Whole grain cereals: the potential roles of functional components in human health.

Whole grain cereals have been the basis of human diet since ancient times. Due to rich in a variety of unique bioactive ingredients, they play an important role in human health. This review highlights the contents and distribution of primary functional components and their health effects in commonly consumed whole grain cereals, especially dietary fiber, protein, polyphenols, and alkaloids. In general, cereals exert positive effects in the following ways: 1) Restoring intestinal flora diversity and increasing intestinal short-chain fatty acids. 2) Regulating plasma glucose and lipid metabolism, thereby the improvement of obesity, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, and other chronic metabolic diseases. 3) Exhibiting antioxidant activity by scavenging free radicals. 4) Preventing gastrointestinal cancer via the regulation of classical signaling pathways. In summary, this review provides a scientific basis for the formulation of whole-grain cereals-related dietary guidelines, and guides people to form scientific dietary habits, so as to promote the development and utilization of whole-grain cereals.

Correlates of preferences for home or hospital confinement in Pakistan: evidence from a national survey.

BACKGROUND: Despite the pregnancy complications related to home births, homes remain yet major place of delivery in Pakistan and 65 percent of totals births take place at home. This work analyses the determinants of place of delivery in Pakistan. METHODS: Multivariate Logistic regression is used for analysis. Data are extracted from Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (2006-07). Based on information on last birth preceding 5 years of survey, we construct dichotomous dependent variable i.e. whether women deliver at home (Coded=1) or at health facility (coded=2). RESULTS: Bivariate analysis shows that 72% (p≤0.000) women from rural area and 81% women residing in Baluchistan delivered babies at home. Furthermore 75% women with no formal education, 81% (p≤0.000) women working in agricultural sector, 75% (p≤0.000) of Women who have 5 and more children and almost 77% (p≤0.000) who do not discussed pregnancy related issues with their husbands are found delivering babies at home. Multivariate analysis documents that mothers having lower levels of education, economic status and empowerment, belonging to rural area, residing in provinces other than Punjab, working in agriculture sector and mothers who are young are more likely to give births at home. CONCLUSION: A trend for home births, among Pakistani women, can be traced in lower levels of education, lower autonomy, poverty driven working in agriculture sector, higher costs of using health facilities and regional backwardness.

Analysis of feed additives by DART mass spectrometry: method optimisation and applications for product traceability in the European Union focusing on coccidiostats and carotenoids.

In this study, direct analysis in real time high resolution mass spectrometry (DART-HRMS) was used to investigate the accurate characterisation of feed additive formulations containing coccidiostats or carotenoids. The study demonstrates the efficacy of DART-HRMS in identifying the active substances in these formulations and distinguishing between feed additives with the same active substance. The protocol for this method involves two simple steps that are extracting samples with organic solvents and measuring the extracts with DART-HRMS. The study also employs various statistical tools, including a factorial design approach, to optimise the DART-HRMS settings, and multivariate statistics, to establish classification models for feed additive formulations using nominal mass spectra. Our study demonstrates the potential of DART-HRMS in ensuring the correct identification of feed additives containing various coccidiostats or carotenoids and proposes this tool as an additional means for compliance checks with EU regulations.

Re-examining the nexuses of communicable diseases, environmental performance, and dynamics of sustainable Development in OECD countries.

We investigate the determinants of communicable diseases (CDs) and nexus of financial development, economic development, and renewable energy consumption to address the issues of ecological footprint level, the impacts of communicable diseases (CDs), and economic growth of the OECD countries throughout 2000-2019. The results from FMOLS and DOLS reveal that the levels of financial development, energy consumption, and trade volume significantly contribute to overcoming the death toll occurring due to CDs. As regards the growth function, the level of trade in the economy is significantly associated with economic growth. The findings reveal that the improvements and developments in the financial sectors and trading activities cause a reduction in the infection cases represented by COVID-19. In contrast, economic growth does have a negative but insignificant impact upon COVID-19. We conclude that sound financial development combined with economic and environmental regulations could be strategically helpful to cope with CDs.

Nanoparticles and its biomedical applications in health and diseases: special focus on drug delivery.

Nanotechnology is an emerging technology that deals with nanosized particles possessing crucial research roles and application. Disciplines like chemistry, biology, physics, engineering, materials science, and health sciences provide an accumulated knowledge of nanotechnology. Nonetheless, it has vast submissions precisely in biology, electronics, and medicine. Aimed at drug delivery system, nanoparticles are based on the mechanism of entrapment of the drugs or biomolecules into the interior structure of the particles; another mechanism could be that the drugs or the biomolecules can be absorbed onto the exterior surfaces of the particles. Currently, nanoparticles (NPs) are used in the delivery of drugs, proteins, genes, vaccines, polypeptides, nucleic acids, etc. In recent years, various applications of the drug delivery system via NPs have encountered an enormous position sector like pharmaceutical, medical, biological, and others. Considering the impact of NPs in drug delivery systems, this review focuses on the detailed profile of NPs, its impact on biology and medicine, and their commercialization prospects.

Avenanthramide A Induces Cellular Senescence via miR-129-3p/Pirh2/p53 Signaling Pathway To Suppress Colon Cancer Growth.

Cellular senescence is the state of irreversible cell cycle arrest that provides a blockade during oncogenic transformation and tumor development. Avenanthramide A (AVN A) is an active ingredient exclusively extracted from oats, which possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities. However, the underlying mechanism(s) of AVN A in the prevention of cancer progression remains unclear. In the current study, we revealed that AVN A notably attenuated tumor formation in an azoxymethane/dextran sulfate sodium (AOM/DSS) mouse model. AVN A treatment triggered cellular senescence in human colon cancer cells, evidenced by enlarging cellular size, upregulating ß-galactosidase activity, γ-H2AX positive staining, and G1 phase arrest. Moreover, AVN A treatment significantly increased the expression of miR-129-3p, which markedly repressed the E3 ubiquitin ligase Pirh2 and two other targets, IGF2BP3 and CDK6. The Pirh2 silencing by miR-129-3p led to a significant increase in protein levels of p53 and its downstream target p21, which subsequently induced cell senescence. Taken together, our data indicate that miR-129-3p/Pirh2/p53 is a critical signaling pathway in AVN A induced cellular senescence and AVN A could be a potential chemopreventive strategy for cancer treatment.

Tannic acid directly targets pyruvate kinase isoenzyme M2 to attenuate colon cancer cell proliferation.

Tannic acid (TA), a naturally occurring polyphenolic acid that is primarily found in grapes and green tea, exhibits potent antioxidant and anticarcinogenic characteristics. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms and targets of TA, which are responsible for cancer prevention, remain elusive. In the present study, we used TA-functionalized magnetite nanoparticles to identify pyruvate kinase isoenzyme M2 (PKM2) as the direct target of TA. We report that TA selectively inhibits the pyruvate kinase activity of PKM2, rather than protein kinase activity and PKM2 expression, to suppress colorectal cancer (CRC) cell proliferation. Furthermore, we had discovered that lysine residue 433 (K433) is a selective druggable site. Through direct binding to lysine residue 433, TA triggers the dissociation of PKM2 tetramers and further blocks the metabolic activity of PKM2. Notably, TA has no effect on PKM1 activity as TA does not bind to it. Taken together, these findings show that TA is worthy of consideration as a promising PKM2 inhibitor for the prevention of CRC.