The urgent need for integrated science to fight COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

The COVID-19 pandemic has become the leading societal concern. The pandemic has shown that the public health concern is not only a medical problem, but also affects society as a whole; so, it has also become the leading scientific concern. We discuss in this treatise the importance of bringing the world's scientists together to find effective solutions for controlling the pandemic. By applying novel research frameworks, interdisciplinary collaboration promises to manage the pandemic's consequences and prevent recurrences of similar pandemics.

Curcumin and its analogues protect from endoplasmic reticulum stress: Mechanisms and pathways.

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a cellular organelle with multiple functions, plays an important role in several biological processes including protein folding, secretion, lipid biosynthesis, calcium homeostasis, and cellular stress. Accumulation of misfolded or unfolded proteins in the ER makes cells undergo a stress response known as the unfolded protein response (UPR). UPR is initially protective. However, prolonged and severe ER stress can lead to autophagy and/or the induction of apoptosis in stressed cell. Many studies have demonstrated that ER stress and the UPR are involved in different diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, and inflammatory diseases. Curcumin, a natural polyphenol, has well documented evidence supporting its numerous biological properties including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immune-modulatory, anti-microbial, anti-ischemic, anti-angiogenesis, neuroprotective, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, anti-atherogenic and anti-diabetic activities. In this review, the role of ER stress in several pathological condition and the potential protective effects of curcumin are discussed.

Assessment of polyphenolic content, antioxidant activity, protection against ROS-induced DNA damage and anticancer activity of Vitis vinifera stem extracts.

Grape extracts and wine have been studied widely due to their beneficial effects on human health. However, there are only few studies from grape stems extracts. Therefore, the main objective of the present study was the assessment in stem extracts from Greek Vitis vinifera varieties of the total polyphenolic content (TPC), the identification of the polyphenols present in them, and the evaluation of their antioxidant activity, protection against ROS-induced DNA damage and inhibition of liver (HepG2) and cervical (HeLa) cancer cell growth. The range of the TPC in grape stem extracts was from 345 to 584 mg GAE/g dry weight. Moreover, stem extracts contained different classes of polyphenols as flavonols, flavanols, procyanidins, phenolic acids and stilbenes. In DPPH and ABTS assays, the IC50 values of the stem extracts had an average of 7.8 ± 2.8 and 5.4 ± 2.6 µg/mL respectively. Also, all stem extracts inhibited OH- and ROO-induced DNA damage dose dependent with average IC50 values of 478 ± 217 and 1.15 ± 0.85 µg/mL respectively. Furthermore, stem extracts inhibited at low concentrations the growth of HepG2 and HeLa cancer cells with average IC50 values of 50 ± 12 and 32 ± 16 µg/mL respectively. The above activities of grape stem extracts were comparable to those of seed extracts.

An innovative approach to the safety evaluation of natural products: cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton) leaf aqueous extract as a case study.

Assessment of safety for a food or dietary ingredient requires determination of a safe level of ingestion compared to the estimated daily intake from its proposed uses. The nature of the assessment may require the use of different approaches, determined on a case-by-case basis. Natural products are chemically complex and challenging to characterize for the purpose of carrying out a safety evaluation. For example, a botanical extract contains numerous compounds, many of which vary across batches due to changes in environmental conditions and handling. Key components integral to the safety evaluation must be identified and their variability established to assure that specifications are representative of a commercial product over time and protective of the consumer; one can then extrapolate the results of safety studies on a single batch of product to other batches that are produced under similar conditions. Safety of a well-characterized extract may be established based on the safety of its various components. When sufficient information is available from the public literature, additional toxicology testing is not necessary for a safety determination on the food or dietary ingredient. This approach is demonstrated in a case study of an aqueous extract of cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton) leaves.