Inula helenium: A literature review on ethnomedical uses, bioactive compounds and pharmacological activities

Dynamic growth of antimicrobial and anthelmintic resistance throughout the years has caused increased interest in natural alternatives to synthetic drugs. Elecampane (Inula helenium L.), a widely distributed herbaceous plant, is one of the most researched and well-known member of the genus Inula, family Compositae. I. helenium has been included in the Chinese Pharmacopeia, Russian Pharmacopeia and Pharmacopeias of some European countries. This review is an up-to-date summary of the existing knowledge on Inula helenium’s ethnomedicinal uses, secondary metabolites and pharmacological activities. Initially used in the treatment of respiratory and digestive diseases in both humans and animals, the roots of elecampane have been also proven to possess a cytotoxic and antiproliferative effect on cancer cell lines, as well as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal and anthelmintic activities. The main bioactive compounds isolated from elecampane roots known to be responsible for their pharmacological activities are inulin, sesquiterpene lactones such as alantolactone and isoalantolactone, thymol derivatives, phenolic acids and flavonoids. This review suggests that I. helenium’s secondary metabolites have a strong therapeutic potential. However, further in vitro and in vivo studies of isolated I. helenium bioactive compounds are required in order to understand their mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics and potential adverse effects

Hematopoiesis: a Brief Overview

Hematopoiesis represents the continuous process of formation of all the blood cells, that occurs throughout life, starting from the hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs).  Multiple studies have proved that this process is structured in two stages, the primitive wave and the definitive one, resulting in the production of all blood cell types: erythrocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, monocytes, lymphocytes and platelets. The objective of this Review is to present the general aspects of this process for a better understanding, including the molecules that influence lineage-specific differentiation, hematopoiesis being one of the most important elements in maintaining one’s body homeostasis. This Review describes hematopoiesis, from the beginning, starting with HSCs, throughout fetal development and adult life, including the niches of formation and maturation of hematopoietic stem cells and the factors that influence all the proliferation and differentiation processes. The niches of formation represent local microenvironments of bone marrow tissue which participate in the maintenance, functioning and quiescence of hematopoietic stem cells. The factors that control all the processes of proliferation and differentiation are represented by transcription factors, physical cell-cell interactions and cytokines; they are either produced locally, in the bone marrow, or they can be transported to this, through the blood, being produced elsewhere.  The study of hematopoiesis, stem cell plasticity and control mechanisms, offers the opening for interesting approaches for the investigation and treatment of various malignant, inflammatory, and degenerative pathological processes

Comparative ionogram assessment before and after probiotic treatment for healthy dogs and dogs with apparent dysbiosis

Probiotics are considered live formulas composed by microorganisms that, when administered in appropriate amounts, produce a beneficial effect to the host. The effect of probiotics is present both in the gastrointestinal tract and systemically. For this reason, a noteworthy aspect is the impact that these formulas have on commonly systemic investigated parameters. Of these, the main ions are dosed in order to clarify various aspects, being used as a marker in various pathologies. The aim of the present study was to make a comparison between the values of the main ions (calcium, phosphorus, potassium and sodium) obtained before and after a 30-day probiotic treatment. The study population was represented by two groups of dogs: group 1- healthy dogs (n = 5) and group 2- dogs with apparent dysbiosis (n = 6). The treatment was performed with a probiotic product consisting of Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis and Pediococcus acidilactici, for 30 days. The analyzed samples were blood serum samples obtained by centrifugation and separation from blood samples collected on anticoagulant on day 0 and day 31 of the study, respectively. Analyzes were performed by dry biochemistry methods using the VetScan biochemistry analyzer. The results obtained by ionograms suggest that probiotic treatment does not have a direct influence on the values of the main ions, neither in the group of healthy dogs nor in the group of dogs with apparent dysbiosis. Variations in ion values were considered physiological, and could not be directly attributed to the treatment performed. In conclusion, the probiotic composed of B. subtilis, B. licheniformis and P. acidilactici does not directly influence the values of the main ions, and can be considered safe for administration in both healthy dogs and dogs with gastrointestinal manifestations

The influence of a probiotic product with Bacillus subtilis and Pediococcus acidilactici on some hematological and clinical parameters of healthy dogs

The study was conducted at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Cluj-Napoca (Romania) in the animal physiology department, between May 2018 and June 2019. The aim of the study was to assess the influence of a probiotic product with Bacillus subtilis and Pediococcus acidilactici on healthy dogs. The probiotic was administered orally once a day to six healthy adult dogs from 1 year to 7 years old for a period of 30 days. The dogs entering the study were submitted to a general clinical examination. At day 1 and day 31/36 of the study, blood samples was collected and haematological parameters were evaluated. The objectives of the research were multiple. First of all, we observed whether the probiotic influenced the general health of the dogs and changes in clinical parameters. Then, the dynamics of the haematological parameters was identified. The in vivo study showed the safety of the probiotic product on healthy dogs and the minimal impact on hematologic parameters. In fact, no adverse reactions were observed

Impact on the growth parameters and microbial populations of probiotics and prebiotics on rabbits raised in the household system

The investigations and laboratory determinations were performed within the disciplines of Nutrition and Microbiology of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca. The breeding of rabbits and the collection of samples took place in the own household from Sărata locality, Bistrița-Năsăud county. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the impact of the use of probiotics and prebiotics in feeding rabbits raised in the household system. For this experiment, 12 rabbits, common breed, 55 days old, raised in the household system were used. The basic feed ration was a commercial concentrated, ground feed in which the probiotic (Enteroferm® 35G), 0.15 g / kg feed, containing cultures of Enterococcus faecium, the prebiotic (Inulin FOS, ZENYTH), were incorporated, 25 g / kg fodder, powder obtained from chicory root (Cichorium intybus), which contains polysaccharides with a prebiotic role (inulin and fructooligosaccharide - FOS) and a synbiotic (mixture of the two), in the same doses. There were 4 groups of 3 individuals as follows: group number 1, control, group number 2, probiotic, group number 3, prebiotic and group number 4, synbiotic. In addition to the concentrated feed, good quality natural hay and water were added, both the feed and the water were administered ad libitum. In order to achieve the proposed goal, the amount of feed consumed by each group and the weight of each rabbit were determined weekly for 8 weeks. Based on these data, the final average weight of each group, the total feed consumption of each group, the weekly weight increase for each group, the average weekly and final feed conversion rate were calculated. Samples were also collected from the rectum, before and after treatment with probiotics and prebiotics, to determine their impact on the composition of the bacterial flora at this level. The determinations performed yielded clearly superior results in favor of the experimental groups compared to the control group, highlighting group 2, consisting of rabbits treated with probiotics

CMB-S4: Forecasting Constraints on Primordial Gravitational Waves

CMB-S4---the next-generation ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment---is set to significantly advance the sensitivity of CMB measurements and enhance our understanding of the origin and evolution of the Universe, from the highest energies at the dawn of time through the growth of structure to the present day. Among the science cases pursued with CMB-S4, the quest for detecting primordial gravitational waves is a central driver of the experimental design. This work details the development of a forecasting framework that includes a power-spectrum-based semi-analytic projection tool, targeted explicitly towards optimizing constraints on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r$, in the presence of Galactic foregrounds and gravitational lensing of the CMB. This framework is unique in its direct use of information from the achieved performance of current Stage 2--3 CMB experiments to robustly forecast the science reach of upcoming CMB-polarization endeavors. The methodology allows for rapid iteration over experimental configurations and offers a flexible way to optimize the design of future experiments given a desired scientific goal. To form a closed-loop process, we couple this semi-analytic tool with map-based validation studies, which allow for the injection of additional complexity and verification of our forecasts with several independent analysis methods. We document multiple rounds of forecasts for CMB-S4 using this process and the resulting establishment of the current reference design of the primordial gravitational-wave component of the Stage-4 experiment, optimized to achieve our science goals of detecting primordial gravitational waves for $r > 0.003$ at greater than $5\sigma$, or, in the absence of a detection, of reaching an upper limit of $r < 0.001$ at $95\%$ CL.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, 9 tables, submitted to ApJ. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1907.0447