A review of the pharmacological effects of Arctium lappa (burdock)

Abstract Arctium lappa, commonly known as burdock, is being promoted/recommended as a healthy and nutritive food in Chinese societies. Burdock has been used therapeutically in Europe, North America and Asia for hundreds of years. The roots, seeds and leaves of burdock have been investigated in view of its popular uses in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In this review, the reported therapeutic effects of the active compounds present in the different botanical parts of burdock are summarized. In the root, the active ingredients have been found to "detoxify" blood in terms of TCM and promote blood circulation to the skin surface, improving the skin quality/texture and curing skin diseases like eczema. Antioxidants and antidiabetic compounds have also been found in the root. In the seeds, some active compounds possess anti-inflammatory effects and potent inhibitory effects on the growth of tumors such as pancreatic carcinoma. In the leaf extract, the active compounds isolated can inhibit the growth of micro-organisms in the oral cavity. The medicinal uses of burdock in treating chronic diseases such as cancers, diabetes and AIDS have been reported. However, it is also essential to be aware of the side effects of burdock including contact dermatitis and other allergic/inflammatory responses that might be evoked by burdock

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Isolation and purification of tetrodotoxin from a marine bacteria takifugu ocellatus

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a deadly non-protein neurotoxin and a well-known sodium channel blocker, but it is also a potent analgesic and an effective non-opioid (non-addictive) local anesthetic with a quick onset time. TTX is now being explored as a novel pharmaceutical drug. Clinical trials of using TTX as a pain killer for cancer patients and a withdrawal formulation for heroin addicts are undergoing. Moreover, published reports show that TTX can suppress prostate cancer cells from metastasizing. Thus, the development of TTX as a novel marine bioactive drug has promising application potential and imminent significance. To date, numerous experiment evidence points out that TTX is synthesized by the puffer fish-associated microbes before accumulating in the fish. However, the in vitro production of TTX by the isolated TTX-producing bacteria has been limited to only nanogram level. Hence, we hypothesized that TTX production is likely relying on a mixed microbial community, in which some strains might be non-cultivable by traditional methods, The study investigated production of TTX by the consortium of the intestinal microbiota of a toxic puffer fish species, Takifugu ocellatus in a fermentation approach. TTX was isolated and purified from the fermentation broth by resin chromatography, which was detected by mouse bioassay and LC-MS/MS

Principles of food processing

This chapter provides an overview of the basic principles of food processing. The goals of modern food processing can be summarized as follows: - Formulation. A logical basic sequence of steps to produce an acceptable and quality food product from raw materials. - Easy production procedures. Develop methods that can facilitate the various steps of production. -Time economy. A cohesive plan that combines the science of production and manual labor to reduce the time needed to produce the product. - Consistency. Application of modern science and technology to assure the consistency of each batch of products. - Product and worker safety. The government and the manufacturers work closely to make sure tha the manufacturers work closely to make sure that the product is wholesome for public consumption, and the workers work in a safe environment. - Buyer friendliness. Assuming the buyer likes the product, the manufacturer must do everything hmanly possible to ensure that the product is user friendly (size, cooking instructions, keeping quality, convenience. ect.