Activity

In brief, condiment mixtures showed to be a good source of bioactive compounds, as they confer health benefits, validating the importance of their inclusion in the human diet as a good dietary practice.

Polydatin is a stilbenoid with important antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulating properties. The aim of this study was to assess the anti-inflammatory preventive effect of polydatin in the mouse model of acute arthritis induced by calcium pyrophosphate (CPP) crystals.

Acute arthritis was induced by the injection of a suspension of sterile CPP crystals into the ankle joint of Balb/c mice. Animals were randomized to receive polydatin or colchicine (the control drug) according to a prophylactic and a therapeutic protocol. The primary outcome was the variation of ankle swelling obtained after crystal injection and treatment, while histological parameters such as leukocyte infiltration, IL-1ß and CXCL1 levels and tissue expression were considered as secondary outcomes.

Prophylactic treatment with PD significantly diminished ankle swelling after 48 h from crystal injection. Secondary outcomes such as leukocyte infiltration, necrosis, edema, and synovitis were also decreased. PD caused a reduction in circulating levels of IL-1ß and CXCL1, as well as their tissue expression. By contrast, the therapeutic administration of PD did not have any beneficial effect.

PD can effectively prevent acute inflammatory response to crystals in the mouse model of CPP crystal-induced arthritis. These results suggest that this bioactive compound might be used in the prevention of crystal-induced acute attacks in humans.

PD can effectively prevent acute inflammatory response to crystals in the mouse model of CPP crystal-induced arthritis. These results suggest that this bioactive compound might be used in the prevention of crystal-induced acute attacks in humans.Plants continually monitor their innate developmental status and external environment and make adjustments to balance growth, differentiation and stress responses using a complex and highly interconnected regulatory network composed of various signaling molecules and regulatory proteins. Phytohormones are an essential group of signaling molecules that work through a variety of different pathways conferring plasticity to adapt to the everchanging developmental and environmental cues. Of these, jasmonic acid (JA), a lipid-derived molecule, plays an essential function in controlling many different plant developmental and stress responses. In the past decades, significant progress has been made in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie JA metabolism, perception, signal transduction and its crosstalk with other phytohormone signaling pathways. In this review, we discuss the JA signaling pathways starting from its biosynthesis to JA-responsive gene expression, highlighting recent advances made in defining the key transcription factors and transcriptional regulatory proteins involved. We also discuss the nature and degree of crosstalk between JA and other phytohormone signaling pathways, highlighting recent breakthroughs that broaden our knowledge of the molecular bases underlying JA-regulated processes during plant development and biotic stress responses.Customers in Taiwan prefer to purchase fresh foods and household supplies at indoor traditional wet markets (TWMs). The health risk to indoor TWM staff exposed to bioaerosols needs to be evaluated, since these workers spend long periods of time in the market for stall preparation, selling, and stall cleaning. This study investigated the bioaerosols present in two indoor TWMs. buy A-1210477 The results showed that the cleaning process at Market A after operations, involving the use of an agitated waterspout, was able to decrease the concentration of bacterial bioaerosols (BBs) by an average of 64%, while at the same time increasing the concentration of fungal bioaerosols (FBs) by about 2.4 fold. The chemical sanitization process at Market B after operations was able to bring about average decreases of 30.8% in BBs and 19.2% in FBs, but the endotoxin concentration increased. Hotspots were found to be associated with vendors of fresh, live poultry and fresh, raw meat/seafood. Pseudomonas spp. and Clostridiumperfringens, both of which can be pathogenic, were found to be the dominant species present in these markets, making up 35.18% to 48.74% and 9.64% to 11.72% of the bacteria present, respectively. Our results provide fundamental information on the distributions of bioaerosols and endotoxins within indoor TWMs both before and after operation.The antisense oligonucleotide nusinersen was the first drug treatment available for all types of 5q-spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The dosing regime has been derived from pivotal clinical trials in infants and children. The efficacy of nusinersen in severely affected adult SMA patients is still questionable, as no placebo-controlled trials have been conducted. In the present study, we systematically examined wearing-off phenomena during nusinersen maintenance dosing using a patient-centered approach. We found that adult SMA patients perceived wearing-off after nearly half of 51 investigated nusinersen administrations, primarily within the last month prior to the next administration. Symptoms and functions affected were mainly general strength and arm and leg muscle function next to endurance and independence in daily routine. Lack of walking ability and higher body mass index were characteristic phenotypic features in patients with consistent wearing-off effects. We assume that specific SMA phenotypes might benefit from higher dosing, shorter treatment intervals, change of treatment administration or a combination of all. Efforts towards treatment optimization may result in higher efficacy in distinct phenotypes.Negative psychological effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have been identified in adults and children, such as anxiety and sleep disorders. However, research about the impact of this pandemic on children from ethnical minorities is scarce. We tested the effects of COVID-19 outbreak on psychological aspects and daily routines among Arab Israeli Children. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among Arab Israeli parents, including behavioral and emotional aspects questionnaire and questions addressing using of screens, sleep, and physical activities. The results showed that, during the COVID-19 outbreak, 55.8% of the children asked to sleep in their parents’ bed and 45% expressed fears they did not have before. Most of the children showed increased irritability, constant mood swings and nervousness about limits and messages, and 41.4% showed sleep difficulties. Concerning adaptive behaviors, more than 50% of the parents reported that their child became wiser, lazier, and was able to adapt the limits and restriction of the COVID-19 outbreak.