Search

Getu Melesie Taye,1 Mohammed Bule,1 Diriba Alemayehu Gadisa,1 Frehiwot Teka,2 Teferra Abula3 1Department of Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ambo University, Ambo, Ethiopia; 2Directorate of Traditional and Modern Medicine Research, Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 3Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Getu Melesie TayeDepartment of Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ambo University, PO Box 19, Ambo, EthiopiaEmail getu.melesie@ambou.edu.etIntroduction: Diabetes mellitus disorder characterized by increase in serum glucose level as a result of change in fat, protein metabolism, and carbohydrate. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of the aqueous and hydroalcoholic leaf extract of Thymus. schimperi on blood glucose levels.Methods: The aqueous and 80% methanol extracts of T. schimperi leaves were prepared. Swiss albino mice of either sex weighing 20– 30 g were selected for the experiments. Mice that were made diabetic were divided into seven groups to study the antihyperglycemic effect of the extracts. Diabetes was induced by single intraperitonial injection of alloxan monohydrate (180 mg/kg body weight).Results: After diabetic mice were treated with an extract of solvent at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg for 21 days, there were significant decreases in fasting blood glucose when compared to diabetic controls. The observed antidiabetic activity could be associated with the phytochemicals present in this plant extract. The extract of solvent also prevented body weight loss of diabetic when compared to diabetic mice group. It was also observed that the extracts have shown no acute toxicity at a dose of 2 g/kg.Conclusion: The aqueous and 80% methanol extracts of T. schimperi leaves have shown blood glucose level lowering effects in diabetic mice. Hence, the present study might support the traditional use of T. schimperi for diabetes mellitus treatment.Keywords: diabetic, antidiabetic, alloxan, in vivo, antihyperglycemic, Thymus schimperi

Hika Ayana,1 Tesemma Sileshi,1,2 Mohammed Hussen Bule,2 Eshetu E Chaka3 1Department of Public Health, Rift Valley University, Ambo, Ethiopia; 2Department of Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ambo University, Ambo, Ethiopia; 3Department of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ambo University, Ambo, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Mohammed Hussen BuleDepartment of Pharmacy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ambo University, P. o. Box: 653/1110, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaTel +251 911 809 397Email mohammed2bule@gmail.comPurpose: To assess the non-prescription use of antibiotics and associated factors in Ambo Town, West Shoa, Oromia, Ethiopia.Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study design supported with the qualitative study was conducted in Ambo Town from February 1 to March 1, 2020. Data were collected using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire and in-depth interview guide questions. Simple random sampling was used to select retail outlets and systematic random sampling to select study participants. The data analysis was done using SPSS and univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with non-prescription use of antibiotics. Thematic framework analysis was applied for the qualitative data.Results: From the 421 study sample, a total of 399 participants were interviewed with a 94.8% response rate. Among the study participants, 214 (53.6) were males, 228 (57.1%) were married, 191 (47.9%) were orthodox by religion, and 343 (86%) were Oromo by ethnicity. One hundred seventy-two (43.1%; 95% CI: 38.6, 48.1) of the participants had used non-prescribed antibiotics. Being male [AOR=2.21 95% CI: 1.276, 3.835], residing in rural area [AOR=3.659, 95% CI: 1.479, 9.054], holding diploma [AOR=0.120, 95% CI: 0.025, 0.591], and hold BSC degree [AOR=0.050, 95% CI: 0.007, 0.378], and being farmer [AOR=0.034, 95% CI: 0.004, 0.285] showed significant association with the non-prescription use of antibiotics.Conclusion: This study concluded that the non-prescription use of antibiotics 172 (43.1%) was relatively high. Being male, residing in a rural area, holding a diploma, BSc degree, and being a farmer were significantly associated with non-prescription use of antibiotics. So, West Shoa Zone regulatory body should actively focus on the prevention of non-prescription use of antibiotics through health communication and public awareness on the demerits of non-prescription use of antibiotics.Keywords: antibiotics, community pharmacy, drug store, non-prescription, Ambo

The search and design for the better use of bioactive compounds are used in many experiments to best mimic compounds' functions in the human body. However, finding a cost-effective and timesaving approach is a top priority in different disciplines. Nowadays, artificial intelligence (AI) and particularly deep learning (DL) methods are widely applied to improve the precision and accuracy of models used in the drug discovery process. DL approaches have been used to provide more opportunities for a faster, efficient, cost-effective, and reliable computer-aided drug discovery. Moreover, the increasing biomedical data volume in areas, like genome sequences, medical images, protein structures, etc., has made data mining algorithms very important in finding novel compounds that could be drugs, uncovering or repurposing drugs and improving the area of genetic markers-based personalized medicine. Furthermore, deep neural networks (DNNs) have been demonstrated to outperform other techniques such as random forests and SVMs for QSAR studies and ligand-based virtual screening. Despite this, in QSAR studies, the quality of different data sources and potential experimental errors has greatly affected the accuracy of QSAR predictions. Therefore, further researches are still needed to improve the accuracy, selectivity, and sensitivity of the DL approach in building the best models of drug discovery., (© 2021 John Wiley & Sons A/S.)

Background: The link between diet quality, food insecurity (FI), and metabolic syndrome (MetS) remains unclear in obese adults. The aim of this study was to examine the association of diet quality and FI with MetS in obese Iranian adults., Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 obese adults. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated 168-item food frequency questionnaire. Diet quality and FI were measured using the Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I) and an adapted USDA2000 household food security status questionnaire, respectively. MetS was defined according to the International Diabetes Federation diagnostic criteria. Association was determined using logistic regression analysis adjusting for potential confounders., Results: MetS subjects had lower DQI-I score than subjects without MetS (67.5 ± 8.7 vs 71.5 ± 7.4, P = 0.05). The prevalence of food insecurity was 48.6% (95% confidence interval (CI): 41.2, 56.1) in MetS subjects and 39.4% (95% CI: 29.4, 49.9) in subjects without MetS. After adjustment, participants in the fourth quartile of DQI-I score had 70% lower odds of MetS (Adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.3; 95% CI: 0.1-0.7), 70% lower odds of hypertriglyceridemia (AOR, 0.3; 95% CI: 0.2-0.7) and 60% lower risk of reduced high-density lipoprotein [HDL] (AOR, 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2-0.9) compared with the first quartile. Obese food insecure adults had 60% higher odds of high blood pressure (AOR, 1.6; 95% CI: 1.0-2.6) and 70% higher odds of hypertriglyceridemia (AOR, 1.7; 95% CI: 1.0-2.8) compared with food-secure obese adults. There was no statistically significant interaction observed between DQI-I and food insecurity on MetS., Conclusions: Lower DQI-I score and food insecurity were associated with an increased risk of MetS and some features such as hypertriglyceridemia, reduced HDL, and high blood pressure in obese Iranian adults., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2021 International Journal of Preventive Medicine.)

Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a naturally occurring mycotoxin mostly found in food items including grains and coffee beans. It induces DNA single-strand breaks and has been considered to be carcinogenic. It is recognized as a serious threat to reproductive health both in males and females. OTA is highly nephrotoxic and carcinogenic, and its potency changes evidently between species and sexes. There is a close association between OTA, mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, and genotoxicity, but the underlying mechanisms are not clear. Reports regarding genotoxic effects in relation to OTA which leads to the induction of DNA adduct formation, protein synthesis inhibition, perturbation of cellular energy production, initiation of oxidative stress, induction of apoptosis, influences on mitosis, induction of cell cycle arrest, and interference with cytokine pathways. All these mechanisms are associated with nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, teratotoxicity, immunological toxicity, and neurotoxicity. OTA administration activates various mechanisms such as p38 MAPK, JNKs, and ERKs dysfunctions, BDNF disruption, TH overexpression, caspase-3 and 9 activation, and ERK-1/2 phosphorylation which ultimately lead to Alzheimer disease (AD) progression. The current review will focus on OTA in terms of recent discoveries in the field of molecular biology. The main aim is to investigate the underlying mechanisms of OTA in regard to genotoxicity and epigenetic modulations that lead to AD. Also, we will highlight the strategies for the purpose of attenuating the hazards posed by OTA exposure.

Hibiscus sabdariffa (HS) is a woody-based subshrub of the Malvaceae family which has various uses in traditional medicine. This review systematically evaluates the evidence from clinical trials on the antidiabetic activity of HS. A random-effects model was used to obtain summary estimates. Five outcome measure, including fasting plasma glucose (FPG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoproteins (LDL), and triglyceride (TG) were assessed in the study. The results of the overall pooled statics for the FPG level showed that there was a significant reduction in FPG (WMD = -3.964 mg/dL; 95% CI: -6.227 to -1.702 and P-value was 0.001) and in the level of LDL (WMD = -7.843 mg/dL; 95% CI: -14.337 to -1.350 and P-value was 0.018). However, the pooled estimate showed that there was no statistically significant change on the TC (WMD = -30.382 mg/dL; 95% CI: -66.752 to 5.989 and P value was 0.102), the HDL (WMD = 0.074 mg/dL; 95% CI: -1.986 to 2.135 and P value was 0.944) and the TG (WMD = -9.050 mg/dL; 95% CI, -30.819 to 12.719 and P value was 0.102) compared to the placebo. Egger's weighted regression P values suggested that there was no potential publication bias in the FPG (P = 0.664), HDL (P = 0.065), LDL (P = 0.677) and TG (P = 0.232) but there was a publication bias in the TC (0.056). Therefore, the result of this meta-analysis clearly shows that HS has antidiabetic activity, whereas its lipid-lowering effect needs further study., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the association between dietary quality measured by inflammatory potential of a diet and Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 (AHEI-2010), and obesity-related metabolic risks in a representative sample of Iranian obese adults., Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 obese adults. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated 168-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Diet quality was measured using AHEI-2010 and Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Pattern (EDIP) scores., Results: Those in the upper quartile of AHEI-2010 were associated with lower serum level of triglycerides (TG), and higher body mass index (BMI), compared to participants in the lower quartile. Those in the higher quartile of EDIP score were associated with higher serum level of TG. Greater adherence to AHEI-2010 had 70% lower odds of high fasting blood glucose (FBG), compared with those in the first quartile [Q4 vs Q1: OR, 0.3 (95% CI: 0.1-0.8), p trend = 0.02] Those in the highest quartile of EDIP score had a 60% higher odds of high diastolic blood pressure, compared with those in the lowest quartile [Q4 vs Q1: OR, 2.4 (95% CI: 1.1-5.5), p trend = 0.05] after controlling for potential covariates., Conclusions: High diet quality incorporating more anti-inflammatory diet may have a potential benefit in reducing obesity-related metabolic risks.

Thymoquinone (2-isopropyl-5-methylbenzo-1, 4-quinone) (TQ) is a quinone derivative with a yellow crystalline appearance, abundantly found in black cumin, Nigella sativa L. TQ has diverse pharmacological properties. The aim of this systematic review on the antidiabetic effects of TQ is to evaluate the currently available evidence and conduct meta-analysis. A literature search of articles published until 25 January 2019 was done on PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Sciences and Scopus databases, using relevant keywords. The meta-analysis included 18 studies that examined the serum glucose (SG) level or serum insulin level or body weight (BW). In the meta-analysis it was found that with an overall pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) of -9.176 mg/dl (95%CI: -10.759, -7.593; p = 0.000); TQ reduced the SG level (-9.176 mg/dl) significantly in the STZ-induced diabetes model. Moreover, a meta-analysis of the effect of TQ on BW demonstrated that TQ has a statistically significant effect on the BW of diabetic animals with an overall pooled SMD of 4.509 (95%CI: 3.234, 5.784; p = 0.000). In addition, the overall pooled estimate of the level of serum insulin was significant with SMD of 1.681 (95%CI: 0.858, 2.503; p = 0.000). Therefore, the meta-analysis showed that TQ has a significant antidiabetic effect through its action on the SG, serum insulin level, and BW of the animals., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Quercetin belongs to the flavonoids family, which is present in most of the plants including fruits, vegetables, green tea and even in red wine having antioxidant activities. It is available as a food supplement in the market and has physiological health effects. Quercetin has anti-inflammatory, anticancer and anti-prostate activities along with its beneficial effects on high cholesterol, kidney transplantation, asthma, diabetes, viral infections, pulmonary, schizophrenia and cardiovascular diseases. Quercetin possesses scavenging potential of hydroxyl radical (OH - ), hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), and superoxide anion (O 2 - ). These reactive oxygen species (ROS) hampers lipid, protein, amino acids and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) processing leading to epigenetic alterations. Quercetin has the ability to combat these harmful effects. ROS plays a vital role in the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and we propose that quercetin would be the best choice to overcome cellular and molecular signals in regulating normal physiological functions. However, data are not well documented regarding exact cellular mechanisms of quercetin. The neuroprotective effects of quercetin are mainly due to potential up- and/or down-regulation of cytokines via nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2), Paraoxonase-2, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), Protein kinase C, Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling cascades, and PI3K/Akt pathways. Therefore, the aim of the present review was to elaborate on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the quercetin involved in the protection against AD., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Quercetin is a plant polyphenol with biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antidiabetic, neuroprotective and anti-allergic. The objective of this review is to provide a systematic evaluation of the evidence and a meta-analysis of data from previously published researches on the antidiabetic action of quercetin. A comprehensive literature search was conducted between July 2018 and August 2018 on PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Sciences and Scopus databases. A random-effects model was used to estimate the pooled effect size and studies were weighted according to an estimate of the mean difference. The heterogeneity between studies was assessed using a Higgins' I2 test with corresponding p values. Overall 13 eligible articles with appropriate data on serum glucose were included in the statistical analysis. The meta-analysis for serum glucose level (mg/dL) showed that at doses of 10, 25 and 50 mg/kg there was a significant difference between the means. Therefore, the results of the meta-analysis support the hypothesis that quercetin lowers serum glucose level, at doses of 10, 25 and 50 mg/kg., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The current rate of population growth is so fast that, to feed this massive population, a 2-fold increase in land is required for the production of quality food. Improved dietary products such as milk and its products with antioxidant properties and functional foods of animal origin have been utilized to prevent chronic diseases. The designer milk contains low fat and less lactose, more protein, modified level of fatty acids, and desired amino acid profiles. The importance of milk and its products is due to the presence of protein, bioactive peptides, conjugated linoleic acid, omega-3 fatty acid, Vitamin D, selenium, and calcium. These constituents are present in milk product, play a key role in the physiological activities in human bodies, and act as anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, antioxidant, hypocholesterolemic, immune boosting, and antimicrobial activities. Consumer awareness regarding benefits of designer foods such as milk and its products is almost non-existent worldwide and needs to be established to reach the benefits of designer food technologies in the near future. The main objective of this review was to collect data on the antioxidant properties of milk and its constituents which keep milk-derived products safe and preserved.

Wheat straw is a potential feedstock in biorefinery for sugar production. However, the cellulose, which is the major source of sugar, is protected by lignin. Ozonolysis deconstructs the lignin and makes cellulose accessible to enzymatic digestion. In this study, the change in lignin concentration with different ozonolysis times (0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20, 30, 60min) was fit to two different kinetic models: one using the model developed by Garcia-Cubero et al. (2012) and another including an outer mass transfer barrier or "cuticle" region where ozone mass transport is reduced in proportion to the mass of unreacted insoluble lignin in the cuticle. The kinetic parameters of two mathematical models for predicting the soluble and insoluble lignin at different pretreatment time were determined. The results showed that parameters derived from the cuticle-based model provided a better fit to experimental results compared to a model without a cuticle layer., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Parametric response mapping (PRM) of inspiration and expiration computed tomography (CT) images improves the radiological phenotyping of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). PRM classifies individual voxels of lung parenchyma as normal, emphysematous, or nonemphysematous air trapping. In this study, bias and noise characteristics of the PRM methodology to CT and clinical procedures were evaluated to determine best practices for this quantitative technique. Twenty patients of varying COPD status with paired volumetric inspiration and expiration CT scans of the lungs were identified from the baseline COPD-Gene cohort. The impact of CT scanner manufacturer and reconstruction kernels were evaluated as potential sources of variability in PRM measurements along with simulations to quantify the impact of inspiration/expiration lung volume levels, misregistration, and image spacing on PRM measurements. Negligible variation in PRM metrics was observed when CT scanner type and reconstruction were consistent and inspiration/expiration lung volume levels were near target volumes. CT scanner Hounsfield unit drift occurred but remained difficult to ameliorate. Increasing levels of image misregistration and CT slice spacing were found to have a minor effect on PRM measurements. PRM-derived values were found to be most sensitive to lung volume levels and mismatched reconstruction kernels. As with other quantitative imaging techniques, reliable PRM measurements are attainable when consistent clinical and CT protocols are implemented.

Rationale and Objectives: The longitudinal relationship between regional air trapping and emphysema remains unexplored. We have sought to demonstrate the utility of parametric response mapping (PRM), a computed tomography (CT)-based biomarker, for monitoring regional disease progression in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, linking expiratory- and inspiratory-based CT metrics over time., Materials and Methods: Inspiratory and expiratory lung CT scans were acquired from 89 COPD subjects with varying Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) status at 30 days (n = 13) or 1 year (n = 76) from baseline as part of the Subpopulations and Intermediate Outcome Measures in COPD Study (SPIROMICS) clinical trial. PRMs of CT data were used to quantify the relative volumes of normal parenchyma (PRM(Normal)), emphysema (PRM(Emph)), and functional small airways disease (PRM(fSAD)). PRM measurement variability was assessed using the 30-day interval data. Changes in PRM metrics over a 1-year period were correlated to pulmonary function (forced expiratory volume at 1 second [FEV1]). A theoretical model that simulates PRM changes from COPD was compared to experimental findings., Results: PRM metrics varied by ∼6.5% of total lung volume for PRM(Normal) and PRM(fSAD) and 1% for PRM(Emph) when testing 30-day repeatability. Over a 1-year interval, only PRM(Emph) in severe COPD subjects produced significant change (19%-21%). However, 11 of 76 subjects showed changes in PRM(fSAD) greater than variations observed from analysis of 30-day data. Mathematical model simulations agreed with experimental PRM results, suggesting fSAD is a transitional phase from normal parenchyma to emphysema., Conclusions: PRM of lung CT scans in COPD patients provides an opportunity to more precisely characterize underlying disease phenotypes, with the potential to monitor disease status and therapy response., (Copyright © 2015 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Diabetes mellitus is metabolic syndrome that causes disability, early death, and many other complications. Currently insulin and many synthetic drugs are used in diabetes treatment. However, these pharmaceutical drugs are too expensive particularly for sub-Saharan population in addition to their undesirable side effects. The present study was aimed to evaluate antidiabetic effect and toxicity level of Artemisia afra which was collected from its natural habitat in Bale Zone, around Goba town, 455 km southeast of Addis Ababa. Air dried aerial parts of Artemisia afra were separately extracted with both distilled water and 95% methanol. Oral acute toxicity test was conducted on healthy Swiss albino mice. Antidiabetic effect of the aqueous and methanolic extracts of Artemisia afra was separately evaluated on alloxan induced diabetic mice at doses of 500, 750, and 1000 mg/Kg body weight orally. The results indicate that mean lethal dose (LD50) for aqueous extract of Artemisia afra was 9833.4 mg/Kg. Blood glucose level was significantly decreased by 24% (p < 0.005) and 56.9% (p < 0.0004) in groups that received aqueous extract of Artemisia afra at dose of 500 mg/Kg and 750 mg/Kg, respectively. The methanolic extract of Artemisia afra also significantly lowered blood glucose by 49.8% (p < 0.0001) at doses of 1000 mg/kg on the 5th hr. Aqueous extract of Artemisia afra was regarded as nontoxic and safe since its LD50 was found above 5000 mg/Kg. Aqueous extract showed higher effect at relatively lower dose as compared to methanolic extract. The aqueous extract was screened positive for phytochemicals like flavonoids, polyphenols, and tannins that were reported to have antioxidant activity.

The management of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) after hematopoietic cell transplantation presents many challenges, both diagnostically and therapeutically. We developed a computed tomography (CT) voxel-wise methodology termed parametric response mapping (PRM) that quantifies normal parenchyma, functional small airway disease (PRM(fSAD)), emphysema, and parenchymal disease as relative lung volumes. We now investigate the use of PRM as an imaging biomarker in the diagnosis of BOS. PRM was applied to CT data from 4 patient cohorts: acute infection (n = 11), BOS at onset (n = 34), BOS plus infection (n = 9), and age-matched, nontransplant control subjects (n = 23). Pulmonary function tests and bronchoalveolar lavage were used for group classification. Mean values for PRM(fSAD) were significantly greater in patients with BOS (38% ± 2%) when compared with those with infection alone (17% ± 4%, P < .0001) and age-matched control subjects (8.4% ± 1%, P < .0001). Patients with BOS had similar PRM(fSAD) profiles, whether a concurrent infection was present or not. An optimal cut-point for PRM(fSAD) of 28% of the total lung volume was identified, with values >28% highly indicative of BOS occurrence. PRM may provide a major advance in our ability to identify the small airway obstruction that characterizes BOS, even in the presence of concurrent infection., (Copyright © 2014 American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The bioconversion of fiber-based carbohydrates during anaerobic digestion (AD) is impeded due to the recalcitrant nature of the plant cell wall. Pretreatment of lignocellulose materials under mild conditions are needed to improve the digestibility at minimum cost. This study investigated the effects of different pretreatments, including ozone, soaking aqueous ammonia (SAA), combined ozone and SAA (OSAA), and size reduction to enhance volatile fatty acid (VFA) and bio-methane production when lawn grass was used as substrate. To study VFA production, methanogenesis was selectively inhibited by sodium 2-bromoethanesulfonate to decouple the relation between VFA and bio-methane. The enzymatic hydrolysis of SAA (residence time 24h at 50°C) and OSAA (10 min ozonation and 6h of SAA) in pretreatment of lawn grass sample resulted in 86.71% and 89.63% sugar recovery, respectively. The specific methane yields of the control, ozone, SAA, OSAA, and size-reduced grass samples were 402.5, 358.8, 481.0, 462.6, and 358.3 ml CH4/g volatile solid (VS), respectively., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The current study proposes a one-step biotransformation process for vanillin production from ferulic acid using the wild fungal strain Pycnoporous cinnabarinus belonging to the family Basidiomycete. Improvement of biotransformation conditions was performed in two steps; initially a one factor at a time method was used to investigate effects of medium composition variables (i.e., carbon, nitrogen) and environmental factors such as pH on vanillin production. Subsequently, concentrations of medium components were optimized using an orthogonal matrix method. After primary screening, glucose as carbon source and corn steep liquor and ammonium chloride as organic and inorganic nitrogen source, respectively, supported maximum biotransformation of ferulic acid to vanillin. Under statistically optimum conditions vanillin production from ferulic acid by P. cinnabarinus was 126 mg/L with a molar yield of 54%. The overall molar yield of vanillin production increased by 4 times.

Ferulic acid (FA) is a phenolic antioxidant present in plants, which is widely used in the food and cosmetic industry. In the present study, various agricultural wastes such as maize bran, rice bran, wheat bran, wheat straw, sugar cane baggasse, pineapple peels, orange peels, and pomegranate peels were screened for the presence of esterified FA (EFA). Among the sources screened, maize bran was found to contain the highest amount of EFA. Pineapple peels, orange peels, and pomegranate peels were also found to contain traces of EFA. Alkaline extraction of EFA from maize bran was carried out using 2 M NaOH. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used for optimization of EFA extraction, which resulted in a 1.3-fold increase as compared to the unoptimized conventional extraction technique. FA was analyzed by means of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Purification was carried out by adsorption chromatography using Amberlite XAD-16 followed by preparative high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC). The recovery of Amberlite XAD-16 purified FA was up to 57.97% with HPLC purity 50.89%. The fold purity achieved was 1.35. After preparative HPTLC, the maximum HPLC purity obtained was 95.35% along with an increase in fold purity up to 2.53.

The present study investigates the cellular response to weak, sine wave, 0.5-MHz electric currents. The experimental exposure to identical signals at an intensity high enough as to significantly increase the temperature in target tissues, has provided positive responses in clinical treatments of tumors with capacitive electric transfer (CET) thermal therapy. The present results show that the in vitro exposure to CET signals at athermal doses causes cytotoxic effects in human neuroblastoma cells. Such a response seems to be due to signal-induced alterations in the cell cycle. As a whole, the results suggest that the potential therapeutic effects of the CET strategy could be due to the thermal response of the tissues to the currents, added to an athermal response of the cells to the electric current itself.