miRNAs as Regulators of Antidiabetic Effects of Fucoidans

open access articleDiabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease with a high mortality rate worldwide. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), and other small noncoding RNAs, serve as endogenous gene regulators through binding to specific sequences in RNA and modifying gene expression toward up- or down-regulation. miRNAs have become compelling therapeutic targets and play crucial roles in regulating the process of insulin resistance. Fucoidan has shown potential function as an a-amylase inhibitor, which may be beneficial in the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus. In recent years, many studies on fucoidan focused on the decrease in blood glucose levels caused by ingesting low-glucose food or glucose-lowering components. However, the importance of miRNAs as regulators of antidiabetic effects was rarely recognized. Hence, this review emphasizes the antidiabetic mechanisms of fucoidan through regulation of miRNAs. Fucoidan exerts a vital antidiabetic effect by regulation of miRNA expression and thus provides a novel biological target for future research

Leveraging New Plans in AgentSpeak(PL)

Many papers have been written on the anticancer properties of dietary flavonoids, and a range of potential mechanisms of action of flavonoids. However, most dietary flavonoids - notably polyphenolic flavonoids—have very poor ADME properties, and the levels necessary to stop growth of tumour cells cannot be sustained in a human body trough dietary intake alone. At present no flavonoid based drugs are clinically used in cancer therapy. Thus, whereas epidemiological and pre-clinical data seem to indicate a high potential for flavonoids, from the point of view of the pharmaceutical industry and drug developers, they are considered poor candidates. The flavones—which constitute a subgroup of the flavonoids—show some structural analogy with oestrogen and are known to interact with human oestrogen receptors, either as agonist or as antagonist. They are classed as phytoestrogens, and may play a role in cancer prevention through a mechanism of action possibly similar to that of the clinically used medication tamoxifen. Flavones are abundantly present in common fruits and vegetables, many of which have been associated with cancer prevention. Their phytoestrogen activity makes that they can assert their biological action at concentrations that are realistically achievable in the human systemic circulation

Chemical properties of thymoquinone, a monoterpene isolated from the seeds of Nigella sativa Linn.

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Thymoquinone is the main ingredient of the essential oil extracted from the seeds of Nigella sativa L. (Ranunculaceae). The monoterpene is considered to be the active pharmaceutical ingredient in the seeds, which have traditionally been highly prized for their medicinal properties. The compound has been the focus of a considerable number of pharmacological investigations and has been reviewed regularly for its action against a variety of inflammatory diseases, its effect on metabolic syndrome, and its potential anticancer properties. While discussing the chemical and pharmacological properties of thymoquinone, recent reviews have reflected on the keto-enol tautomerism of thymoquinone. Specifically, thymoquinone is described as a tautomeric compound, where the keto-form is said to be the major configuration that is responsible for its pharmacological properties [1, 2]. In both reviews, reference is made to a 2005 review by Salem [3]. The latter review discusses a range of activities of thymoquinone, mainly on cell signalling and antioxidant (scavenging) molecular mediators involved in the process of inflammation. However, no mention is made in this review of keto- or enol forms of thymoquinone. Moreover, the chemical structure of thymoquinone does not allow keto-enol tautomerism

Developing Artemisia annua L. for the production of artemisinin to treat multi-drug resistant malaria

Sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua L.) is the commercial source of the sesquiterpene compound artemisinin – the key ingredient for several first-line antimalarial drugs. Currently artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is recommended for the treatment of P. falciparum malaria. Fast acting artemisinin-based compounds are combined with a drug from a different class. The benefits of ACTs are their high efficacy, fast action and the reduced likelihood of resistance developing. A. annua also produces several polymethoxyflavones which are currently not in clinical use, but show some interesting pharmacological properties. The plants are grown as a medicinal crop, and the leaves are harvested for artemisinin extraction. Several attempts have been made to create varieties of A. annua that yield increased amounts of artemisinin; the efforts range from classical breeding to biotechnological approaches to use of genetic modification of crops. In a parallel development, key genes of the artemisinin biosynthetic pathways have been expressed in yeast, though full biosynthesis of the compound through yeast fermentation has not yet been achieved. At present, plant crops remain the only commercial source of artemisinin. In addition to its immediate pharmaceutical applications, over-the-counter available herbal preparations of Artemisia annua are widely promoted on-line as health supplements to fight inflammation or, even more controversially, as prophylactic against malaria for travellers to tropical countries

Role of Naturally Occurring Anti-Inflammatory Steroid Analogues in the Prevention of Neurodegeneration

In collaboration with Hacettepe University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy, Sıhhiye, 06100, Ankara, TurkeyThe immune response contributes to human homeostasis by preparing the body to fight off infections and help the healing process in case harm has occurred. Inflammation is an important part of the immune response and is a tightly regulated process. Glucocorticoids are a key part of the feedback mechanism in the immune system, and tune immune activity (inflammation) down. Failing of this feedback mechanism results in chronic inflammation, which is at the basis of a variety of degenerative diseases. A wide range of natural products that have anti-inflammatory properties has been identified. These compounds are thought to contribute to the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases through alleviation of chronic inflammation. The natural products may act as analogues of the steroid hormones that normally regulate the human immune response. The compounds under consideration are triterpenes, phytosterols, and phytoestrogens - notably flavones and isoflavones - which are known to interact with sterol receptors in the human body, and are likely to directly interfere with the cell signalling pathways that lie at the base of the inflammation process

The protective effects of flavonoids and carotenoids against diabetic complications—A review of in vivo evidence

open access articleDiabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder caused either by inadequate insulin secretion, impaired insulin function, or both. Uncontrolled diabetes is characterized by hyperglycemia which over time leads to fatal damage to both macro-and microvascular systems, causing complications such as cardiovascular diseases, retinopathy and nephropathy. Diabetes management is conventionally delivered through modifications of diet and lifestyle and pharmacological treatment, using antidiabetic drugs, and ultimately insulin injections. However, the side effects and financial cost of medications often reduce patient compliance to treatment, negatively affecting their health outcomes. Natural phytochemicals from edible plants such as fruits and vegetables (F&V) and medicinal herbs have drawn a growing interest as potential therapeutic agents for treating diabetes and preventing the onset and progression of diabetic complications. Flavonoids, the most abundant polyphenols in the human diet, have shown antidiabetic effects in numerous in vitro and preclinical studies. The underlying mechanisms have been linked to their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities. Carotenoids, another major group of dietary phytochemicals, have also shown antidiabetic potential in recent in vitro and in vivo experimental models, possibly through a mechanism of action similar to that of flavonoids. However, scientific evidence on the efficacy of these phytochemicals in treating diabetes or preventing the onset and progression of its complications in clinical settings is scarce, which delays the translation of animal study evidence to human applications and also limits the knowledge on their modes of actions in diabetes management. This review is aimed to highlight the potential roles of flavonoids and carotenoids in preventing or ameliorating diabetes-related complications based on in vivo study evidence, i.e., an array of preclinical animal studies and human intervention trials. The current general consensus of the underlying mechanisms of action exerted by both groups of phytochemicals is that their anti-inflammatory action is key. However, other potential mechanisms of action are considered. In total, 50 in vivo studies were selected for a review after a comprehensive database search via PubMed and ScienceDirect from January 2002 to August 2022. The key words used for analysis are type-2 diabetes (T2DM), diabetic complications, flavonoids, carotenoids, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, mechanisms of prevention and amelioration, animal studies and human interventions

Spectral fingerprinting: microstate readout via remanence ferromagnetic resonance in artificial spin ice

Artificial spin ices (ASIs) are magnetic metamaterials comprising geometrically tiled strongly-interacting nanomagnets. There is significant interest in these systems spanning the fundamental physics of many-body systems to potential applications in neuromorphic computation, logic, and recently reconfigurable magnonics. Magnonics focused studies on ASI have to date have focused on the in-field GHz spin-wave response, convoluting effects from applied field, nanofabrication imperfections (‘quenched disorder’) and microstate-dependent dipolar field landscapes. Here, we investigate zero-field measurements of the spin-wave response and demonstrate its ability to provide a ‘spectral fingerprint’ of the system microstate. Removing applied field allows deconvolution of distinct contributions to reversal dynamics from the spin-wave spectra, directly measuring dipolar field strength and quenched disorder as well as net magnetisation. We demonstrate the efficacy and sensitivity of this approach by measuring ASI in three microstates with identical (zero) magnetisation, indistinguishable via magnetometry. The zero-field spin-wave response provides distinct spectral fingerprints of each state, allowing rapid, scaleable microstate readout. As artificial spin systems progress toward device implementation, zero-field functionality is crucial to minimize the power consumption associated with electromagnets. Several proposed hardware neuromorphic computation schemes hinge on leveraging dynamic measurement of ASI microstates to perform computation for which spectral fingerprinting provides a potential solution