This study was designed as a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded, cross-over trial performed to investigate the effects of a dietary supplement containing undenatured type II collagen (UCII®) and Boswellia Serrata on mobility, pain and joint metabolism in mild moderate osteoarthritis (OA) in dogs. A total of 60 dogs with mobility problems were evaluated and enrolled in the study. Seventeen of these dogs with mild/moderate OA were randomized to receive the product A (UCII® + Boswellia Serrata supplement-UCII®-BW) or product B (Placebo -PL), 1 chew per day for 8 weeks by oral route, and repeated in a crossover design after 4 weeks of washout period.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn 2013, an outbreak of (Xf) was identified for the first time in Europe, in the extreme south of Italy (Apulia, Salento territory). The locally identified subspecies turned out to be lethal for olive trees, starting an unprecedented phytosanitary emergency for one of the most iconic cultivations of the Mediterranean area. Xf (Xfp) is responsible for a severe disease, the olive quick decline syndrome (OQDS), spreading epidemically and with dramatic impact on the agriculture, the landscape, the tourism and the cultural heritage of this region.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetabolomics is a powerful tool in food sciences, widely used in food analysis for authenticity and traceability assessment and regulatory compliance, processing, quality, and safety [...
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNumerous studies have reported the pharmacological effects exhibited by , () including antioxidant, cytotoxic, antiproliferative, and anticancer properties. In our research, our primary objective was to validate a prescreening methodology aimed at identifying the fraction that demonstrates the most potent antiproliferative and anticancer effects. Specifically, we investigated the impact of various extract fractions on the cytoskeleton using a screening method involving transgenic plants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHere we report the medium-term effects of foliar spray and endo-therapy treatments with different doses of a Cu/Zn citric acid biocomplex (Dentamet) in infected olive trees of Salento, Apulia region (South-east Italy). Leaf extract samples from field-treated 150 years old olive trees cvs Ogliarola salentina and Cellina di Nardò were studied by H NMR-based metabolomics. The result of different applications of Dentamet endo-therapy after 60, 120 and 180 days in comparison with traditional foliar spray treatment and water injection as a control have been investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Issues Mol Biol
August 2023
The study of plant metabolome and the role of cellular pathway end products has gained increased attention [...
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPomegranate ( L.) fruits are a historical agricultural product of the Mediterranean basin that became increasingly popular in the latest years for being rich in antioxidants and other micronutrients, and are extensively commercialized as fruits, juice, jams and, in some Eastern countries, as a fermented alcoholic beverage. In this work, four different pomegranate wines specifically designed using combinations of two cultivars (Jolly Red and Smith) and two yeast starters with markedly different characteristics ( Clos and ex- EC1118) were analyzed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of the study was to compare the metabolomic synovial fluid (SF) profile of dogs affected by spontaneous osteoarthritis (OA) and supplemented with undenatured type II collagen (UC-II), with that of healthy control dogs. Client-owned dogs were enrolled in the study and randomized in two different groups, based on the presence/absence of OA (OA group and OA-free group). All dogs were clinically evaluated and underwent SF sampling for H-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (H-NMR) analysis at time of presentation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImproved cellulose biosynthesis and plant biomass represent important economic targets for several biotechnological applications including bioenergy and biofuel production. The attempts to increase the biosynthesis of cellulose by overexpressing CesAs proteins, components of the cellulose synthase complex, has not always produced consistent results. Analyses of morphological and molecular data and of the chemical composition of cell walls showed that tobacco plants (F1 line), stably expressing the CesA6 fused to GFP, exhibits a "giant" phenotype with no apparent other morphological aberrations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFXylella fastidiosa is a xylem-limited bacterium causing a range of economically important plant diseases in hundreds of crops. Over the last decade, a severe threat due to Olive Quick Decline Syndrome (OQDS), caused by Xylella fastidiosa subspecies pauca, affected the Salento olive groves (Apulia, South-East Italy). Very few phyto-therapeutics, including a Zn/Cu citric acid biocomplex foliar treatment, were evaluated to mitigate this disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGeographical origin assessment of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is recognised worldwide as raising consumers' awareness of product authenticity and the need to protect top-quality products. The need for geographical origin assessment is also related to mandatory legislation and/or the obligations of true labelling in some countries. Nevertheless, official methods for such specific authentication of EVOOs are still missing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNucleos(t)ide analogues (NA) belong to a family of compounds widely used in anticancer/antiviral treatments. They generally exhibit a cell toxicity limited by cellular uptake levels and the resulting nucleos(t)ides metabolism modifications, interfering with the cell machinery for nucleic acids synthesis. We previously synthesized purine nucleos(t)ide analogues N7-coordinated to a platinum centre with unaltered sugar moieties of the type: [Pt(dien)(N7-dGuo)] (1; dien = diethylenetriamine; dGuo = 2'-deoxy-guanosine), [Pt(dien)(N7-dGMP)] (2; dGMP = 5'-(2'-deoxy)-guanosine monophosphate), and [Pt(dien)(N7-dGTP)] (3; dGTP = 5'-(2'-deoxy)-guanosine triphosphate), where the indicated electric charge is calculated at physiological pH (7.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFsubsp. is the causal agent of "olive quick decline syndrome" in Salento (Apulia, Italy). On April 2015, we started interdisciplinary studies to provide a sustainable control strategy for this pathogen that threatens the multi-millennial olive agroecosystem of Salento.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConsidering the growing number of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) producers in the world, knowing the influence of olive oils with different geographical origins on the characteristics of the final blend becomes an interesting goal. The present work is focused on commercial organic EVOO blends obtained by mixing multiple oils from different geographical origins. These blends have been studied by H-NMR spectroscopy supported by multivariate statistical analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
April 2021
Background: Plants of genus are known for their therapeutic and nutraceutical properties determined by a wealth of phytochemical substances contained in the whole plant. The aim of this paper was to characterize the metabolic profiles of local Salento chicory ( L.) varieties ("Bianca", "Galatina", "Leccese", and "Otranto") in order to describe their metabolites composition together with possible bioactivity and health beneficial properties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFsubsp. is a bacterial phytopathogen associated with the "olive quick decline syndrome" (OQDS) causing severe economic losses to olive groves in Salento area (Apulia, Italy). In a previous work, we analyzed by H-NMR the metabolic pattern of naturally infected Ogliarola salentina and Cellina di Nardò susceptible cultivars untreated and treated with a zinc-copper citric acid biocomplex and we observed the treatment related variation of the disease biomarker quinic acid.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is nowadays the sixth cause of tumour-related deceases worldwide, estimated to become the third in Western countries by 2030. New drugs for HCC treatment still have many adverse effects. Several lines of evidence indicate that plant metabolites offer concrete opportunities for developing new therapeutic strategies for many diseases, including cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFsubsp. is responsible for the "olive quick decline syndrome" (OQDS) in Salento (Apulia). The main epidemiological aspects of the syndrome are related to the pathogen spread and survival in the area, and to the biology of the insect vector.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Mediterranean basin is one of the regions heavily affected by jellyfish bloom phenomena, mainly due to the presence of scyphozoans, such as . The jellyfish have few natural predators, and their bodies represent an organic-rich substrate that can support rapid bacterial growth with great impact on the structure of marine food webs. In Asiatic countries, jellyfish are widely studied for their health benefits, but their nutritional and nutraceutical values still remain poorly characterized.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFsubsp. is a xylem-limited bacterial phytopathogen currently found associated on many hectares with the "olive quick decline syndrome" in the Apulia region (Southern Italy), and the cultivars Ogliarola salentina and Cellina di Nardò result in being particularly sensitive to the disease. In order to find compounds showing the capability of reducing the population cell density of the pathogen within the leaves, we tested, in some olive orchards naturally-infected by the bacterium, a zinc-copper-citric acid biocomplex, namely Dentamet®, by spraying it to the crown, once per month, during spring and summer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJellyfish outbreaks in marine coastal areas represent an emergent problem worldwide, with negative consequences on human activities and ecosystem functioning. However, potential positive effects of jellyfish biomass proliferation may be envisaged as a natural source of bioactive compounds of pharmaceutical interest. We investigated the biochemical composition of mature female gonads and lysozyme antibacterial activity of oocytes in the Mediterranean barrel jellyfish .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMelon (Cucumis melo L.) is a significant source of substances able to provide human health benefits. From the 18th century in the Salento area (Apulia region), the cultivation of melon varieties (C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe biological invasion of the green algae represents a serious scientific and public issue in the Mediterranean Sea, essentially due to strong modifications both to habitat structure and native benthic communities. Although alterations in health status and changes in flesh quality of some marine species (dietary exposed to ) have been observed, no studies on cause-effect relationships have been carried out. Here, for the first time, through a controlled feeding experiment followed by ¹H NMR Spectroscopy and multivariate analysis (PCA, OPLS-DA), we showed that caulerpin taken with diet is directly responsible of changes observed in metabolic profile of fish flesh, including alteration of lipid metabolism, in particular with a reduction of ω3 PUFA content.
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