Background And Objective: In recent years, the consumption of fish products has led to a worrying trend where approximately two-thirds of the total amount of fish is discarded as waste. At the same time, scientific interest in exploring natural collagen sources for cosmetics and dietary supplements has increased. This study explores the potential of valorizing sardine scales (), a by-product of the canning industry, through the extraction of collagen for potential use in dermocosmetic formulations and food supplements.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlobally, the yearly disposal of 1.3 billion tonnes of food raises environmental and public health concerns. Black soldier fly (BSF) larvae present a sustainable solution, converting organic waste into nutrient-rich biomass.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFor decades, multiple varieties of antibiotics have been successfully used for therapeutic purposes. Nevertheless, antibiotic resistance is currently one of the major threats to global health. This work presents an innovative laboratory practice carried out in an inorganic medicinal chemistry course within the Degrees of Pharmacy and Biochemistry for undergraduate students.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The African continent is home to five biodiversity hotspots, boasting an immense wealth of medicinal flora, fungi and marine life. Diterpenes extracted from such natural products have compelling cytotoxic activities that warrant further exploration for the drug market, particularly in cancer therapy, where mortality rates remain elevated worldwide.
Purpose: To demonstrate the potential of African natural products on the global stage for cancer therapy development and provide an in-depth analysis of the current literature on the activity of cancer cytotoxic diterpenes from African natural sources (to our knowledge, the first of its kind); not only to reveal the most promising candidates for clinical development, but to demonstrate the importance of preserving the threatened ecosystems of Africa.
Natural products have been used since ancient times to produce medicines. Nowadays, there are plenty of chemotherapeutic drugs obtained from natural sources and used against a plethora of diseases. Unfortunately, most of these compounds often display systemic toxicity and adverse effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlioblastoma (GB) is the most malignant and frequent primary tumor of the central nervous system. The lack of diagnostic tools and the poor prognosis associated with this tumor type leads to restricted and limited options of treatment, namely surgical resection and radio-chemotherapy. However, despite these treatments, in almost all cases, patients experience relapse, leading to survival rates shorter than 5 years (∼15-18 months after diagnosis).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlioblastoma (GB) is the most malignant form of primary astrocytoma, accounting for more than 60% of all brain tumors in adults. Nowadays, due to the development of multidrug resistance causing relapses to the current treatments and the development of severe side effects resulting in reduced survival rates, new therapeutic approaches are needed. The genus belongs to the Lamiaceae family and is known to be rich in abietane-type diterpenes, which possess antitumor activity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFgenus ( family) contain several species with acknowledged ethnopharmacological uses, such as, for gastrointestinal and respiratory-related problems, due to their anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antifungal properties. The bioactivity of isolated medicinal compounds from this genus justifies the increased interest in recent times for species of , placing them in the spotlight for natural product drug development. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first review on the biological activities of Benth.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDifferent approaches have been reported to enhance penetration of small drugs through physiological barriers; among them is the self-assembly drug conjugates preparation that shows to be a promising approach to improve activity and penetration, as well as to reduce side effects. In recent years, the use of drug-conjugates, usually obtained by covalent coupling of a drug with biocompatible lipid moieties to form nanoparticles, has gained considerable attention. Natural products isolated from plants have been a successful source of potential drug leads with unique structural diversity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFspecies (Lamiaceae) have been employed in traditional medicine and this is now validated by the presence of bioactive abietane-type diterpenoids. Herein, sixteen acetonic extracts were prepared by ultrasound-assisted extraction and their biological activity was screened. The antimicrobial activity of each extract was screened against yeasts, and Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZoopharmacognosy is the multidisciplinary approach of the self-medication behavior of many kinds of animals. Recent studies showed the presence of antitumoral secondary metabolites in some of the plants employed by animals and their use for the same therapeutic purposes in humans. Other related and sometimes confused term is Zootherapy, which consists on the employment of animal parts and/or their by-products such as toxins, venoms, etc.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMedicinal plants of the genus (Lamiaceae) are known for their ethnopharmacological relevance, mainly against infectious, dermatologic and gastrointestinal pathologies. Three species originated from South Africa, namely , and the rare were hereby screened for their antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities related with their known and/or potential ethnomedicinal uses. Twenty-six extracts were prepared by the combination of extraction methods (infusion, decoction, microwave-assisted, ultrasound-assisted, maceration and supercritical fluid extraction) with different polarity solvents (water, methanol, acetone and supercritical CO).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUsing GC-MS the volatile composition of Jasonia glutinosa D. C., was studied by comparing two different methods for the isolation of a volatile fraction: distillation from the fresh plant in order to obtain the essential oil, and direct thermal desorption (DTD).
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