Synergistic anti-tumor effects of melatonin and PUFAs from walnuts in a murine mammary adenocarcinoma model.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of some polyunsaturated fatty acids plus phytomelatonin from walnuts in the development of mammary gland adenocarcinoma.

Methods: BALB/c mice were fed a semisynthetic diet supplemented with either 6% walnut oil and 8% walnut flour containing phytomelatonin (walnut diet: WD); or 6% corn oil plus commercial melatonin (melatonin diet: MD), or the control group (CD), which received only 6% of corn oil. Membrane fatty acids of tumor cells (TCs) were analyzed by gas liquid chromatography, cyclooxygenase (COX) and lipoxygenase (LOX) derivatives, and plasma melatonin by high-performance liquid chromatography; apoptosis and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes by flow cytometry.

Short-term effects of combined iprodione and vermicompost applications on soil microbial community structure.

The use of compost amendments to bioremediate potential organic pollutants in agricultural soils has recently become an increasingly important field of research. Although several fungicides have been extensively used to control a wide range of soil-borne fungal diseases, little is known about the impact of applying these pesticides on the structure and function of microbial communities in soils amended with vermicompost. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a combined treatment of iprodione and vermicompost on soil microbiological parameters under laboratory conditions.

Walnut (Juglans regia L.): genetic resources, chemistry, by-products.

Walnut (Juglans regia L.) is the most widespread tree nut in the world. There is a great diversity of genotypes differing in forestry, productivity, physical and chemical nut traits.