Downstream green processes for recovery of bioactives from algae

Nowadays, macro- and microalgae are being increasingly used as promising raw materials for the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries, thanks to their biodiversity and its variety on valuable bioactive compounds such as carbohydrates, polyunsaturated lipids, proteins and pigments, among others. Furthermore, more efficient and environmentally friendly processes for bioactives’ recovery are requested not only by the industry but also by the society. This chapter presents an overview on the use of downstream green processes, mainly based on compressed fluids extraction techniques, in order to recover bioactives from algae that can be lately used in several potential applications for the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, which is the pillar of algae-based biorefinery.Peer reviewe

Reduced Cancer Incidence in Huntington's Disease: Analysis in the Registry Study

Background: People with Huntington's disease (HD) have been observed to have lower rates of cancers. Objective: To investigate the relationship between age of onset of HD, CAG repeat length, and cancer diagnosis. Methods: Data were obtained from the European Huntington's disease network REGISTRY study for 6540 subjects. Population cancer incidence was ascertained from the GLOBOCAN database to obtain standardised incidence ratios of cancers in the REGISTRY subjects. Results: 173/6528 HD REGISTRY subjects had had a cancer diagnosis. The age-standardised incidence rate of all cancers in the REGISTRY HD population was 0.26 (CI 0.22-0.30). Individual cancers showed a lower age-standardised incidence rate compared with the control population with prostate and colorectal cancers showing the lowest rates. There was no effect of CAG length on the likelihood of cancer, but a cancer diagnosis within the last year was associated with a greatly increased rate of HD onset (Hazard Ratio 18.94, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Cancer is less common than expected in the HD population, confirming previous reports. However, this does not appear to be related to CAG length in HTT. A recent diagnosis of cancer increases the risk of HD onset at any age, likely due to increased investigation following a cancer diagnosis