The Modulation Effect of a Fermented Bee Pollen Postbiotic on Cardiovascular Microbiota and Therapeutic Perspectives.

Hypertension is a frequent comorbidity in patients with heart failure; therefore, blood pressure management for these patients is widely recommended in medical guidelines. Bee pollen and postbiotics that contain inactivated probiotic cells and their metabolites have emerged as promising bioactive compounds sources, and their potential role in mitigating cardiovascular (CV) risks is currently being unveiled. Therefore, this preliminary study aimed to investigate the impact of a lactic-fermented bee pollen postbiotic (FBPP) on the CV microbiota via in vitro tests. A new isolated Lactobacillus spp. strain from the digestive tract of bees was used to ferment pollen, obtaining liquid and dried atomized caps postbiotics. The modulating effects on a CV microbiota that corresponds to the pathophysiology of hypertension were investigated using microbiological methods and qPCR and correlated with the metabolic profile. Both liquid and dried FBPPs increased the number of the beneficial Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp. bacteria by up to 2 log/mL, while the opportunistic pathogen E. coli, which contributes to CV pathogenesis, decreased by 3 log/mL. The short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) profile revealed a significant increase in lactic (6.386 ± 0.106 g/L) and acetic (4.284 ± 0.017 g/L) acids, both with known antihypertensive effects, and the presence of isovaleric acid, which promotes a healthy gut microbiota. Understanding the impact of the FBPP on gut microbiota could lead to innovative strategies for promoting heart health and preventing cardiovascular diseases.

Therapeutic Properties of Edible Mushrooms and Herbal Teas in Gut Microbiota Modulation.

Edible mushrooms are functional foods and valuable but less exploited sources of biologically active compounds. Herbal teas are a range of products widely used due to the therapeutic properties that have been demonstrated by traditional medicine and a supplement in conventional therapies. Their interaction with the human microbiota is an aspect that must be researched, the therapeutic properties depending on the interaction with the microbiota and the consequent fermentative activity. Modulation processes result from the activity of, for example, phenolic acids, which are a major component and which have already demonstrated activity in combating oxidative stress. The aim of this mini-review is to highlight the essential aspects of modulating the microbiota using edible mushrooms and herbal teas. Although the phenolic pattern is different for edible mushrooms and herbal teas, certain non-phenolic compounds (polysaccharides and/or caffeine) are important in alleviating chronic diseases. These specific functional compounds have modulatory properties against oxidative stress, demonstrating health-beneficial effects in vitro and/or In vivo. Moreover, recent advances in improving human health via gut microbiota are presented. Plant-derived miRNAs from mushrooms and herbal teas were highlighted as a potential strategy for new therapeutic effects.

The Potential of Flavonoids and Tannins from Medicinal Plants as Anticancer Agents.

The tendency of using herbs extracts or natural compounds extracted from herbs for preventing or treating different illnesses, including cancer, continues to be an alternative to drug use. Many studies of plant compounds aimed at finding substances with selective cytotoxicity on abnormal cells. Phenolic compounds, as important secondary metabolites from plants, are one of them. In this review, the recent literature data from the past five years about anticancer/antitumor effect of flavonoids and tannins extracted from medicinal plants are surveyed. The cytostatic/antitumor effects of the individual compounds extracted from plants and/or of the plants' polyphenolic extracts are considered, in order to point out the most significant constituents or plants with anticancer potential. The most important results concerning these compounds and their derivatives in cancer prevention and treatment, the importance of their chemical structure, their mechanism of action in vitro and in vivo, and some bioavailability aspects are discussed.

A bioanalytical approach of chemical composition, bioactivity and cytotoxicity of Berteroa incana L. herb.

Berteroa incana is a wild herb widespread in temperate zones which was practically not studied for its biological effects. Methanolic and aqueous extracts of B. incana were assessed for the content in polyphenols and the related antioxidant and antimicrobial activities and the polysaccharide extract for the content in saccharides and the associated cytostatic effect. The results obtained highlighted that the methanolic extracts of B. incana contain moderate amounts of polyphenols, the most representative been isoquercitrin 4.41 ± 0.02 mg100 g-1dry weight plant material (DW), quercetin 4.21 ± 0.05, sinapic acid 5.23 ± 0.12 and ferulic acid 5.05 ± 0.12 mg 100 g-1DW, with correlated moderate antioxidant activities (IC50 13.40 ± 0.01 µg mL-1) and absent antibacterial activity. The polysaccharide fraction showed high content in saccharides, especially in arabinose (312.22 ± 7.54 mg g-1 polysaccharide extract) and glucose (279.22 ± 5.59), and promising cytostatic effect.

Analysis of Phenolic Compounds in Some Medicinal Herbs by LC-MS.

In this paper, a liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrometry in negative mode method was developed for the identification and quantitative determination of 13 individual phenolics (chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, coumaric acid, ferulic acid, (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, rutin, quercitrin, isoquercitrin, fisetin, isorhamnetin, hesperidin and chrysin) from ethanolic extracts [30, 50 and 70% (w/v)] of Calendula officinalis, Hypericum perforatum, Galium verum and Origanum vulgare and some commercial extracts of these medicinal herbs. Correlation coefficients (r(2)) from calibration curves for all the compounds were between 0.9971 and 0.9996. Limit of detection was in the range of 0.070-0.280 µg/mL and limit of quantification was from 0.233 to 0.932 µg/mL. The method was partially validated and the results obtained are: the intra- and interday relative standard deviation values were within 0.086 and 2.821% and recovery values vary from 95.84% (coumaric acid) to 103.20% (rutin).