Immunostimulatory and anticancer effect of Reishi and Coriol extracts at the level of clinical studies and their implementation in practice.

Background: Mushrooms Reishi and Coriolus have been used for centuries in Asian countries to treat various diseases, mainly respiratory tract infections or pulmonary diseases, and more recently also cancers. Polysaccharides and triterpenes, which are found in these mushrooms, are their main bio-active components. Preclinical and clinical studies in humans presented their beneficial effects as immunomodulators; besides this, they possess a direct anticancer effect.

Partitioning of mesophyll conductance for CO into intercellular and cellular components using carbon isotope composition of cuticles from opposite leaf sides.

We suggest a new technique for estimating the relative drawdown of CO concentration (c) in the intercellular air space (IAS) across hypostomatous leaves (expressed as the ratio c/c, where the indexes d and b denote the adaxial and abaxial edges, respectively, of IAS), based on the carbon isotope composition (δC) of leaf cuticular membranes (CMs), cuticular waxes (WXs) or epicuticular waxes (EWXs) isolated from opposite leaf sides. The relative drawdown in the intracellular liquid phase (i.e.

Content of Selected Vitamins and Antioxidants in Colored and Nonpigmented Varieties of Quinoa, Barley, and Wheat Grains.

Unlabelled: The diversity in human diets that can be reached by proper use of different crops and varieties, including some underutilized ones, is a potentially powerful strategy to ensure food security and prevent serious health problems caused by current diets that are often not fulfilling nutritional requirements. In the framework of this research, the content of tocopherols and tocotrienols, thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, and superoxide dismutase in nine varieties of quinoa, both colored and nonpigmented, obtained from 4 different countries, was investigated and compared to the content of the same vitamins and antioxidants in barley and wheat, both colored and nonpigmented, cultivated in the same experimental field. The aim of this work was to create a crop diversity strategy and encourage the consumption of underutilized crops to ensure that the human diet fulfills nutritional requirements.

[Coffee in Cancer Chemoprevention].

Coffee consumption is associated with a reduced risk of several diseases including cancer. Its chemopreventive effect has been studied in vitro, in animal models, and more recently in humans. Several modes of action have been proposed, namely, inhibition of oxidative stress and damage, activation of metabolizing liver enzymes involved in carcinogen detoxification processes, and anti-inflammatory effects.

[Can fish oil improve wound healing in surgery?].

Unlabelled: A surgical insult induces both local and systemic inflammatory responses which, if inappropriate, could impair wound healing. According to many studies ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids from fish oil improve the process of wound healing by their immunomodulatory effect. In contrast to current anti-inflammatory drugs, which could alter immune defence and impair the resolution of inflammation, ω-3 fatty acids have a simultaneous anti-inflammatory pro-resolution effect which is not immunosuppressive.