Introduction: Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD⁺) participates in various processes that are dysregulated in cardiovascular diseases. Supplementation with NAD⁺ may be cardioprotective. However whether the protective effect exerted by NAD⁺ in heart failure (HF) is more effective before acute myocardial infarction (MI) or after remains unclear. The left anterior descending arteries of male Sprague Dawley rats and beagles that developed HF following MI were ligated for 1 week following which the animals were treated for 4 weeks with low medium and high doses of NAD⁺ and LCZ696. Methods: Cardiac function hemodynamics and biomarkers were evaluated during the treatment period. Heart weight myocardial fibrosis and MI rate were measured eventually. Results: Compared with the HF groups groups treated with LCZ696 and different doses of NAD⁺ showed increased ejection fractions fractional shortening cardiac output and stroke volume and decreased end-systolic volume end-systolic dimension creatine kinase and lactic dehydrogenase. LV blood pressure was lower in the HF group than in the control group but this decrease was significantly greater in the medium and high NAD⁺ dose groups. Conclusion: The ratios of heart weight indexes fibrotic areas and MI rates in the CZ696 and medium and high NAD⁺ dose groups were lower than those in the HF group. Medium and highdose NAD⁺ showed superior positive effects on myocardial hypertrophy cardiac function and myocardial fibrosis and reduced the MI rate.

Background: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a zoonotic disease with dogs being the main reservoir of the Leishmania infantum parasite. Objective: To develop a new flow cytometry test to diagnosis canine VL (CVL) diagnosis. Methods: The current study addresses a new flow cytometry test using beads coupled to the multiepitope antigen rMELEISH. Results: In the study set of samples a sensitivity (87.1%) and specificity (89.9%) was observed. Considering the dogs’ clinical status 20/20 (100.0%) of the symptomatic sera tested positive while 19/22 (86.4%) of the oligosymptomatic and 16/20 (80.0%) of asymptomatic were positive. In the non-infected control all samples (0/30) tested as negative. In the cross-reaction control the test was more efficient in dogs infected with L. braziliensis (2/10) and Trypanosoma cruzi (0/10) than those with Babesia canis (4/10) and Ehrlichia canis (4/10). Dogs immunized with different vaccines (Leishmune Leish-Tec^® or LBSap) did not present serological reactivity. Conclusion: The flow cytometry serology through coupling the antigen rMELEISH in functional beads showed high accuracy in diagnosing CVL.

Background: Oleogelation is an efficient and emerging approach for obtaining biocompatible and biodegradable elastic semisolid crystals to be used in various cosmetic and pharmaceutical formulations. Recently drug incorporation in oil structuring has been a promising strategy under consideration due to the effectiveness of this method. Plant oils have very beneficial characteristics for skin care and wound healing due to the presence of certain antioxidants. Methods: In this study the oleogels of Moringa oleifera seed oil with natural polysaccharides including pectin chitosan and xanthan gum were prepared using the emulsion template method. Moringa oil was selected because it can hydrate and moisturize the skin and has great antioxidant activity. Also the natural polysaccharides i.e. pectin and chitosan exhibited good gelling properties. Allantoin which is a wound healer and eucalyptus leaf oil with antioxidant potential was incorporated into the emulsion-based-oleogels to enhance the antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of the oleogels. Results: Allantoin and eucalyptus-loaded oleogels exhibited good antibacterial activity against E. coli. The FTIR spectra of moringa-based oleogels in the range between 3226-3422 cm^-1 indicate the presence of hydrogen bonding in oleogels. Conclusion: The antioxidant potential of allantoin and eucalyptus-containing oleogel was maximized and an IC50 value of 0.9719 μM was found. Maximum release of allantoin from oleogel was observed in the first hour.

Aim: This paper examines how consumers' purchase intentions and actual purchase behavior for organic food products are related to the moderating effect of availability and its relationship with those two variables. Methods: Using structural equation modeling a structured survey of 250 participants revealed that the three components of the theory of planned behavior-attitude subjective norm and perceived behavior control impacted consumers' purchase intentions. Results: Findings revealed a strong correlation between purchase intention and actual purchase behavior of the consumers towards organic products. Furthermore it identifies a few areas for future work that would benefit wholesalers retailers marketers consumers and scholars. Conclusion: Food provides indispensable nourishment which leads to a healthy life. However it has recently come to light that many food products have become unhealthy due to farmers' excessive use of pesticides and chemical-based fertilizers resulting in several illnesses. Currently it has been observed that many consumers are attracted to organic food that is healthy tasty and free from chemicals pesticides and fertilizers. To increase the study's accuracy and utility further research might be done on additional aspects such as significant price premiums a lack of knowledge confidence in organic certification programs and quality.

The novel Coronavirus has brought global mortality disruption and a significant loss of life. A compromised immune system is a known risk factor for all viral influenza infections. Due to the perceived “immune-boosting” properties of nutraceutical products sales of dietary supplements have grown globally. In recent years consumers have increasingly demanded nutraceutical products rather than curative synthetic medicines for preventive therapies for the coronavirus disease outbreak of 2019 (COVID-19). Healthy foods and nutraceuticals have become daily diet plans for consumers. Although there has been an increase in demand there is no such regulation and harmonized process which stands as a barrier to the approval of these products. Therefore many misbranded and spurious products are entering the market which may harm consumers. This article focuses on the role of functional foods and nutraceutical in the management of COVID-19 also focuses on the different nutraceutical regulations in each country and compare the similarities and differences of the following countries: India the USA (United States of America) the EU (European Union) and China. The comparative study of nutraceutical regulations in India the USA Europe and China shows that there is a difference regarding the nutraceutical regulations; however despite the differences it is observed that it has the same underlying objective i.e. ensuring the safety of the consumers by maintaining the product quality.

Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and death worldwide and has become a global public health problem. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used in China to treat CVD and achieved promising results. Therefore TCM has aroused significant interest among pharmacologists and medical practitioners. Previous research showed that TCM can regulate the occurrence and development of atherosclerosis (AS) ischemic heart disease heart failure myocardial injury and myocardial fibrosis by inhibiting vascular endothelial injury inflammation oxidant stress ischemia-reperfusion injury and myocardial remodeling. It is well-known that TCM has the characteristics of multi-component multi-pathway and multitarget. Here we systematically review the bioactive components pharmacological effects and clinical application of TCM in preventing and treating CVD.

Background: Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) demonstrates great promise as a diagnostic tool for determining the cause of pathogenic infections. The standard diagnostic procedures (SDP) include smears and cultures and are typically viewed as less sensitive and more time-consuming when compared to mNGS. There are concerns about the logistics and ease of transition from SDP to mNGS. mNGS lacks standardization of collection processes databases and sequencing. Additionally there is the burden of training clinicians on interpreting mNGS results. Objective: Until now few studies have explored factors that could be used as early adoption candidates to ease the transition between SDP and mNGS. This study evaluated 123 patients who had received both SDP and mNGS and compared several variables across a diagnostic test evaluation. Methods: The diagnostic test evaluation observed metrics such as sensitivity specificity positive and negative likelihood ratios (PLR NLR) positive and negative predictive values (PPV NPV) and accuracy. Factors included various sample sources such as bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) lung tissue and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). An additional factor observed was the patient's immune status. Results: Pathogen detection was found to be significantly greater for mNGS for total patients BALF sample source CSF sample source and non-immunocompromised patients (p<0.05). Pathogen detection was found to be insignificant for lung tissue sample sources and immunocompromised patients. Sensitivity PLR NLR PPV NPV and accuracy appeared to be higher with mNGS for the total patients BALF sample source and non-immunocompromised patients when compared with SDP (p<0.05). Conclusion: With higher metrics in sensitivity specificity PLR NLR PPV NPV and accuracy for overall patients mNGS may prove a better diagnostic tool than SDP. When addressing sample sources mNGS for BALF-collected samples appeared to have higher scores than SDP for the same metrics. When patients were in a non-immunocompromised state mNGS also demonstrated greater diagnostic benefits to BALF and overall patients compared to SDP. This study demonstrates that using BALF as a sample source and selecting non-immunocompromised patients may prove beneficial as early adoption factors for mNGS standard protocol. Such a study may pave the road for mNGS as a routine clinical method for determining the exact pathogenic etiology of lung infections.

Background: Head and neck infections (HNI) associated with multidrug resistance (MDR) offer several health issues on a global scale due to inaccurate diagnosis. Objectives: This study aimed to identify the bacteria and Candidal isolates and implement the silver nanoparticles green synthesized with leaf extract of Coccinia grandis (Cg-AgNPs) as a therapeutic approach against HNI pathogens. Methods: The Cg-AgNPs were characterized by the UV-visible spectrophotometer FT-IR analysis Zeta particle size Zeta potential and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) analysis to validate the synthesis of nanoparticles. Additionally the antimicrobial activity of Cg-AgNPs was presented by the zone of inhibition (ZOI) minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) minimum bactericidal/fungicidal concentration (MBC/MFC) and antibiofilm assay. Moreover the cell wall rupture assay was visualized on SEM for the morphological study of antimicrobial activities and the in-vivo toxicity was performed in a swiss mice model to evaluate the impact of Cg-AgNPs on various biological parameters. Results: Different bacterial strains (Staphylococcus aureus Acinetobacter baumannii Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and Candida sp. (Candida albicans Candida tropicalis Candida orthopsilosis and Candida glabrata) were identified. The MIC MBC and antibiofilm potential of Cg-AgNPs were found to be highest against A. baumannii: 1.25 μg/ml 5 μg/ml and 85.01±5.19% respectively. However C. albicans and C. orthopsilosis revealed 23 mm and 21 mm of ZOI. Subsequently the micromorphology of the cell wall rupture assay confirmed the efficacy of Cg-AgNPs and no significant alterations were seen in biochemical and hematological parameters on the swiss mice model in both acute and subacute toxicity studies. Conclusion: The green synthesized Cg-AgNPs have multifunctional activities like antibacterial anticandidal and antibiofilm activity with no toxicity and can be introduced against the HNI pathogens.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common neuropsychiatric challenge that primarily targets young females. MDD as a global disorder has a multifactorial etiology related to the environment and genetic background. A balanced gut microbiota is one of the most important environmental factors involved in human physiological health. The interaction of gut microbiota components and metabolic products with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system and immune mediators can reverse depression phenotypes in vulnerable individuals. Therefore abnormalities in the quantitative and qualitative structure of the gut microbiota may lead to the progression of MDD. In this review we have presented an overview of the bidirectional relationship between gut microbiota and MDD and the effect of pre-treatments and microbiomebased approaches such as probiotics prebiotics synbiotics fecal microbiota transplantation and a new generation of microbial alternatives on the improvement of unstable clinical conditions caused by MDD.

It is becoming more and harder in today's climate to disregard the impact of cancer on social health. Even though a significant amount of money is spent annually on cancer research it still ranks as the second leading cause of death worldwide. Additionally only about half of the patients suffering from complex forms of cancer survive a year after receiving traditional cancer therapies. A method for silencing genes is called RNA interference (RNAi). Such a method is very effective in focusing on genes linked to cancer. Most gene products implicated in cancer have recently been used as RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutic targets. According to the findings from this research RNAi application is necessary for today's cancer treatment to target functioning carcinogenic molecules and tumor resistance to chemotherapy and radiation. Proapoptotic and antiproliferative activity has been reported from previous research studies on cell culture systems animal models and clinical trials through the knockdown of gene products from RNAi technology. Numerous novel RNAi-based medications are now in the clinical trial stages thanks to the discovery of the RNAi mechanism and advancements in the area. In the future genomic-based personalized medicines can be developed through this RNAi therapy. Hopefully cancer sufferers will find this sort of therapy to be one of the most effective ones. Various kinds of RNA-based treatments such as aptamers small interfering RNAs microRNAs antisense oligonucleotides and messenger RNA are covered in broad terms in this study. We also present an overview of the RNA-based therapies that have received regulatory approval in the past or are now undergoing clinical studies.