Traditional and Current Food Use of Wild Plants Listed in the Russian Pharmacopoeia

Historically Russia can be regarded as a “herbophilious” society. For centuries the multinational population of Russia has used plants in daily diet and for self-medication. The specificity of dietary uptake of medicinal plants (especially those in the unique and highly developed Russian herbal medical tradition) has remained mostly unknown in other regions. Based on 11th edition of the State Pharmacopoeia of the USSR, we selected 70 wild plant species which have been used in food by local Russian populations. Empirical searches were conducted via the Russian-wide applied online database E-library.ru, library catalogs of public libraries in St-Petersburg, the databases Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and search engine Google Scholar. The large majority of species included in Russian Pharmacopoeia are used as food by local population, however, aerial parts are more widely used for food. In this review, we summarize data on medicinal species published in Russia and other countries that are included in the Russian Pharmacopoeia and have being used in food for a long time. Consequently, the Russian Pharmacopoeia is an important source of information on plant species used traditionally at the interface of food and medicine. At the same time, there are the so-called “functional foods”, which denotes foods that not only serves to provide nutrition but also can be a source for prevention and cure of various diseases. This review highlights the potential of wild species of Russia monographed in its pharmacopeia for further developing new functional foods and—through the lens of their incorporation into the pharmacopeia—showcases the species' importance in Russia

Process optimization for advanced high conductivity-high strength materials

On the basis of investigations carried out earlier, two types of high strength-high conductivity Cu-Nb wires have been designed and appropriate manufacturing processes have been proposed and experimentally approved. Long length conductors with rectangular cross sections 4 x 6 mm{sup 2} and 2 x 3 mm{sup 2} have been fabricated by the in situ process and by the bundle and deform process, which eliminates the operation of melting, accordingly. Investigation on the microstructure of both types of the fabricated wires has been conducted. Mechanical properties and electrical conductivity parameters have been measured also

Variation of arbutin content in Bergenia sp. leaves

The common garden perennial, Bergenia, should be utilized as a special new crop for raw material production in the cosmetic industry, producing arbutin. Under open field and full sun conditions, the arbutin contents of Bergenia leaves have not changed significantly

The man, the plant, and the insect: shooting host specificity determinants in Serratia marcescens pangenome

IntroductionSerratia marcescens is most commonly known as an opportunistic pathogen causing nosocomial infections. It, however, was shown to infect a wide range of hosts apart from vertebrates such as insects or plants as well, being either pathogenic or growth-promoting for the latter. Despite being extensively studied in terms of virulence mechanisms during human infections, there has been little evidence of which factors determine S. marcescens host specificity. On that account, we analyzed S. marcescens pangenome to reveal possible specificity factors.MethodsWe selected 73 high-quality genome assemblies of complete level and reconstructed the respective pangenome and reference phylogeny based on core genes alignment. To find an optimal pipeline, we tested current pangenomic tools and obtained several phylogenetic inferences. The pangenome was rich in its accessory component and was considered open according to the Heaps’ law. We then applied the pangenome-wide associating method (pan-GWAS) and predicted positively associated gene clusters attributed to three host groups, namely, humans, insects, and plants.ResultsAccording to the results, significant factors relating to human infections included transcriptional regulators, lipoproteins, ABC transporters, and membrane proteins. Host preference toward insects, in its turn, was associated with diverse enzymes, such as hydrolases, isochorismatase, and N-acetyltransferase with the latter possibly exerting a neurotoxic effect. Finally, plant infection may be conducted through type VI secretion systems and modulation of plant cell wall synthesis. Interestingly, factors associated with plants also included putative growth-promoting proteins like enzymes performing xenobiotic degradation and releasing ammonium irons. We also identified overrepresented functional annotations within the sets of specificity factors and found that their functional characteristics fell into separate clusters, thus, implying that host adaptation is represented by diverse functional pathways. Finally, we found that mobile genetic elements bore specificity determinants. In particular, prophages were mainly associated with factors related to humans, while genetic islands-with insects and plants, respectively.DiscussionIn summary, functional enrichments coupled with pangenomic inferences allowed us to hypothesize that the respective host preference is carried out through distinct molecular mechanisms of virulence. To the best of our knowledge, the presented research is the first to identify specific genomic features of S. marcescens assemblies isolated from different hosts at the pangenomic level

Development of the Multiplex Real-Time PCR for Marburg, Ebola, and Lassa Viruses Identification

Presented are the data on the development and approbation of the method of Marburg, Ebola, and Lassa viruses identification based on real-time multiplex PCR with hybridization-fluorescent detection. This method is meant for the differential diagnostics of hemorrhagic fevers caused by these viruses. Displayed are the results of determination of multiplex PCR analytical sensitivity and specific activity

Evolution of the adaptogenic concept from traditional use to medical systems: Pharmacology of stress- and aging-related diseases

Adaptogens comprise a category of herbal medicinal and nutritional products promoting adaptability, resilience, and survival of living organisms in stress. The aim of this review was to summarize the growing knowledge about common adaptogenic plants used in various traditional medical systems (TMS) and conventional medicine and to provide a modern rationale for their use in the treatment of stress-induced and aging-related disorders. Adaptogens have pharmacologically pleiotropic effects on the neuroendocrine-immune system, which explain their traditional use for the treatment of a wide range of conditions. They exhibit a biphasic dose-effect response: at low doses they function as mild stress-mimetics, which activate the adaptive stress-response signaling pathways to cope with severe stress. That is in line with their traditional use for preventing premature aging and to maintain good health and vitality. However, the potential of adaptogens remains poorly explored. Treatment of stress and aging-related diseases require novel approaches. Some combinations of adaptogenic plants provide unique effects due to their synergistic interactions in organisms not obtainable by any ingredient independently. Further progress in this field needs to focus on discovering new combinations of adaptogens based on traditional medical concepts. Robust and rigorous approaches including network pharmacology and systems pharmacology could help in analyzing potential synergistic effects and, more broadly, future uses of adaptogens. In conclusion, the evolution of the adaptogenic concept has led back to basics of TMS and a new level of understanding of holistic approach. It provides a rationale for their use in stress-induced and aging-related diseases

Studies of Sensitivity to Avian Flu Virus A/H5N1 in Chickens

) appear to be highly virulent for chickens. The chance of AFV infection of chickens in case of intranasal challenge is 20 times as great as in the case of peroral one, and 300 times as great as in the case of intragastral one, which bears evidence to higher sensitivity to AFV of the tissues of avian respiratory organs, in comparison with the tissues of gastro-intestinal tract. Therewith, primary target organ for virus in intranasal infected birds is their respiratory channel (mucous membrane of the nasal cavity in particular). Registered is the possibility of existence of fecal-nasal AFV transfer mechanism in chickens