Benefits of fermented papaya in human health

Fermented foods have been used for several years all over the world, due to their unique nutritional characteristics and because fermentation promotes conservation and food security. More over, fermented foods and beverages have a strong impact on human gut microbiota. Papaya is the fruit of the Carica papaya plant, traditionally used as a medicinal fruit, but there are also references to the use of the fermented form of this fruit. The main purpose of this review is to provide an improved understanding of fermented papaya nutritional and health applications. A literature search was conducted in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases. Both in vitro and in vivo studies were included. According to the retrieved studies, fermented papaya has proven to be an excellent antioxidant and an excellent nutraceutical adjuvant in combined therapies against several diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, allergic reactions, anticancer activity, and anemias. Therefore, it is concluded that fermented papaya has many benefits for human health and can be used as prevention or aid in the treatment of various diseases.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Human dermal exposure to galaxolide from personal care products

Musks are synthetic fragrances applied on personal care and household products as fixatives, by retarding the release of other fragrances with higher volatility. Galaxolide is the most used polycyclic musk since the 90th decade, and it has been detected in several environmental and biological matrices, particularly in human tissues and fluids. For exposure assessment purposes, large-monitoring data need to be obtained and rapid but reliable analytical techniques are requested. The main objective of this study is to develop and validate a new and fast analytical methodology to quantify galaxolide in personal care products and to apply this method to real matrices like skin care products (creams and lotions), shower products (soap bar), hair care products (shampoo and hair conditioner) and oral care products (toothpaste), to evaluate the human dermal exposure risk. A dispersive solid-phase extraction is proposed, using QuEChERS methodology, followed by HPLC with fluorescence detection. Some extraction parameters were studied, like the ratio of sample/solvent amounts, the homogenization time, the salt addition effect and the used sorbents. The validation parameters of the developed method were the following: a linearity range of 0.005-1.002 mg kg⁻¹ sample, a limit of detection of 0.001 mg kg⁻¹ sample, repeatability between 0.7% and 11.3% (variation coefficient of six standard injections), an intermediate precision of 2.5% (variation coefficient of six independent analysis of the same sample), mean recoveries ranging from 65% (soap bar) to 95% (body cream) and 3% of global uncertainty in most of the working range. The time of analysis, including the extraction steps, is 60 min, allowing a throughput of 4 samples h⁻¹ . Galaxolide was detected in all of the seven analysed products in concentrations ranging from 0.04 ± 0.01 mg kg⁻¹ sample (toothpaste) to 280.78 ± 8.19 mg kg⁻¹ sample (perfumed body cream), which may correspond to a significant estimated daily human dermal exposure of 904 μg day⁻¹.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Screening of antioxidant effect of spontaneous and bioinoculated with gluconobacter oxydans fermented papaya: a comparative study

Fermented papaya is recognized as a nutraceutical with a diverse and rich composition. Fermentation of fruit with desirable microorganisms could be a strategy to improve the nutritional quality and profile of the fruit. Despite the popularity of fermented papaya, there is still a lack of knowledge on the effects of various fermentation parameters. The goal of this study was to screen the antioxidant and other properties of the products obtained through a variety of fermentation experiments, as well as the impact of adding Gluconobacter oxydans on their physicochemical properties. The strategies used to produce the fermented papaya extracts were spontaneous fermentation and bioinoculation with G. oxydans. Different fermentation tests were performed to measure pH, total soluble solids, reducing sugars, sodium pyruvate content, total phenolic content (TPC), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). There was a decrease in TPC during spontaneous fer mentations (five assays). However, it can be observed that in the fermentation assays with G. ox ydans, there was an increase in TPC and antioxidant properties. The highest content of TPC was observed on the eighth day of P7 (260.18 ± 0.02 µg gallic acid equivalents· mL−1) which was fer mented with the bacteria and supplemented with glucose. Therefore, phenolic compounds in fer mented papaya were found to increase antioxidant capacity as a result of bioinoculation with G. oxydans.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Notas sobre do maciço de Sines: uma reinterpretação de dados geofísicos para avaliação do potencial armazenamento de CO2 por carbonatação mineral

ABSTRACT: The InCarbon project aims to evaluate the potential for storage of captured CO2 using in-situ mineral carbonation in mafic and ultramafic plutonic rocks in Alentejo, Portugal. The Sines massif appears to be the most promising massif for mineral carbonation and its geochemistry, petrography, mineralogy, volume and extension are characterized. Its offshore volume and extension are evaluated through reinterpretation of previous geophysical data which confirms the occurrence of two well defined magnetic anomalies. The Sines magnetic anomaly is directly related with the outcropping area of the Sines massif to the continental shelf; three-dimensional modelling (3D) of apparent magnetic susceptibility correlates with a volume of 217 km3.The offshore magnetic anomaly presents an estimated volume of 226 km3 and is located about 10 km from the Sines anomaly to the Southwest. If both anomalies result from a single igneous body, the area of the Sines massif could as be large as 300 km2. However, the possibility of these that those two anomalies correspond distinct mafic igneous structures in the continental shelf cannot be discarded and should be further investigated.RESUMO: O projeto InCarbon pretende avaliar o potencial para a carbonatação mineral in-situ das rochas plutónicas máficas e ultramáficas no Alentejo para o armazenamento de CO2. O maciço de Sines parece ser o maciço mais promissor para carbonatação mineral no Alentejo e é caracterizado do ponto de vista geoquímico, petrográfico, mineralógico, bem assim como do ponto de vista do seu volume e extensão. A avaliação do volume e da extensão na área offshore foi efetuada reinterpretando dados geofísicos existentes os quais confirmam a ocorrência de duas anomalias magnéticas bem definidas. A anomalia magnética de Sines (sobre o continente) está diretamente relacionada com prolongamento do maciço de Sines para a plataforma continental. Com base em modelação tridimensional (3D) da suscetibilidade magnética aparente foi obtido um volume de 217 km3. A anomalia magnética offshore, localizada na plataforma continental, apresenta um volume estimado de 226 km3 e está localizada a cerca de 10 km a sudoeste da anomalia de Sines. Se ambas as anomalias estiverem relacionadas com um mesmo corpo ígneo, então a extensão do maciço de Sines poderá atingir uma área de 300 km2. No entanto, a possibilidade dessas duas anomalias corresponderem a estruturas máficas distintas não pode ser descartada e deve ser investigada.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fisetin derivatives exhibit enhanced anti-inflammatory activity and modulation of endoplasmic reticulum stress

Fisetin (FST) is a dietary flavonol that is known to possess multiple relevant bioactivities, raising the question of its potential health benefits and even its use in novel pharmacological approaches. To attain this prospect, some limitations to this molecule, namely its poor bioavailability and solubility, must be addressed. Inflammation and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress are often hand in hand in the context of chronic disease. Both are activated upon perceived disturbances in homeostasis but can be deleterious when intensely or chronically activated. We have synthesized a set of FST derivatives trying to improve the biological properties of the parent molecule. These new molecules were tested along with the original compound for their ability to mitigate the activation of these signaling pathways. FST has proven to be effective against the onset of inflammation, reducing NF-κB activation, cytokine release, inflammasome activation and ROS generation, as well as decreasing the activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR). Some of the tested derivatives are also described as new caspase-1 inhibitors, being also capable of reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines and ER stress markers.(undefined

Preparation and biological evaluation of ethionamide-mesoporous silicon nanoparticles against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Ethionamide (ETH) is an important second-line antituberculosis drug used for the treatment of patients infected with multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Recently, we reported that the loading of ETH into thermally carbonized-porous silicon (TCPSi) nanoparticles enhanced the solubility and permeability of ETH at different pH-values and also increased its metabolization process. Based on these results, we synthesized carboxylic acid functionalized thermally hydrocarbonized porous silicon nanoparticles (UnTHCPSi NPs) conjugated with ETH and its antimicrobial effect was evaluated against Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv. The activity of the conjugate was increased when compared to free-ETH, which suggests that the nature of the synergy between the NPs and ETH is likely due to the weakening of the bacterial cell wall that improves conjugate-penetration. These ETH-conjugated NPs have great potential in reducing dosing frequency of ETH in the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) and FEDER (European Union) for funding through UID/MULTI/04378/2013, project grant IF/00092/2014 and IF2014 position. Thanks are also due to “Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Norte (CCDR-N)/NORTE2020/Portugal 2020” for funding through project DESignBIOtechHealth (ref. Norte-01-0145-FEDER-000024). H.A.S. acknowledges financial support from the Academy of Finland (decision nos. 252215 and 281300), the University of Helsinki Research Funds, the Biocentrum Helsinki, and the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007–2013, Grant No. 310892). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the FCT or CCDR-Ninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Patients and health professional's perspective of functional mobility in Parkinson's Disease

Copyright © 2020 Bouça-Machado, Gonçalves, Lousada, Patriarca, Costa, Nunes, Dias, Caldas, Valadas, Lobo, Guedes, Rosa, Coelho and Ferreira. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.Background: Functional mobility (FM) is the person's ability to move to accomplish daily living tasks and activities. FM limitations are common in Parkinson's disease, increase with disease progression, and can be highly disabling. Although several studies in Parkinson's disease (PD) field use this concept, only recently, a formal definition has been proposed. Objective: We aimed to explore patient's and health professional's perspectives of FM in PD. Methods: A focus group methodology has been used. Four focus groups, with a total of 10 patients and 10 health professionals, were performed. Six patients were early stage and four advanced stage. The health professional's group was composed of five neurologists and five physiotherapists. The suitability of the new concept, the impact of FM limitations in PD patient's daily routine, and the potential benefit of walking aids have been discussed. Results: All participants were able to provide a spontaneous definition of FM, matching with the proposed concept. All agreed that PD affects patient's FM, increasing the limitations with disease progression, and with the existence of a serious prejudice with walking aids that hinders its use. Early-stage patient's perspective seems to be more in line with neurologist's perspective, while the views of advanced-stage patients were closer to physiotherapist's views. Conclusion: FM concept was considered as intuitive and useful. FM limitations have an important physical and social impact in the advanced stage of the disease. Although patients and health professionals acknowledge walking aid's benefit improving patient's FM, the prejudice associated with this type of tools limits its recommendation and use.The authors would like to thank to the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) (SFRH/BD/120773/2016 to RB-M).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

CD81 promotes a migratory phenotype in neuronal-like cells

Tetraspanins, such as CD81, can form lateral associations with each other and with other transmembrane proteins. These interactions may underlie CD81 functions in multiple cellular processes, such as adhesion, morphology, migration, and differentiation. Since CD81's role in neuronal cells' migration has not been established, we here evaluated effects of CD81 on the migratory phenotype of SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. CD81 was found enriched at SH-SY5Y cell's membrane, co-localizing with its interactor filamentous-actin (F-actin) in migratory relevant structures of the leading edge (filopodia, stress fibers, and adhesion sites). CD81 overexpression increased the number of cells with a migratory phenotype, in a potentially phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)-Ak strain transforming (AKT) mediated manner. Indeed, CD81 also co-localized with AKT, a CD81-interactor and actin remodeling agent, at the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane. Pharmacologic inhibition of PI3K, the canonical AKT activator, led both to a decrease in the acquisition of a migratory phenotype and to a redistribution of intracellular CD81 and F-actin into cytoplasmic agglomerates. These findings suggest that in neuronal-like cells CD81 bridges active AKT and actin, promoting the actin remodeling that leads to a motile cell morphology. Further studies on this CD81-mediated mechanism will improve our knowledge on important physiological and pathological processes such as cell migration and differentiation, and tumor metastasis.This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portuguese Ministry of Science and Technology), Centro 2020 and Portugal2020, the COMPETE program, QREN, and the European Union (FEDER program) via the Institute for Biomedicine iBiMED UID/BIM/ 04501/2013, fellowship SFRH/BD/90996/2012, project PTDC/CVT-CVT/ 32261/2017, and the support of the LiM facility of iBiMED, a member of the Portuguese Platform of BioImaging (PPBI- POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022122).publishe

Healing activity induced by glucose/mannose lectins in mice

This work aimed the use of glucose/mannose lectins (Cramoll, EmaL and Con A) in the treatment of cutaneous wounds in mice.Surgical wounds were treated daily with the lectins and parameters such as edema, hyperemia, scab, granulation and scar tissues as well as contraction of wounds were analyzed. The lectin wounds showed higher edema and arrival of more polimorphonuclear cells at the site of lesions when compared with control group (0.15 M NaCl). Granulation tissue and collagen fiber deposition were observed with higher intensity in all lectin treated wounds promoting excellent closing and repair of lesions in less time than other groups. Results showed that Cramoll was more effective in the repair of experimental lesions in mice;however, the glucose/mannose lectins can be used as future cicatricial compounds

All-in-one microfluidic assembly of insulin-loaded pH-responsive nano-in-microparticles for oral insulin delivery

Here, a continuous two-step glass-capillary microfluidic technique to produce a multistage oral delivery system is reported. Insulin is successfully encapsulated into liposomes, which are coated with chitosan to improve their mucoadhesion. The encapsulation in an enteric polymer offers protection from the harsh gastric conditions. Insulin permeability is enhanced across an intestinal monolayer.Peer reviewe