Spotlight on Adenovirus-based vaccines and rare thrombotic events

[no abstract available

Commentary: Heart Fat Infiltration in Subjects With and Without Coronary Artery Disease

A commentary on Heart Fat Infiltration In Subjects With and Without Coronary Artery Disease by Mazzali G, Fantin F, Zoico E, Sepe A, Bambace C, Faccioli S, et al. J Clin Endocrinol Metab (2015) 100(9):3364\u201371. doi:10.1210/jc.2015-178

Oxidative Stress, Nutrition and Cancer: Friends or Foes?

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Quercetin in Cancer Prevention and Therapy

Quercetin is a plant-derived flavonoid known to possess anti-inflammatory property, but its use as a chemopreventive substance has been reviewed quite recently. A number of reports have assessed the pro-apoptotic action of quercetin in cancer cells, which contributes to the chemopreventive action of food, similar to many other flavonoids. Quercetin is a forthright inhibitor of PI3K, NF-B, and other kinases involved in intracellular signaling. However, a possible selective intracellular target for quercetin has still not been focused on. The challenge is to highlight an eligible target in order to address possible natural compounds, either in food extracts or as pharmaceuticals, as real drugs against cancer

Gelsemine and Gelsemium sempervirens L. Extracts in Animal Behavioral Test: Comments and Related Biases

[no abstract available

PERM Hypothesis: the fundamental machinery able to elucidate the role of xenobiotics and hormesis in cell survival and homeostasis

In this article the Proteasome, Endoplasmic Reticulum and Mitochondria (PERM) hypothesis is discussed. The complex machinery made by three homeostatic mechanisms involving the proteasome (P), endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria (M) is addressed in order to elucidate the beneficial role of many xenobiotics, either trace metals or phytochemicals, which are spread in the human environment and in dietary habits, exerting their actions on the mechanisms underlying cell survival (apoptosis, cell cycle regulation, DNA repair and turnover, autophagy) and stress response. The "PERM hypothesis" suggests that xenobiotics can modulate this central signaling and the regulatory engine made fundamentally by the ER, mitochondria and proteasome, together with other ancillary components such as peroxisomes, by acting on the energetic balance, redox system and macromolecule turnover. In this context, reactive species and stressors are fundamentally signalling molecules that could act as negative-modulating signals if PERM-mediated control is offline, impaired or dysregulated, as occurs in metabolic syndrome, degenerative disorders, chronic inflammation and cancer. Calcium is an important oscillatory input of this regulation and, in this hypothesis, it might play a role in maintaining the correct rhythm of this PERM modulation, probably chaotic in its nature, and guiding cells to a more drastic decision, such as apoptosis. The commonest effort sustained by cells is to maintain their survival balance and the proterome has the fundamental task of supporting this mechanism. Mild stress is probably the main stimulus in this sense. Hormesis is therefore re-interpreted in the light of this hypothetical model and that experimental evidence arising from flavonoid and hormesis reasearch

Commentary: Sulfur Dioxide Contributes to the Cardiac and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Rats

Commen

Bias in Homeopathy: Technical Note

Homeopathy is fundamentally based on the assumption that a biological activity is borne by a chemical system made by a molecular solute within a solvent that is diluted and mechanically stressed an undefined number of times and then reaches a zero point where molecules disappear and the solvent is the only chemical species being left. With the exception of an author who recently stated "We have been working in this field for over 20 years [35], and are thus perfectly aware of the issues related to the "plausibility" of high-dilution pharmacology, particularly when using dilutions beyond Avogadro's constant", yet no evidence was reported to date about the real nature of homeopathic high dilutions

Bias and misleading concepts in an Arnica research study. Comments to improve experimental Homeopathy

Basic experimental models in Homeopathy are of major interest because they could get insightful data about the ability of high dilutions to work in a biological system. Due to the extreme difficulty in the highlighting any possible effect and trusting its reliability, methods should be particularly stringent and highly standardized. Confounders, handling process, pre-analytical errors, misleading statistics and misinterpretations may lead to experimental biases. This article tries to elucidate those factors causing bias, taking into account some recent reported evidence in the field