Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology - Volume 15, Issue 4, 2014

In the last decades epidemiological studies and associated meta-analyses have strongly suggested that long term consumption of plant foods (fruits, vegetables, cereals, dry legumes, and beverages like wine, coffee and tea) offers protection against development of oxidative stress related pathologies, such as cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis and neurodegenerative diseases [1, 2]. These results have Read More

Stroke is an important cerebrovascular disease which causes chronic disability and death in patients. Despite of its high morbidity and mortality, there are limited available effective neuroprotective agents for stroke. In recent years, the research aimed at finding novel neuroprotective agents from natural origins has been intensified. Camellia sinensis L. (tea) is the second most consumed beverage worldwide, after water. It is c Read More

Polyphenols are a structural class of natural and synthetic, organic chemicals characterized mainly by the presence of phenol structural units. Numerous epidemiological and experimental studies have strongly suggested their beneficial effects for human health. This view is supported by their biological activities, which are associated with chemical and biochemical properties, including the ability to act as antioxidants, thei Read More

Under normal conditions, most of the central nervous system (CNS) is protected by the blood brain barrier (BBB) from systemic inflammation progression and from the infiltration of immune cells. As a consequence, the CNS developed an original way to provide surveillance, defense and repair, which relies on the complex process of neuroinflammation. Despite tight regulation, neuroinflammation is frequently the cause o Read More

Polyphenols are the most abundant components of our daily food, occupying the major portion of naturally occurring phytochemicals in plants. Currently, polyphenols have received a special attention from the scientific community against health risk because of their antioxidant capacity and the ability to scavenge the free radicals formed during the pathological process like cancer, cardiovascular diseases and neurodegenera Read More

In the lasts years it has become evident that polyphenols modify cell functionality through epigenetic mechanisms, such as modulating microRNA (miRNA) levels. miRNAs are small non-coding RNAs of about 22 nucleotides in length, that modulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. miRNAs are involved in almost all biological processes, affect most metabolic pathways and recent evidence suggests their dysreg Read More

Flavonoids are one of the most abundant secondary metabolites having a polyphenolic structure in plant and animal species with various desired pharmacological effects towards human health. Many flavonoid derivatives have been reported to possess neuroprotective activity through different mechanisms of action and, among them, cholinesterase (ChE) inhibition constitutes an important clinically applied treatment st Read More

Gallic acid (3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid) is a phenolic acid widely distributed in many different families of higher plants, both in free state, and as a part of more complex molecules, such as ester derivatives or polymers. In nature, gallic acid and its derivatives are present in nearly every part of the plant, such as bark, wood, leaf, fruit, root and seed. They are present in different concentrations in common foodstuffs such as blue Read More

Moderate physical exercise leads the organism to adapt to this stressful situation. However, when exercise is exhaustive, it is also known to induce an overproduction of reactive species which can result in oxidative damage to macromolecules and tissues. Many studies have been carried out to evaluate the validity of dietary strategies or micronutrients in order to attenuate exercise-induced oxidative stress. Polyphenols are a lar Read More

Polyphenols are a widely distributed group of natural products found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, stems and flowers. Such compounds, especially dietary flavonoids and tannins, have been shown to exert antioxidant, antiinflammatory, anti-cancer and antibacterial effects and may have beneficial effects on human health. The antimicrobial activity of polyphenols has been widely studied and hundreds of publications Read More

Type-2 diabetes (T2D) is a complex metabolic syndrome that is characterized by persistent hyperglycemia due to either lack of insulin secretion and/or insulin resistance. The prevalence of T2D along with its major risk factor, obesity, has been increasing with an epidemic proportion in recent years. To date, there is no drug of cure for diabetes and the existing therapeutic approaches have serious drawbacks including side effe Read More

Resveratrol (3,5,4'-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene) possesses multiple protective properties in the vasculature, including anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects and improvement of endothelial function. A substantial part of these effects is attributable to gene expression changes induced by the compound. Resveratrol can activate the NAD-dependent deacetylase sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), leading to deacetylation of SIRT1 t Read More

Natural phenolic compounds have been considered as one of the interesting secondary metabolites for their chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic effects in cancer for a long time. These are a large and diverse family of phytochemicals classified into several subgroups such as simple phenols, lignans, phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, coumarins, etc. The antioxidant potential of phenolic compounds is almost bol Read More

Seven indigenously isolated fungal strains (Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus terreus, Penicillium citrinum, Penicillium notatum, Pleurotus ostreatus and Trichoderma viradae) were tested for their potential to produce cholesterol lowering drug lovastatin by using different agro-industrial wastes (Corn cobs, corn stover, banana stalk, wheat straw, wheat bran, bagasse) in submerged as well as solid state fer Read More