Repurposing chia seed oil: A versatile novel functional food.

Chia seed oil (CSO) has been recently gaining tremendous interest as a functional food. The oil is rich in with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), especially, alpha linolenic acid (ALA), linoleic acid (LA), tocopherols, phenolic acids, vitamins, and antioxidants. Extracting CSO through green technologies has been highly efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable, which has also shown to improve its nutritional potential and proved to be eco-friendly than any other traditional or conventional processes. Due to the presence of valuable bioactive metabolites, CSO is proving to be a revolutionary source for food, baking, dairy, pharmaceutical, livestock feed, and cosmetic industries. CSO has been reported to possess antidiabetic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antiobesity, antioxidant, antihyperlipidemic, insect-repellent, and skin-healing properties. However, studies on toxicological safety and commercial potency of CSO are limited and therefore the need of the hour is to focus on large-scale molecular mechanistic and clinical studies, which may throw light on the possible translational opportunities of CSO to be utilized to its complete potential. In this review, we have deliberated on the untapped therapeutical possibilities and novel findings about this functional food, its biochemical composition, extraction methods, nutritional profiling, oil stability, and nutraceutical and pharmaceutical applications for its health benefits and ability to counter various diseases.

Drug therapy in stroke: from preclinical to clinical studies.

BACKGROUND: Stroke is one of the major challenges to health and the reason for increasing disability-adjusted life years. Despite tremendous progress in preclinical studies, none of the treatment options has proven efficacious in clinical studies. The basic aim of neuroprotection is to interfere with the events of the ischemic cascade, halt the pathological processes and prevent the death of vulnerable nerve cells in the ischemic penumbra. SUMMARY: This review will provide a brief overview of the current understanding of stroke, including the global epidemiology of stroke, its pathophysiology, the targeting of specific pathways and the success and failure of preclinical as well as clinical studies, and it will discuss the emerging targets for novel therapeutic strategies under investigation. KEY MESSAGES: New advancing investigational drugs for the prevention and treatment of stroke are on the way and may someday give hope to neuroscientists and clinicians. A novel approach should adopt preclinical testing, advance the understanding of the pathophysiology of stroke and make it possible to translate it from bench to bedside. We should learn from the past failures and move on with more enthusiasm.

Anti-amnesic effect of Ficus religiosa in scopolamine-induced anterograde and retrograde amnesia.

CONTEXT: Ficus religiosa Linn (Moraceae) is a variety of fig tree. Its figs are known to contain a high serotonergic content, and modulation of serotonergic neurotransmission plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of amnesia. Thus, the present study was envisaged. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of the methanol extract of figs of Ficus religiosa (FRFE) on scopolamine-induced anterograde and retrograde amnesia in mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Transfer latency (TL) to the preferred niche in the elevated plus-maze (EPM) and learning avoidance of passive behavior to avoid punishment in the modified passive avoidance paradigm (MPA) served as behavioral models for the assessment of memory. Scopolamine (1 mg/kg, i.p.) was administered before training for induction of anterograde amnesia and before retrieval for induction of retrograde amnesia in both models. TL in the EPM, step down latency (SDL), number of trials, and number of mistakes in the MPA were determined in vehicle control, FRFE treated (10, 50, and 100 mg/kg, i.p.), and standard groups (piracetam 200 mg/kg, i.p.). Cyproheptadine, a non-selective 5-HT(1/2) blocker (4 mg/kg, i.p.), was administered along with the FRFE to investigate the involvement of serotonergic pathways in the anti-amnesic effect of FRFE. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: FRFE resulted in a significant improvement of memory, as its treatment attenuated the scopolamine-induced anterograde and retrograde amnesia dose-dependently. Further, cyproheptadine pretreatment significantly reversed the anti-amnesic effect of FRFE. CONCLUSION: FRFE has anti-amnesic activity against scopolamine-induced amnesia, in a dose-dependent manner. Inhibition of the anti-amnesic effect of FRFE by cyproheptadine substantiates the involvement of serotonergic pathways for its activity.