Dietary factors and their influence on immunotherapy strategies in oncology: a comprehensive review.

Immunotherapy is emerging as a promising avenue in oncology, gaining increasing importance and offering substantial advantages when compared to chemotherapy or radiotherapy. However, in the context of immunotherapy, there is the potential for the immune system to either support or hinder the administered treatment. This review encompasses recent and pivotal studies that assess the influence of dietary elements, including vitamins, fatty acids, nutrients, small dietary molecules, dietary patterns, and caloric restriction, on the ability to modulate immune responses. Furthermore, the article underscores how these dietary factors have the potential to modify and enhance the effectiveness of anticancer immunotherapy. It emphasizes the necessity for additional research to comprehend the underlying mechanisms for optimizing the efficacy of anticancer therapy and defining dietary strategies that may reduce cancer-related morbidity and mortality. Persistent investigation in this field holds significant promise for improving cancer treatment outcomes and maximizing the benefits of immunotherapy.

Recent Developments in Effective Antioxidants: The Structure and Antioxidant Properties.

Since the last few years, the growing interest in the use of natural and synthetic antioxidants as functional food ingredients and dietary supplements, is observed. The imbalance between the number of antioxidants and free radicals is the cause of oxidative damages of proteins, lipids, and DNA. The aim of the study was the review of recent developments in antioxidants. One of the crucial issues in food technology, medicine, and biotechnology is the excess free radicals reduction to obtain healthy food. The major problem is receiving more effective antioxidants. The study aimed to analyze the properties of efficient antioxidants and a better understanding of the molecular mechanism of antioxidant processes. Our researches and sparing literature data prove that the ligand antioxidant properties complexed by selected metals may significantly affect the free radical neutralization. According to our preliminary observation, this efficiency is improved mainly by the metals of high ion potential, e.g., Fe(III), Cr(III), Ln(III), Y(III). The complexes of delocalized electronic charge are better antioxidants. Experimental literature results of antioxidant assays, such as diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and ferric reducing activity power assay (FRAP), were compared to thermodynamic parameters obtained with computational methods. The mechanisms of free radicals creation were described based on the experimental literature data. Changes in HOMO energy distribution in phenolic acids with an increasing number of hydroxyl groups were observed. The antioxidant properties of flavonoids are strongly dependent on the hydroxyl group position and the catechol moiety. The number of methoxy groups in the phenolic acid molecules influences antioxidant activity. The use of synchrotron techniques in the antioxidants electronic structure analysis was proposed.

Model of Pathological Collagen Mineralization Based on Spine Ligament Calcification.

The aim of the study was to determine the time of mineral growth in human spine ligaments using a mathematical model. The study was based on our previous research in which the physicochemical analysis and computed microtomography measurements of deposits in ligamenta flava were performed. Hydroxyapatite-like mineral (HAP) constituted the mineral phase in ligament samples, in two samples calcium pyrophosphate dehydrate (CPPD) was confirmed. The micro-damage of collagen fibrils in the soft tissue is the crystallization center. The growth of the mineral nucleus is a result of the calcium ions deposition on the nucleus surface. Considering the calcium ions, the main component of HAP, it is possible to describe the grain growth using a diffusion model. The model calculations showed that the growth time of CPPD grains was ca. a month to 6 years, and for HAP grains >4 years for the young and >5.5 years for the elderly patients. The growth time of minerals with a radius >400 µm was relatively short and impossible to identify by medical imaging techniques. The change of growth rate was the largest for HAP deposits. The mineral growth time can provide valuable information for understanding the calcification mechanism, may be helpful in future experiments, as well as useful in estimating the time of calcification appearance.

Electronic Nose: Recent Developments in Gas Sensing and Molecular Mechanisms of Graphene Detection and Other Materials.

Keywords: graphene; electronic nose; carbon nanotubes; porphyrins; conductive polymers.

Physicochemical characterization of mineral deposits in human ligamenta flava.

The aim of our study was the detailed characterization of calcium deposits in ligamenta flava. The use of microcomputed tomography allowed extending the routine medical investigations to characterize mineral grains in the microscopic scale. A possible connection between spinal stenosis and ligament mineralization was investigated. The studies were carried out on 24 surgically removed ligamentum flavum samples divided into control and stenosis groups. Physicochemical characterization of the inorganic material was performed using X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The minerals were present in 14 of 24 ligament samples, both in stenosis and control groups. The inorganic substance constitutes on average ~0.1% of the sample volume. The minerals are scattered in the soft tissue matrix without any regular pattern. It was confirmed that minerals possess an internal structure and consist of the organic material and small inorganic grains mixture. The physicochemical analyses show that the predominant crystalline phase was hydroxyapatite (HAP). In the stenosis group calcium pyrophosphate dehydrate (CPPD) was identified. Both structures were never present in a single sample. Two different crystal structures suggest two independent processes of mineralization. The formation of CPPD may be treated as a more intense process since CPPD minerals are characterized by bigger values of the structural parameters and higher density than HAP deposits. The formation of HAP minerals is a soft tissue degeneration process that begins, in some cases, at early age or may not occur at all. Various density and volume of mineral grains indicate that the mineralization process does not occur in a constant environment and proceeds with various speeds. The formation of minerals in ligamenta flava is not directly associated with diagnosed spinal canal stenosis.

Physicochemical and micro-tomographic characterization of inorganic deposits associated with aortic stenosis.

BACKGROUND AND THE AIM OF THE STUDY: A major feature of aortic stenosis is massive mineralization of the aortic valve, though the mechanism of the process remains unclear. The study aim was to characterize the chemical composition and morphology of inorganic deposits from surgically excised natural aortic valves and to seek similarities to minerals in bones and teeth. METHODS: Mineral deposits from 30 surgically excised natural aortic valves were examined. The control group consisted of autopsy samples (aortic valves, vertebral bodies) and teeth obtained after extraction. Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) was used to describe the morphology and density of the minerals. X-ray fluorescence and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were applied to determine the chemical composition. RESULTS: A poorly crystalline, B-type carbonate-containing hydroxyapatite (HAP) was found to constitute the mineral phase of the aortic valve leaflets. No other chemical compounds were identified. The elemental composition of the minerals in aortic valves and bone/tooth did not differ markedly, except that the Mg concentration was fourfold higher in valve material. The aortic valve deposits were irregular in shape and occupied ca. 40% of the leaflet volume. The volume of the deposits were spread over a broad range (0.001-0.3 mm3), while the density ranged from that of dentine to enamel (average value 2.2 g/cm3), slightly higher than that of compact bone. CONCLUSION: The aortic valve deposits were identified as B-type carbonate-containing HAP, and were not identical to those found in bones and teeth, the main difference being a fourfold elevated Mg content. Mg may have been deposited as a separate compound, as micro-CT results suggested that the formation of mineral deposits in aortic valves was a multi-factorial process. The morphological parameters and densities of the valve deposits were spread over a broad range (factor approximately 300). An unequivocal identification of the mechanism responsible for the aortic valve pathological calcification was not possible, however.