Building Bricks of Integrated Care Pathway for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.

An integrated plan within a defined care pathway for the diagnosis, continuative interventions, and periodic redefinition of care of autistic people is essential for better outcomes. Challenges include delivering services across all domains or life stages and effective coordination between health/social care providers and services. Further, in the 'real world', service provision varies greatly, and in many settings is significantly weighted towards diagnosis and children's services rather than treatment and support or adult care. This study aims to identify existing care pathways for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) from referral to care management after diagnosis. The study reviewed the international literature in PubMed and PsycInfo databases and collected information on care for autistic individuals from the Autism Spectrum Disorders in Europe (ASDEU) project partners. The study found that published data mainly focused on specific components of care pathways rather than an integrated and coordinated plan of care and legislative indications. They should be aimed at facilitating access to the services for support and the inclusiveness of autistic individuals. Given the need for care addressing the complex and heterogeneous nature of ASD, effective coordination between different health/social care providers and services is essential. It is also suggested that research priority should be given to the identification of an integrated care pathway 'model' centered around case management, individualization, facilitation, support, continuous training and updating, and quality management.

Biotechnological Applications of Scyphomedusae.

As people across the world live longer, chronic illness and diminished well-being are becoming major global public health challenges. Marine biotechnology may help overcome some of these challenges by developing new products and know-how derived from marine organisms. While some products from marine organisms such as microalgae, sponges, and fish have already found biotechnological applications, jellyfish have received little attention as a potential source of bioactive compounds. Nevertheless, recent studies have highlighted that scyphomedusae (Cnidaria, Scyphozoa) synthesise at least three main categories of compounds that may find biotechnological applications: collagen, fatty acids and components of crude venom. We review what is known about these compounds in scyphomedusae and their current biotechnological applications, which falls mainly into four categories of products: nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals, biomedicals, and biomaterials. By defining the state of the art of biotechnological applications in scyphomedusae, we intend to promote the use of these bioactive compounds to increase the health and well-being of future societies.

Marine Microalgae with Anti-Cancer Properties.

Cancer is the leading cause of death globally and finding new therapeutic agents for cancer treatment remains a major challenge in the pursuit for a cure. This paper presents an overview on microalgae with anti-cancer activities. Microalgae are eukaryotic unicellular plants that contribute up to 40% of global primary productivity. They are excellent sources of pigments, lipids, carotenoids, omega-3 fatty acids, polysaccharides, vitamins and other fine chemicals, and there is an increasing demand for their use as nutraceuticals and food supplements. Some microalgae are also reported as having anti-cancer activity. In this review, we report the microalgal species that have shown anti-cancer properties, the cancer cell lines affected by algae and the concentrations of compounds/extracts tested to induce arrest of cell growth. We also report the mediums used for growing microalgae that showed anti-cancer activity and compare the bioactivity of these microalgae with marine anticancer drugs already on the market and in phase III clinical trials. Finally, we discuss why some microalgae can be promising sources of anti-cancer compounds for future development.

Evaluating the Effects of an Organic Extract from the Mediterranean Sponge Geodia cydonium on Human Breast Cancer Cell Lines.

Marine sponges are an excellent source of bioactive secondary metabolites for pharmacological applications. In the present study, we evaluated the chemistry, cytotoxicity and metabolomics of an organic extract from the Mediterranean marine sponge Geodia cydonium, collected in coastal waters of the Gulf of Naples. We identified an active fraction able to block proliferation of breast cancer cell lines MCF-7, MDA-MB231, and MDA-MB468 and to induce cellular apoptosis, whereas it was inactive on normal breast cells (MCF-10A). Metabolomic studies showed that this active fraction was able to interfere with amino acid metabolism, as well as to modulate glycolysis and glycosphingolipid metabolic pathways. In addition, the evaluation of the cytokinome profile on the polar fractions of three treated breast cancer cell lines (compared to untreated cells) demonstrated that this fraction induced a slight anti-inflammatory effect. Finally, the chemical entities present in this fraction were analyzed by liquid chromatography high resolution mass spectrometry combined with molecular networking.