Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 13, Issue 9, 2007

In the last two decades fundamental studies have opened a new field of research related to bioactive food components that not only help ensure adequate nutrition, but may provide specific health benefits [for review: 1]. Bioactive components of food origin can be defined as substances, both nutrient and non-nutrient, which may exert regulative activities in the human organism beyond basic nutrition. In particular, food-derive Read More

Egg is the largest biological cell known which originates from one cell division and is composed of various important chemical substances that form the basis of life. The avian egg is an important source of nutrients, containing all of the proteins, lipids, vitamins, minerals and growth factors required by the developing embryo, as well as a number of defence factors to protect against bacterial and viral infection. This review Read More

The intestines are an important organ responsible for nutrient absorption, metabolism and recognition of food signals. The organ also acts as a physical and biological barrier against harmful substances including food pathogens and environmental chemicals. Food-derived peptides with a variety of physiological functions have been discovered in the past several decades. Although dietary peptides would mostly be hydrolyz Read More

This review article deals with the assessment of cytotoxic and allergenic potential of bioactive proteins and peptides. It is evident that ‘novel’ foods or nutraceuticals containing bioactive proteins and peptides must fulfill their proposed “health claim”. Furthermore, there is a need to assess their potential to exert adverse effects before they can be made widely available to consumers. A brief overview of compounds (i.e. proteins Read More

Naturally occurring and chemically modified ribonucleosides have interesting bioactive effects. Dietary ribonucleosides are ingested mainly as nucleoproteins and are converted in the course of intestinal digestion to monomeric compounds. Different bioactive effects of dietary ribonucleosides have been described, including the ability to enhance gut growth and maturation and to increase iron absorption. Cytoc Read More

Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) comprise of a family of enzymes which catalyses poly(ADPribosyl) ation of DNA-binding proteins. To date, seven isoforms have been identified: PARP-1, PARP-2, PARP-3, PARP- 4 (Vault-PARP), PARP-5 (Tankyrases), PARP-7 and PARP-10 with structural domains and different functions. PARP-1, the best characterised member, works as a DNA damage nick-sensor protein that uses beta-N Read More

The oxazaphosphorines including cyclophosphamide (CPA, Cytoxan, or Neosar), ifosfamide (IFO, Ifex) and trofosfamide (Ixoten) represent an important group of therapeutic agents due to their substantial antitumor and immunomodulating activity. However, several intrinsic limitations have been uncounted during the clinical use of these oxazaphosphorines, including substantial pharmacokinetic variability, resistance and sev Read More