Good winds are expected!

Probably by cultural and historical reasons, Western Europe occupied the center of homeopathy research stage. It was in Western Europe that Hahnemann initially established the grounds of homeopathy, and also were Western European the researchers who have been trying to characterize the scientific bases behind high dilutions biological action ever since. Europe witnessed all phases of homeopathy development, its growth and also its decline, its time of glory as well as its many crises. Ideological divergences – sometimes grounded on irresponsible attitudes by homeopaths themselves, sometimes arising from skeptics pride and prejudice – gave rise to political and social movements against homeopathy. In spite of this, clinical and experimental evidences kept homeopathy alive as an important therapeutic option able to reunite low cost and efficacy provided its conceptual basis and limitations are observed. ... More than ever, HD research appears as an emergent and highly active field! And much work still needs to be done. The academic geography of HD research is changing. It is not a matter of replacing old by new research centers. As a fact, HD research is expanding its boundaries, its scientific community has started sharing responsibility and joining efforts. As any other scientific field, also HD research is building a critical mass, which is a sine qua non requirement for research to attain the quality demanded by contemporary science. New winds are blowing and they will surprise those little prepared or unexpecting.

Approaching Sites of Action of Temozolomide for Pharmacological and Clinical Studies in Glioblastoma

Temozolomide (TMZ), together with bulk resection and focal radiotherapy, is currently a standard of care for glioblastoma. Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) parameters, together with the mode of action of TMZ, make its biochemical and biological action difficult to understand. Accurate understanding of the mode of action of TMZ and the monitoring of TMZ at its anatomical, cellular, and molecular sites of action (SOAs) would greatly benefit precision medicine and the development of novel therapeutic approaches in combination with TMZ. In the present perspective article, we summarize the known ADME parameters and modes of action of TMZ, and we review the possible methodological options to monitor TMZ at its SOAs. We focus our descriptions of methodologies on mass spectrometry-based approaches, and all related considerations are taken into account regarding the avoidance of artifacts in mass spectrometric analysis during sampling, sample preparation, and the evaluation of results. Finally, we provide an overview of potential applications for precision medicine and drug development.

Modeling effect of selenium on broiler chickens’ body

In recent years, based on new scientific data, many countries worldwide have been revising the existing standards for introducing trace elements in mixed feed for highly productive broiler chicken crosses. This also applies to selenium, which is recognized as an indispensable biotic ultramicroelement with a wide range of biological action according to modern classification. However, some aspects of the selenium effects on poultry have not been elucidated yet. We have conducted comprehensive research to deepen and expand modern ideas about the biological role of selenium, its impact on the interior and productive qualities of broiler chickens in the post-embryonic period of ontogenesis. One of the tasks was to study the causal relationship between the level of selenium consumption by broiler chickens and the studied indicators. The research was conducted on broiler chickens of the Cobb 500 cross. During the rearing period, the feeding of broiler chickens of all groups was carried out with dry full-fledged mixed feeds following the existing norms. The poultry of the first control group did not receive selenium supplementation. The poultry of the second experimental group was additionally injected with Selenium at the rate of 0.2 mg/kg, the third of 0.3, and the fourth of 0.4 mg/kg. When conducting a correlation analysis of the obtained experimental data, it was found that there are different levels and directions of relationship between internal and economically valuable features included in the study, which may vary depending on the selenium content in mixed feed for broiler chickens. A scheme of modeling the effect of selenium on broiler chickens’ bodies is proposed.

Antimicrobial activity of the edible mushroom Pleurotus eryngii (DC.) Quél grown in liquid medium

Edible mushrooms have a number of medicinal properties and this study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial activity of Pleurotus eryngii DPUA1816 in metabolic broths after being grown in submerged cultivation. Mycelial fragments of pure P. eryngii culture was inoculated in sweet potato culture medium and incubated at 150 rpm for 15 days at 25°C. Pleurotus eryngii was also cultivated for 18 days under the same conditions, the mycelial biomass was separated by filtration for quantification. The supernatant was used in the diffusion test in agar and performed against Escherichia coli CCCD-E005, Staphylococcus aureus CCCD-S009, Pseudomonas aeruginosa CCCD-P004, Candida albicans CCCD-CC001, Candida parapsilosis CCCD-CC004 and Candida tropicalis CCCD-CC002. The samples showed no inhibitory activity against bacteria, however they showed some activity against C. albicans (12.17 mm), C. parapsilosis (27.67 mm) and C. tropicalis (13.67 mm). After being cultivated for 18 days, P. eryngii was able to inhibit all yeasts after 12 days of culture, with an inhibition halo of 29.33 mm at 16 days against C. parapsilosis. This study demonstrates the antifungal potential filtered liquids from P. eryngii cultivated in purple-skinned sweet potato culture medium, which suggests the possibility of the use of this species by the pharmaceutical industry as a natural source of biological action.

Updated Prediction of Aggregators and Assay Interfering Substructures in Food Compounds

Positive outcomes in biochemical and biological assays of food compounds may appear due to the well-described capacity of some compounds to form colloidal aggregates that adsorb proteins, resulting in their denaturation and loss of function. This phenomenon can lead to wrongly ascribing mechanisms of biological action for these compounds (false positives), as the effect is non-specific and promiscuous. Similar false positives can show up due to chemical (photo)reactivity, redox cycling, metal chelation, interferences with the assay technology, membrane disruption, etc., which are more frequently observed when the tested molecule has some definite interfering substructures. Although discarding false positives can be achieved experimentally, it would be very useful to have in advance a prognostic value for possible aggregation and/or interference, based only in the chemical structure of the compound tested, in order to be aware of possible issues, help in prioritization of compounds to test, design of appropriate assays, etc. Previously, we applied cheminformatic tools derived from the drug discovery field to identify putative aggregators and interfering substructures in a database of food compounds, the FooDB, comprising 26457 molecules at that time. Here we provide an updated account of that analysis based on a current, much-expanded version of the FooDB, comprising a total of 70855 compounds. In addition, we also apply a novel machine learning model (the SCAM Detective) to predict aggregators with 46%-53% increased accuracies over previous models. In this way, we expect to provide the researchers in the mode of action of food compounds with a much improved, robust, and widened set of putative aggregators and interfering substructures of food compounds.

Phenolic Compounds in Calafate Berries Encapsulated by Spray Drying: Neuroprotection Potential into the Ingredient

Calafate is a berry rich in anthocyanins that presents higher content of polyphenols than other fruits. Its compounds have been described previously, however, the potential thereof in preventing and treating degenerative disorders has not yet been studied. Due to its astringency, the consumption of this berry in its natural state is limited. To profit from the aforementioned properties and reduce palatability issues, calafate berry extracts were microencapsulated by spray drying, a rapid, cost-effective and scalable process, and were then compared with freeze drying as a control. The stability of its contents and its in-vitro potential, with respect to AChE activity and neuroprotection, were measured from the obtained microcapsules, resulting from temperature treatments and different encapsulant contents. The results indicated that the spray-dried powders were stable, despite high temperatures, and their encapsulation exhibited nearly 50% efficiency. The highest quantity of polyphenols and 3-O-glycosylated anthocyanins was obtained from encapsulation with 20% maltodextrin, at 120 °C. Temperature did not affect the microcapsules’ biological action, as demonstrated by their antioxidant activities. The prevention of Aβ peptide cytotoxicity in PC12 cells (20%) revealed that encapsulated calafate can confer neuroprotection. We conclude that spray-drying is an appropriate technique for scaling-up and producing new value-added calafate formulations with anti-neurodegenerative effects and vivid colors.

Flavonoid/Polyphenol Ratio in Mauritia flexuosa and Theobroma grandiflorum as an Indicator of Effective Antioxidant Action

Studies on polyphenols and flavonoids in natural products reveal benefits in the prevention of multiple diseases. Proper extraction, treatment of extracts, and quantification of polyphenols and flavonoids demand attention from the scientific community in order to report more specific biological action. Total polyphenol content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) (measured at three different times) of ethanol, methanol and acetone extracts of Mauritia flexuosa (aguaje) and Theobroma grandiflorum (copoazú) fresh pulp, from the Colombian Amazon region, were evaluated with the purpose of focusing in the polyphenol/flavonoid proportion and its effective antioxidant activity. This objective could help to explain specific flavonoid biological action based on higher flavonoid proportion rather than higher total polyphenol content. Differences in extracting solvents resulted in statistically significant different yields; the highest TPC was observed with acetone 70% in Mauritia flexuosa and ethanol 80% for T. grandiflorum. The best flavonoid/polyphenol ratio in M. flexuosa was about 1:2.4 and 1:12.8 in T. grandiflorum and the antioxidant efficacy was proportionally higher for flavonoids extracted from T. grandiflorum. HPLC analysis revealed 54 µg/g of the flavonoid kaempferol in M. Flexuosa and 29 µg/g in T. grandiflorum. Further studies evaluating this proportionality, in seeds or peel of fruits, as well as, other specific biological activities, could help to understand the detailed flavonoid action without focusing on the high total polyphenol content.