Technological Forecasting of Traditional Knowledge Associated with Babassu

Babassu is a native palm tree from Brazil traditionally used by Indigenous Peoples (IP) and Traditional Communities (TC), in order to produce medicines applied in different treatments. Some of these medicinal applications have been scientifically analyzed in order to prove their pharmacological potentialities and have also been an object of interest for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights. The objective of this work was to carry out the technological forecasting of traditional knowledge associated with babassu related to the treatments applied by traditional medicine and to analyze the indicators connected with to the protection of Intellectual Property Rights. Initially, we conducted a survey of ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological studies, presenting applications of babassu performed by traditional medicine. Subsequently, we presented a literature review, focused on analyzing the effects of babassu according to the practices of traditional medicine. Finally, we analyzed the records of filed patents made in World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), European Patent Office (EPO) and Latin American Base of the European Patent Office (LATIPAT) in relation to previously identified Traditional Knowledge Associated (TKA). There were different types of babassu applications used by traditional medicine, according to the results of the ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological studies carried out in Brazil. The applications that stood out were related to anti-inflammatory and cicatrizant treatments. Most of the pharmacological research that focused on proving the medicinal potential associated with the use of babassu, analyzed applications in anti-inflammatory and cicatrizant treatments, which mostly demonstrated these potentialities. It was verified that the interests for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights of the TKA with babassu, and the anti-inflammatory and cicatrizant treatments, presented a growth. This study contributes with positive evidence for the medicinal and cosmetic potentialities of babassu presented by traditional medicine. However, it also shows that holders of TKA have not been involved in the processes of protection of Intellectual Property Rights of inventions that apply TKA with babassu. In view of the related conflicts, it is suggested that TKA be valued in management and conservation practices

Inflammatory Reactions to Red Tattoo Inks: Three cases highlighting an emerging problem

In recent years, tattoos have become more commonplace. However, this can result in various inflammatory processes, the management of which can be challenging in daily clinical practice. Tattoo-related inflammatory reactions can comprise different patterns, including acute and immediate reactions, foreign body granulomas, sarcoid granulomas, isomorphic lesions, allergic contact dermatitis and photosensitivity. We report three cases who were referred to the Dermatology Outpatient Clinic of the Hospital Universitario San Cecilio, Granada, Spain, in 2017 with various skin reactions in the red-ink areas of their tattoos. Screening was performed for infectious diseases like atypical mycobacterial infections and systemic processes such as sarcoidosis. A good therapeutic response was achieved in all cases. An adequate differential diagnosis is essential for the therapeutic management of this emerging health problem. Keywords: Non-Therapeutic Body Modification; Tattooing, adverse effects; Inks; Foreign Body Reaction; Inflammation; Case Report; Spain

On the conservation of the slow conformational dynamics within the amino acid kinase family: NAGK the paradigm

N-Acetyl-L-Glutamate Kinase (NAGK) is the structural paradigm for examining the catalytic mechanisms and dynamics of amino acid kinase family members. Given that the slow conformational dynamics of the NAGK (at the microseconds time scale or slower) may be rate-limiting, it is of importance to assess the mechanisms of the most cooperative modes of motion intrinsically accessible to this enzyme. Here, we present the results from normal mode analysis using an elastic network model representation, which shows that the conformational mechanisms for substrate binding by NAGK strongly correlate with the intrinsic dynamics of the enzyme in the unbound form. We further analyzed the potential mechanisms of allosteric signalling within NAGK using a Markov model for network communication. Comparative analysis of the dynamics of family members strongly suggests that the low-frequency modes of motion and the associated intramolecular couplings that establish signal transduction are highly conserved among family members, in support of the paradigm sequence→structure→dynamics→function © 2010 Marcos et al

Changes in Dynamics upon Oligomerization Regulate Substrate Binding and Allostery in Amino Acid Kinase Family Members

Oligomerization is a functional requirement for many proteins. The interfacial interactions and the overall packing geometry of the individual monomers are viewed as important determinants of the thermodynamic stability and allosteric regulation of oligomers. The present study focuses on the role of the interfacial interactions and overall contact topology in the dynamic features acquired in the oligomeric state. To this aim, the collective dynamics of enzymes belonging to the amino acid kinase family both in dimeric and hexameric forms are examined by means of an elastic network model, and the softest collective motions (i.e., lowest frequency or global modes of motions) favored by the overall architecture are analyzed. Notably, the lowest-frequency modes accessible to the individual subunits in the absence of multimerization are conserved to a large extent in the oligomer, suggesting that the oligomer takes advantage of the intrinsic dynamics of the individual monomers. At the same time, oligomerization stiffens the interfacial regions of the monomers and confers new cooperative modes that exploit the rigid-body translational and rotational degrees of freedom of the intact monomers. The present study sheds light on the mechanism of cooperative inhibition of hexameric N-acetyl-L-glutamate kinase by arginine and on the allosteric regulation of UMP kinases. It also highlights the significance of the particular quaternary design in selectively determining the oligomer dynamics congruent with required ligand-binding and allosteric activities

Dietary inflammatory index and anthropometric measures of obesity in a population sample at high cardiovascular risk from the PREDIMED trial

The dietary inflammatory index (DII) is a new tool to assess the inflammatory potential of diet. We aimed to determine the association between the DII and body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and waist to height ratio (WHtR). We conducted a cross-sectional study of 7,236 participants recruited into the PREDIMED trial (PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea). Information from a validated 137-item food frequency questionnaire was used to calculate energy, foods and nutrients. A 14-item dietary screener was used to assess adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MeDiet). Sex-specific multivariable linear regression models were fitted to estimate differences (and 95% confidence intervals) in BMI, waist circumference and WHtR across quintiles of the DII. All nutrient intakes, healthy foods and adherence to the MeDiet were higher in the quintile with lowest DII score (more anti-inflammatory values) except for animal protein, saturated and monounsaturated fat. Though an inverse association between DII and total energy was apparent, the DII was associated with higher average BMI, waist circumference and WHtR after adjusting for known risk factors. The adjusted difference in WHtR for women and men between the highest and lowest quintile of DII was 1.60% (95% CI 0.87-2.33) and 1.04% (95% CI 0.35-1.74), respectively. Pro-inflammatory scores remained associated with obesity after controlling for the effect that adherence to a MeDiet had on inflammation. In conclusion, this study shows a direct association between the DII and indices of obesity and supports the hypothesis that diet may have a role in the development of obesity through inflammatory modulation mechanisms

Correlations between cutaneous malignant melanoma and other cancers: An ecological study in forty European countries

Background: The presence of noncutaneous neoplasms does not seem to increase the risk of cutaneous malignant melanoma; however, it seems to be associated with the development of other hematological, brain, breast, uterine, and prostatic neoplasms. An ecological transversal study was conducted to study the geographic association between cutaneous malignant melanoma and 24 localizations of cancer in forty European countries. Methods: Cancer incidence rates were extracted from GLOBOCAN database of the International Agency for Research on Cancer. We analyzed the age-adjusted and gender-stratified incidence rates for different localizations of cancer in forty European countries and calculated their correlation using Pearson′s correlation test. Results: In males, significant correlations were found between cutaneous malignant melanoma with testicular cancer (r = 0.83 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.68-0.89]), myeloma (r = 0.68 [95% CI: 0.46-0.81]), prostatic carcinoma (r = 0.66 [95% CI: 0.43-0.80]), and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) (r = 0.63 [95% CI: 0.39-0.78]). In females, significant correlations were found between cutaneous malignant melanoma with breast cancer (r = 0.80 [95% CI: 0.64-0.88]), colorectal cancer (r = 0.72 [95% CI: 0.52-0.83]), and NHL (r = 0.71 [95% CI: 0.50-0.83]). Conclusions: These correlations call to conduct new studies about the epidemiology of cancer in general and cutaneous malignant melanoma risk factors in particular

White starburst-like pattern as a dermoscopic clue in Old World cutaneous leishmaniasis.

A 70-year-old woman was referred to our dermatological unit by her general practitioner last summer, with a history of a two-month ulcerated purplish lesion on her left arm that spread centrifugally and that unsuccessfully treated with topical corticosteroids. The dermoscopic evaluation revealed an erythematous macula with central ulceration that showed the characteristic called "white starburst-like pattern" and some vascular structures (dotted vessels, polymorphous⁄ atypical vessels). The diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis was made after histopathologic analysis and polymerase chain reaction essay