The Potential of Low Phytic Acid1-1 Mutant in Maize (Zea mays L.): A Sustainable Solution to Non-Renewable Phosphorus.

BACKGROUND: Phosphorus is an essential component of fertilizers and feed and in recent decades has become one of the main sustainability issues as a non-renewable resource. In plant seeds, the main reserve of phosphorus is phytic acid, a strong anti-nutritional factor for monogastrics and a pollutant of cultivated lands. The reduction of phytic acid in cereal seeds has become a major challenge in breeding programs to increase the nutritional quality of foods and feeds and to improve the environmental phosphorus sustainability in agriculture. In maize (Zea mays L.), four low phytic acid (lpa) mutations have been isolated and lpa1-1 is the most promising. However, the reduction of phytic acid in lpa1-1 leads to many adverse pleiotropic effects on the seed and in general on plant performance. A seed weight reduction and a consequent yield loss were previously described in this mutant. METHOD: In this work, a field experiment to study seed weight and yield was conducted for two years in two different genetic backgrounds (B73 and B73/Mo17). Furthermore, the greater susceptibility of lpa1-1 to drought stress was also investigated: a dedicated field experiment was set up and measurements were carried out under optimal water conditions and moderate drought stress. RESULTS: From the first experiment it emerges that under high-input conditions, lpa1-1 seems to have comparable or even better yield than the relative control. The main problem of this mutant remains the reduced field emergence (~40%). In the study of drought stress it was found that the increased sensitivity in the mutant is mainly caused by an altered stomatal regulation, but not by a less developed root system, as previously reported. When the stress occurred, the parameters measured did not significantly change in the wild-type, while they dropped in the mutant: the net photosynthesis decreased by 58%, the transpiration rate by 63% and the stomatal conductance by 67%. CONCLUSIONS: Some possible solutions have been proposed, with the aim of developing a commercial variety, which remains the main goal to exploit the nutritional benefits of low phytic acid mutants.

Food Containing Bioactive Flavonoids and Other Phenolic or Sulfur Phytochemicals With Antiviral Effect: Can We Design a Promising Diet Against COVID-19?

Since in late 2019, when the coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pathogen of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) started to spread all over the world, causing the awful global pandemic we are still experiencing, an impressive number of biologists, infectious disease scientists, virologists, pharmacologists, molecular biologists, immunologists, and other researchers working in laboratories of all the advanced countries focused their research on the setting up of biotechnological tools, namely vaccines and monoclonal antibodies, as well as of rational design of drugs for therapeutic approaches. While vaccines have been quickly obtained, no satisfactory anti-Covid-19 preventive, or therapeutic approach has so far been discovered and approved. However, among the possible ways to achieve the goal of COVID-19 prevention or mitigation, there is one route, i.e., the diet, which until now has had little consideration. In fact, in the edible parts of plants supplying our food, there are a fair number of secondary metabolites mainly belonging to the large class of the flavonoids, endowed with antiviral or other health beneficial activities such as immunostimulating or anti-inflammatory action that could play a role in contributing to some extent to prevent or alleviate the viral infection and/or counteract the development of SARS induced by the novel coronavirus. In this review, a number of bioactive phytochemicals, in particular flavonoids, proven to be capable of providing some degree of protection against COVID-19, are browsed, illustrating their beneficial properties and mechanisms of action as well as their distribution in cultivated plant species which supply food for the human diet. Furthermore, room is also given to information regarding the amount in food, the resistance to cooking processes and, as a very important feature, the degree of bioavailability of these compounds. Concluding, remarks and perspectives for future studies aimed at increasing and improving knowledge and the possibility of using this natural complementary therapy to counteract COVID-19 and other viral pathologies are discussed.

A high throughput in vitro mrp2 assay to predict in vivo biliary excretion.

Prediction of biliary excretion is a challenge for drug discovery scientists due to the lack of in vitro assays. This study explores the possibility of establishing a simple assay to predict in vivo biliary excretion via the mrp2 transport system. In vitro mrp2 activity was determined by measuring the ATP-dependent uptake of 5(6)-carboxy-2',7'-dichlorofluorescein (CDCF) in canalicular plasma membrane vesicles (cLPM) from rat livers. The CDCF uptake was time- and concentration-dependent (K(m) of 2.2 ± 0.3 µM and V(max) of 115 ± 26 pmol/mg/min) and strongly inhibited by the mrp2 inhibitors, benzbromarone, MK-571, and cyclosporine A, with IC(50) values ≤ 1.1 µM. Low inhibition of CDCF uptake by taurocholate (BSEP inhibitor; 57 µM) and digoxin (P-gp inhibitor; 101 µM) demonstrated assay specificity towards mrp2. A highly significant correlation (r(2) = 0.959) between the in vitro IC(50) values from the described mrp2 assay and in vivo biliary excretion in rats was observed using 10 literature compounds. This study demonstrated, for the first time, that a high throughput assay could be established with the capability of predicting biliary excretion in the rat using CDCF as a substrate.

Randomized comparison of 6- versus 24-month clopidogrel therapy after balancing anti-intimal hyperplasia stent potency in all-comer patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention Design and rationale for the PROlonging Dual-antiplatelet treatment after Grading stent-induced Intimal hyperplasia study (PRODIGY).

BACKGROUND: The optimal duration of clopidogrel therapy after coronary stenting is debated because of the scarcity of randomized controlled trials and inconsistencies arising from registry data. Although prolonged clopidogrel therapy after bare metal stenting is regarded as an effective secondary prevention measure, the safety profile of drug-eluting stents itself has been questioned in patients not receiving ≥ 12 months of dual-antiplatelet therapy. HYPOTHESIS: Twenty-four months of clopidogrel therapy after coronary stenting reduces the composite of death, myocardial infarction, or stroke compared with 6 months of treatment. STUDY DESIGN: PRODIGY is an unblinded, multicenter, 4-by-2 randomized trial. All-comer patients with indication to coronary stenting are randomly treated-balancing randomization-with bare metal stent (no active late loss inhibition), Endeavor Sprint zotarolimus-eluting stent (Medtronic, Santa Rosa, CA) (mild late loss inhibition), Taxus paclitaxel-eluting stent (Boston Scientific, Natick, MA) (moderate late loss inhibition), or Xience V everolimus-eluting stent (Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, CA) (high late loss inhibition). At 30 days, patients in each stent group are randomly allocated to receive 24 or up to 6 months of clopidogrel therapy-primary end point randomization. With 1,700 individuals, this study will have >80% power to detect a 40% difference in the primary end point after sample size augmentation of 5% and a background event rate of 8%. SUMMARY: The PRODIGY trial aims to assess whether 24 months of clopidogrel therapy improves cardiovascular outcomes after coronary intervention in a broad all-comer patient population receiving a balanced mixture of stents with various anti-intimal hyperplasia potency.