to restore the native expression of AKT and p65. Additionally, TVE extract modulates also the protein concentration of MMP9. Nevertheless, immunofluorescence confocal analyses revealed that both AKT and MMP9 are regulated together, synchronously. This work seems to demonstrate that two important genes can be used to monitor the beginning of an inflammatory process, AKT and MMP9, in which TVE seems able to modulate their expression of inflammation-associated molecules.