The Promising Ability of Humulus lupulus L. Iso-α-acids vs. Diabetes, Inflammation, and Metabolic Syndrome: A Systematic Review.

For centuries, natural medicines have represented the only option for treating human diseases and, nowadays, plant phytochemicals are considered as promising compounds to treat or prevent chronic conditions. Among them, hop flowers (Humulus lupulus L.), typically used in brewing industries to give the typical aroma and flavor to beer, have attracted particular attention for their health promoting properties. Several in vivo/vitro studies and human interventional trials have demonstrated the beneficial effects of these molecules on weight gain, lipid metabolism, glucose homeostasis, insulin sensitivities, and inflammation by acting on different targets. All these activities suggest a possible role of bitter hop acid in preventing metabolic syndrome and its related diseases. A systematic quest on PubMed and Scopus databases was performed to identify pre-clinical and clinical studies focusing on this topic. This systematic review summarizes the results obtained by different cell lines, animal models, and human interventional trials to propose iso-α-acids as medical nutrition therapy to treat or prevent metabolic syndrome and its related disorders as diabetes, dislipidemia inflammation, etc.

Olive Trees By-Products as Sources of Bioactive and Other Industrially Useful Compounds: A Systematic Review.

The need to produce an ever-increasing quantity of material products and food resulting from the planet globalization process has contributed to the spread of modern agriculture based on a linear production resulting in the generation of tons of waste. This huge amount of waste is generally accumulated in landfills, causing different environmental problems. Hence, researchers moved on to study the processes used to recover agro-industrial by-products within a circular and sustainable bio-economy concept. A systematic quest on Scopus and PubMed databases was performed to identify the data available to date on recycling agro-industrial by-products of Olea europaea L. This systematic review summarizes the knowledge regarding the use of olive trees by-products for producing animal feed, biocomposites, bioethanol, cellulose pulp, activated carbon, and as a fuel source for energy production. Furthermore, the data regarding the potential biological activity of extracts from olive roots, wood, bark, and pruning were analyzed. Olive trees by-products are, indeed, rich in molecules with antioxidant, antimicrobial, cardioprotective, and anticancer activity, representing a promising candidate for treat several human diseases.

Astaxanthin anticancer effects are mediated through multiple molecular mechanisms: A systematic review.

During the latest decades, the interest on the effectiveness of natural compounds and their impact on human health constantly increased, especially on those demonstrating to be effective on cancer. Molecules coming from nature are currently used in chemotherapy like Taxol, Vincristine or Vinblastine, and several other natural substances have been showed to be active in reducing cancer cell progression and migration. Among them, astaxanthin, a xanthophyll red colored carotenoid, displayed different biological activities including, antinflammatory, antioxidant, proapoptotic, and anticancer effects. It can induce apoptosis through downregulation of antiapoptotic protein (Bcl-2, p-Bad, and survivin) expression and upregulation of proapoptotic ones (Bax/Bad and PARP). Thanks to these mechanisms, it can exert anticancer effects towards colorectal cancer, melanoma, or gastric carcinoma cell lines. Moreover, it possesses antiproliferative activity in many experimental models and enhances the effectiveness of conventional chemotherapic drugs on tumor cells underling its potential future use. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge on the anticancer potential of astaxanthin by modulating several molecular targets. While it has been clearly demonstrated its multitarget activity in the prevention and regression of malignant cells in in vitro or in preclinical investigations, further clinical studies are needed to assess its real potential as anticancer in humans.

Recent Clinical and Preclinical Studies of Hydroxychloroquine on RNA Viruses and Chronic Diseases: A Systematic Review.

The rapid spread of the new Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has actually become the newest challenge for the healthcare system since, to date, there is not an effective treatment. Among all drugs tested, Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has attracted significant attention. This systematic review aims to analyze preclinical and clinical studies on HCQ potential use in viral infection and chronic diseases. A systematic search of Scopus and PubMed databases was performed to identify clinical and preclinical studies on this argument; 2463 papers were identified and 133 studies were included. Regarding HCQ activity against COVID-19, it was noticed that despite the first data were promising, the latest outcomes highlighted the ineffectiveness of HCQ in the treatment of viral infection. Several trials have seen that HCQ administration did not improve severe illness and did not prevent the infection outbreak after virus exposure. By contrast, HCQ arises as a first-line treatment in managing autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematosus, and Sjögren syndrome. It also improves glucose and lipid homeostasis and reveals significant antibacterial activity.

Comparison of different green-extraction techniques and determination of the phytochemical profile and antioxidant activity of Echinacea angustifolia L. extracts.

INTRODUCTION: Nowadays several plant species, such as Echinacea angustifolia L., can be considered natural important sources for therapeutic applications. Echinacea angustifolia is one of the most known medicinal plants, it shows protective and preventive effects against many chronic diseases, thanks to immunostimulant properties, mostly due to its polysaccharides and antioxidants. However, the optimisation of green extraction techniques to respect the environment is, currently, a hard challenge for the recovery of secondary metabolites. METHODOLOGY: Hydro-enzymatic extraction has been performed for the first time, it was compared with other different extraction techniques, for their efficacy in bioactive compound recovery. Phytochemical characterisation has been carried out through high-performance liquid chromatography diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) analysis and the antioxidant activity has been also measured. RESULTS: The highest extractive yields and the strongest antioxidant activity was obtained by cellulase and xylanase enzyme extraction. The enzymatic extraction with pectinase enzyme led to a higher polysaccharide content in comparison with the literature. The hydro-enzymatic extraction method and analytical conditions allowed the identification and quantification of two compounds, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time in E. angustifolia root extract. CONCLUSION: The optimised extraction methods discussed in this work led to a higher polysaccharides content, in comparison to previous literature results. The enzymatic extraction seems to be the best extraction technique, in terms of antioxidant yield and efficacy in bioactive compound recovery.

Therapeutic and Mechanistic Effects of Curcumin in Huntington's Disease.

Curcumin is a spice derived nutraceutical which gained tremendous attention because of its profound medicinal values. It alters a number of molecular pathways such as nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and cyclooxygenases-2 (COX-2), which make it potential therapeutic choice in treating multiple disorders. It also possesses the potential to prevent protein aggregation and thus protect against degeneration of neurons in neurodegenerative disorders including Huntington's disease (HD). HD is an autosomal dominant disorder linked with altered gene expression which leads to an increase in the size of cytosine, adenine and guanine (CAG) trinucleotide repeats, aids in protein aggregation throughout the brain and thus damages neurons. Upstream regulation of oxidative stress and inflammatory cascade are two important factors that drive HD progression. Available therapies just suppress the severity of symptoms with a number of side effects. Curcumin targets multiple mechanisms in treating or preventing HD including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential, metal ion chelation, transcriptional alterations and upregulating activity of molecular chaperons, heat shock proteins (HSPs). Having a favorable safety profile, curcumin can be an alternative therapeutic choice in treating neurodegenerative disorders like HD. This review will focus on mechanistic aspects of curcumin in treating or preventing HD and its potential to arrest disease progression and will open new dimensions for safe and effective therapeutic agents in diminishing HD.

Preserving Biodiversity as Source of Health Promoting Compounds: Phenolic Profile and Biological Activity of Four Varieties of Solanum lycopersicum L.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a precious source of specialized metabolites with a great role in human health. Many varieties of tomatoes characterize the south of Italy's agronomic production and biodiversity, thanks to its warm temperatures and favorable weather. The preservation of biodiversity is a major goal of recent years, as each variety shows a peculiar phytochemical profile and provides a wide variety of metabolites with health-beneficial properties. Among the wide range of tomato varieties, literature focused on the most commercially-known types, including San Marzano and Datterino, while this study considered typical South Italy varieties for the first time, as well as Crovarese and Arsicolo. The aim of our work is to enrich the current knowledge about the tomato by evaluating the carotenoid content, the phytochemical profile by HPLC-DAD, and the biological activity of the different parts (peel, fruit, pulp, and seeds) of niche cultivars compared with commercial ones. Radical scavenging activity, assessed by the 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method, was higher in Crovarese peel extract, while Arsicolo possessed the highest lycopene content, underlying the importance of local ecotypes as a precious source of health promoting compounds. However, out of all of the varieties considered, peel extract was the most active one, opening new insights on their valorization in light of the circular economy.

New Insights into the Exploitation of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Aglianico Leaf Extracts for Nutraceutical Purposes.

The leaves of Vitis vinifera L. have been used for a long time in traditional medicine for the treatment of many ailments. Grape polyphenols, indeed, have been demonstrated to be able to defend against oxidative stress, responsible for various disorders such as cancer, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases. The effects of different extraction techniques, Soxhlet (SOX), Accelerated Solvent (ASE 40, ASE 50) and Ultrasound Assisted Extraction (UAE) were studied in this work to evaluate their impact on the chemical profile and bioactive potential of Vitis vinifera L. (cv. Aglianico) leaf extracts. The phytochemical profile was investigated by HPLC-DAD and 9 phenolic compounds were identified and quantified in the extract. Moreover, the antioxidant, anticholinesterase and antityrosinase activities were evaluated. In detail, the total polyphenol content and antioxidant activity (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacities and ß-Carotene Bleaching assays) were evaluated and compared to assess the Relative Antioxidant Capacity Index (RACI). To test the inhibitory activity of extracts towards cholinesterases, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibition assays were performed. SOX and ASE 50 have shown the highest value of RACI, 0.76 and 0.65, respectively. Regarding enzymatic inhibitory activity, ASE 50 (IC50 = 107.16 ± 8.12 µg/mL) and SOX (IC50 = 171.34 ± 12.12 µg/mL) extracts exhibited the highest AChE and BChE inhibitory activity, respectively, while UAE (IC50 = 293.2 ± 25.6 µg/mL, followed by SOX (IC50 = 302.5 ± 38.3 µg/mL) showed the highest tyrosinase inhibition value. Our results demonstrated for the first time that Aglianico leaves are important sources of phenols that could be used to prevent oxidative stress and be potentially helpful in diseases treatable with tyrosinase and cholinesterase inhibitors, like myasthenia gravis or Alzheimer's.