Selenized Chickpea Sprouts Hydrolysates as a Potential Anti-Aging Ingredient.

Skin aging represents a health and aesthetic problem that could result in infections and skin diseases. Bioactive peptides can potentially be used in skin aging regulation. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) selenoproteins were obtained from germination with 2 mg Na2SeO3/100 g of seeds for 2 days. Alcalase, pepsin, and trypsin were used as hydrolyzers, and a membrane < 10 kDa was used to fractionate the hydrolysate. Se content, antioxidant capacity, elastase and collagen inhibition, functional stability, and preventative capacity were analyzed. Significant increases in Se content were found in germinated chickpea flour and protein related to the control. An increase of 38% in protein was observed in the selenized flour related to the control. A band (600-550 cm-1) observed in the selenized hydrolysates suggested the insertion of Se into the protein. Hydrolysates from pepsin and trypsin had the highest antioxidant potential. Se enhanced the stability of total protein and protein hydrolysates through time and increased their antioxidant capacity. Hydrolysates > 10 kDa had higher elastase and collagenase inhibition than the total protein and hydrolysates < 10 kDa. Protein hydrolysates < 10 kDa 6 h before UVA radiation had the highest inhibition of collagen degradation. Selenized protein hydrolysates showed promising antioxidant effects that could be related to skin anti-aging effects.

[Behavior of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in pregnant adolescents and its persistence after an obstetric event]. / Comportamiento de la neoplasia intraepitelial cervical (NIC) en la adolescente embarazada y su persistencia posterior al evento obstétrico.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the behavior of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in pregnant adolescents and the persistence before the delivery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study including 47 pregnant adolescents with NIC-positive results diagnosed by colposcopy during pregnancy with subsequent evaluation before the delivery. Nonrandom sampling of consecutive cases. Descriptive statistics with central and dispersal measures. RESULTS: In total, 156 pregnant adolescents were studied, of which 30% (n = 47) had positive results to NIC with subsequent evaluation. Ages 18 ± 1.5 years, primiparous 77%, sexual activity initiation 15.6 ± 1.6 years old, sexual partners 1 (1-6), smoking and alcoholism 21%. At the beginning of pregnancy, 98% had NIC I results and 2% had NIC II by colposcopy. After delivery, 13% had normal results and 87% remained in NIC I. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that in pregnant adolescents there exists a natural dysplasia history as in pregnant women. Most of the lesions are NIC I and don't modify the evolution, with some regressing after the delivery.

Challenges and Strategies for Topical and Transdermal Delivery of Bioactive Peptides.

Bioactive peptides have gained the attention and interest of researchers and the industry for their therapeutic effects and high specificity, thus reducing the risks of side effects and making them an attractive alternatives in developing new biopharmaceuticals or cosmeceuticals. Nevertheless, their incorporation into formulations and administration presents challenges such as low stability under different storage conditions and gastrointestinal degradation after oral delivery. Likewise, the parenteral route is an invasive method that is painful and therefore reduces patient compliance. Topical delivery of bioactive peptides is a painless noninvasive alternative to reduce peptide degradation, exert local effects in the applied area, and improve patient compliance. In this review, we discuss the physicochemical properties of peptides and the mechanisms involved in their degradation. In addition, the most important aspects of skin structure and skin permeation routes, and the requirements for topical and transdermal drug delivery are also discussed in this article. Finally, nanocarrier development advances for the topical delivery of peptides (water-in-oil-in-water emulsions, microemulsions, nanoparticles, solid lipid nanoparticles, liposomes, niosomes, and microneedles) and other strategies, such as metal complexation, cell-penetrating peptides, and synthetic modification, are also reviewed. All these topics consider the perspective of their effect to improve skin permeability to peptides and their stability over time during storage.

Green synthesis of starch-capped Cu2O nanocubes and their application in the direct electrochemical detection of glucose.

Glucose determination is an essential procedure in different fields, used in clinical analysis for the prevention and monitoring of diabetes. In this work, modified carbon paste electrodes with Cu2O nanocubes (Cu2O NCs) were developed to test electrochemical glucose detection. The synthesis of the Cu2O NCs was achieved by a green method using starch as the capping agent, obtaining cubic-like morphologies and particle sizes from 227 to 123 nm with increasing amounts of the capping agent, as corroborated by electron microscopy analysis. Their crystalline structure and purity were determined by X-ray diffraction. The capability of starch as a capping agent was verified by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, in which the presence of functional groups of this biopolymer in the Cu2O NCs were identified. The electrochemical response to glucose oxidation was determined by cyclic voltammetry, obtaining a linear response of the electrical current as a function of glucose concentration in the range 100-700 µM, with sensitivities from 85.6 to 238.8 µA mM-1 cm-2, depending on the amount of starch used in the synthesis of the Cu2O NCs.