Safety and toxicity evaluation of nutraceuticals in animal models.

Nutraceuticals are derived from various natural sources such as medicinal plants, marine organisms, vegetables, and fruits. Most of them possess antioxidant or anti-inflammatory properties and are claimed to provide protection against many diseases if taken regularly. At the same time, toxicological studies of nutraceuticals have been limited, so the safety of many of them cannot be guaranteed. Animals share many genetic, anatomical, and physiological similarities with humans, and they continue to be widely used in preclinical studies of drugs, in spite of a lack of their validity which is due to the great phenotypic differences. The absence of toxicity in animals provides little probability that adverse reactions will also be absent in humans. There are currently thousands of researchers involved in the development of alternatives to animal use in the life sciences. Statistical machine-learning tools, once developed, might become a powerful means to explain the complex physiological effects of nutraceuticals. The use of different models and algorithms can provide a more scientific basis for risk assessment of nutraceuticals for humans

The potato late blight pathogen Phytophthora infestans and other pathogenic oomycota

Potato late blight, caused by a member of the Oomycota, Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) De Bary, is one of the most important and devastating diseases of potato (Solanum tuberosum). The pathogen attacks both foliage and tubers, and spreads rapidly through host tissues, thereby causing a destructive necrosis. P. infestans is a hemibiotrophic pathogen with a rather narrow range of hosts, all of them members of the Solanaceae. The crop plants, potato and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), are the economically most important hosts. The first late blight epidemic in Europe in 1845 had disastrous effects on potato production. P. infestans spread over Europe within 1 year and was found in most potato-growing areas of the world soon thereafter. In Ireland the potato crop was destroyed in two successive years, leading to a famine. As a consequence, about one and a half million people died and another million emigrated, mainly to the United States. De Bary described the life cycle of the potato late blight pathogen and named it Phytophthora ("plant destroyer") infestans