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The development of highly luminescent water-dispersible biocompatible nanoparticles is a hot topic in biomedical research. Here, we report about the study of the energy transfer process between Tb3+ and Eu3+ in calcium fluoride nanoparticles. Water-dispersible RE-doped nanoparticles were prepared by means of a simple synthesis route without the need for high temperature, pressure or additional surface functionalization. The structural and morphological properties were investigated by means of XRPD and TEM analysis. Optical analysis led to information about both the RE ion site symmetry in the crystalline host and the Tb3+ and Eu3+ excited state lifetimes, whose remarkable duration is suitable for biosensing applications. Concerning the energy transfer process, dipole–dipole interaction, with a donor–activator critical distance of about 13 Å, was identified as the most probable mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND. The living donor nephrectomy has to be safe and effective, allowing a good graft function in the recipient. In the past, donor nephrectomy was performed only by open technique; more recently this nephrectomy has also been performed by laparoscopic technique. The best technique has not been established in literature. The purpose of this study is to report the results of open and laparoscopic nephrectomy in living donors. MATERIALS AND METHODS. From January 1992 to August 2008, 37 living donor nephrectomies were performed. 23 nephrectomies were achieved by laparoscopic procedure (LDN) and 14 by open technique (ODN). The 2 groups were comparable regarding both donor and recipient characteristics. RESULTS. All laparoscopic nephrectomies were successfully performed without conversion to open procedure. No donor deaths were reported in either groups. 3 complications (13%) in the LDN group and 1 (7.1%) in the ODN group (p=0.6) were observed. Mean operative time was higher in the LDN group (p<0.036). Mean warm and cold ischemia time, resumption of oral intake and hospital stay were shorter in the LDN group (p<0.04)( p<0.03) (p<0.0001), whereas the return to normal occupational life was similar (p<0.52). We had no significant differences in the surgical complication rates, graft and patient survival. CONCLUSIONS. Our experience suggests that both procedures can be used safely and efficiently, and assure a good renal function in the recipient. Laparoscopic nephrectomy, although more difficult, provides post-operative advantages. However, laparoscopic procedure must be performed by experienced centres only to prevent serious complications in the donor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the first specific phytochemical analysis on Odontites vulgaris Moench collected in Central Italy was performed. The aerial parts ethanolic extract was studied and eight compounds were identified: pheophytin a (1), aucubin (2), catalpol (3), shanzhiside methyl ester (4), melampyroside (5), 8-epi-loganin (6), caryoptoside (7) and quinic acid (8). To the best of our knowledge, in this study, compounds (7-8) resulted to be isolated from the genus for the first time. The chemophenetic markers of the family and order were evidenced and several important ecological conclusions could be drawn. The ethanolic extract was also tested for several biological activities showing high effects in the antioxidant, cytoprotective and aflatoxin B1 production inhibitory assays. A brief explanation on these activities under the phytochemical standpoint was also included., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Environmental risks of human pharmaceutical products should be made transparent and mitigated as far as possible. We propose to apply a risk mitigation scheme to the marketing authorisation of human medicinal products which is pragmatic and tailored, and thus will not increase the burden to regulators and industry too much. This scheme takes into account increasing knowledge and accuracy of the environmental risk estimates, applying preliminary risk mitigation when risks are determined based on model estimates, and definitive, more strict and far-reaching risk mitigation when risks are based on actual measured environmental concentrations. Risk mitigation measures should be designed to be effective, proportional, easy to implement, and in line with current (other) legislation, as well as not being a burden to the patient/health care professionals. Furthermore, individual risk mitigation measures are proposed for products showing environmental risks, while general risk mitigation measures can be applied to all products to reduce the overall burden of pharmaceuticals in the environment. In order to effectively mitigate risk, linking marketing authorisation legislation to environmental legislation is essential., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Lucie Bielska reports financial support was provided by Ministry of Education Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

One of the flagship actions of the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe is to address environmental challenges associated with pharmaceutical use. This includes strengthening the Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) at marketing authorisation (MA) of pharmaceuticals, and revision of the pharmaceutical legislation where needed. The overall aim of an ERA should be to enable comprehensive and effective identification and management of environmental risks of pharmaceuticals without affecting the availability of pharmaceuticals to patients. As experts in the evaluation of ERAs of human medicinal products submitted by pharmaceutical industries (Applicants), we have summarized the current status of the ERA and suggest legislative changes to improve environmental protection without affecting availability. Six regulatory goals were defined and discussed, including possible ways forward: 1) mandatory ERAs in accordance to the EMA guideline at the time of the MA, 2) enforcement of risk mitigation measures including re-evaluation of the ERA, 3) facilitated exchange of environmental data between pharmaceutical and environmental legislations, 4) substance-based assessments, 5) transparency of data, and 6) a catching-up procedure for active pharmaceutical ingredients that lack an ERA. These legislative proposals can be considered as prerequisites for a harmonised assessment and effective management of environmental risks and hazards of human pharmaceuticals., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Lucie Bielska reports a relationship with RECETOX Research Infrastructure (No LM2018121) that includes: funding grants., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The phytochemical analysis on the aerial parts of Teucrium capitatum L. collected from a new population in Central Italy, led to the identification of eight compounds, i.e. pheophytin a ( 1 ), poliumoside ( 2 ), apigenin ( 3 ), luteolin ( 4 ), cirsimaritin ( 5 ), cirsiliol ( 6 ), 8- O -acetyl-harpagide ( 7 ) and teucardoside ( 8 ) belonging to four different classes of secondary metabolites. Pheophytin a ( 1 ) represents a newly identified compound in the genus whereas compounds ( 7-8 ) are newly identified compound in the species. The chemotaxonomic and ethnobotanical aspects relative to the presence of these compounds were widely discussed suggesting important conclusions for both.

In this paper, the first phytochemical analysis of the ethanolic extract of Daphne sericea Vahl flowering aerial parts collected in Italy and its biological activities were reported. Eleven compounds were identified i.e., α-linolenic acid ( 1 ), tri-linoleoyl- sn -glycerol ( 2 ), pheophorbide a ethyl ester ( 3 ), pilloin ( 4 ), sinensetin ( 5 ), yuanhuanin ( 6 ), rutamontine ( 7 ), syringin ( 8 ), p -coumaric acid ( 9 ), p -anisic acid ( 10 ) and caffeic acid ( 11 ). To the best of our knowledge, compounds ( 1 - 4 , 7-8 and 10 ) were isolated from D. sericea for the first time during this work, whereas sinensetin ( 5 ) represents a newly identified component of the entire Thymelaeaceae family. The extract was found to possess radical scavenging against both DPPH • and 2,2'-azino- bis (3-thylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS •+ ) radicals, with at least a 40-fold higher potency against the latter. Moreover, chelating abilities against both ferrous and ferric ions have been highlighted, thus suggesting a possible indirect antioxidant power of the extract. Although the precise bioactive compounds remain to be discovered, the polyphenolic constituents, including phenolic acids, tannins and flavonoids, seem to contribute to the antioxidant power of the phytocomplex. In addition, the extract produced cytotoxic effects in MDA-MB-231 and U87-MG cancer cell lines, especially at the concentration of 625 μg/mL and after 48-72 h. Further studies are required to clarify the contribution of the identified compounds in the bioactivities of the extract and to support possible future applications.

In this review article, the phytochemistry of the species belonging to the Araucariaceae family is explored. Among these, in particular, it is given a wide overview on the phytochemical profile of Wollemia genus, for the first time. In addition to this, the ethnopharmacology and the general biological activities associated to the Araucariaceae species are singularly described. Lastly, the chemotaxonomy at the genus and family levels is described and detailed.

In this review article, the occurrence of nor -lignans and their biological activities are explored and described. Nor -lignans have proven to be present in several different families also belonging to chemosystematically distant orders as well as to have many different beneficial pharmacological activities. This review article represents the first one on this argument and is thought to give a first overview on these compounds with the hope that their study may continue and increase, after this.

Aim: Enhanced recovery after surgery programs aims to standardize care, improving colorectal surgery outcomes. Older patients are a challenge population for these programs. The aim of this manuscript is to explore the effect of application Enhanced recovery after surgery protocol among older patients and high-risk patients undergone colorectal surgery for cancer., Method: Since January 2005, until September 2016, 1189 consecutive patients underwent elective Colorectal Surgery and treated according to our Enhanced recovery after surgery protocol. Patients are divided in three groups according to age: Group1 under 69 y-o (control group), Group2 70 to 79 y-o and Group3 over 80 y-o. Primary end point was Time to Readiness to Discharge., Results: Median Time to Readiness to Discharge was 4 days (3-30) in Group 1, 5 (3-47) in Group 2 and 5 (3-19) in Group 3. Length of stay in Group 1 had a median length of 6 days (3-58), in Group 2 of 8 days (3-70) and in Group 3 of 8 days (3-53)., Conclusions: Once more Enhanced recovery after surgery program has showed its efficacy in colorectal surgery field. Moreover, our experience has underlined the need to concentrate efforts mainly on older and high-risk patients.

In this review, the relevance of the plant species belonging to the Pedicularis L. genus has been considered from different points of view. Particular emphasis was given to phytochemistry and ethnopharmacology, since several classes of natural compounds have been reported within this genus and many of its species are well known to be employed in the traditional medicines of many Asian countries. Some important conclusions on the chemotaxonomic and chemosystematic aspects of the genus have also been provided for the first time. Actually, this work represents the first total comprehensive review on this genus., Competing Interests: The authors declare no potential conflict of interests in this work.

An undescribed labdane-like diterpene with a rare spiro-β-lactone function was identified from the ethanol extract of the male cones of the coniferous tree Wollemia nobilis. This spirolabdadienolide (IUPAC name: syn-ent-8(17),13-labdadien-19,18-olid-15-oic acid methyl ester; trivial name: wollemolide), was isolated by means of traditional and high performance chromatography techniques and structurally elucidated through NMR and MS. In addition, six further known metabolites were evidenced in the extract. Wollemolide, which may be considered an additional chemotaxonomic marker, and 4'-O-methyl-scutellarein, a simple flavonoid, had not been isolated in our previous phytochemical study on the same plant organ. This demonstrates how the molecular pattern of a plant species is in continuous movement and changes with the passing of time according to the climate of the year., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In this work, the phytochemical profile of the ethanolic extract of Euphorbia peplus L. collected in Central Italy, was reported. This specimen had never been studied before and the analysis was accomplished by means of Column Chromatography for the separation procedure and by means of NMR Spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry for the identification step. In particular, fourteen compounds were evidenced belonging to five different classes of natural compounds i.e. triterpenoids (pentacyclic and saponin), peculiar diterpenoids (jatrophanes and pepluanes), flavonoids (flavonols), caffeoyl-quinic acids and rare disaccharides. In addition to this, a semi-quantitative analysis on the diterpenoid fraction, by means of NMR Spectroscopy, was also performed in order to provide the real quantities of these compounds in the same fraction and in the total extract. Due to the pronounced chemo variability observed in Euphorbia spp., the availability of a reliable and quick analytical technique, such as that reported in the present study, could be a useful tool in the standardization of plant materials to be used in pharmacological studies or for ethnomedicinal purposes. The technical details for both the general phytochemical analysis and the specific quantitative one, were inserted in this paper. Moreover, the chemotaxonomic and ethnopharmacological relevance of these compounds was also discussed., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This paper reports on the modification of two synthetic steps in the usual protocol used for obtaining EMICORON. EMICORON is a benzo[ ghi ]perylen-diimide, which was synthesized for the first time in our laboratory in 2012, and has shown to have in vivo antitumor activities that interferes with the tumor growth and development using a multi-target mechanism of action. The provided modifications, which involved the reaction times, the reaction conditions, and the work-up procedures, allowed the global yield of the process to be increased from 28% to about 40%. Thus, this new procedure may be more suitable for recovering higher amounts of EMICORON to be used in further preclinical studies.

In this paper, the selective interactions of synthetic derivatives of two natural compounds, berberine and palmatine, with DNA G-quadruplex structures were reported. In particular, the previous works on this subject concerning berberine were further presented and discussed, whereas the results concerning palmatine are presented here for the first time. In detail, these palmatine derivatives were developed by inserting seven different small peptide basic chains, giving several new compounds that have never been reported before. The preliminary studies of the interactions of these compounds with various G-quadruplex-forming sequences were carried out by means of various structural and biochemical techniques, which showed that the presence of suitable side chains is very useful for improving the interaction of the ligands with G-quadruplex structures. Thus, these new palmatine derivatives might act as potential anticancer drugs.

Background: During the last decade, guanine G-rich sequences folding into G-quadruplex (G4) structures have received a lot of attention and their biological role is now a matter of large debate. Rising amounts of experimental evidence have validated several G-rich motifs as molecular targets in cancer treatment. Despite that an increasing number of small molecules has been reported to possess excellent G4 stabilizing properties, none of them has progressed through the drug-development pipeline due to their poor drug-like properties. In this context, the identification of G4 ligands with more favorable pharmacological properties and with a well-defined target activity could be fruitful for anticancer therapy application., Scope of Review: This manuscript outlines the current state of knowledge regarding EMICORON, a G4-interactive molecule structurally and biologically similar, on the one side, to coronene and, on the other side, to a bay-monosubstituted perylene., Major Conclusions: Overall this work evidences that EMICORON, a new promising G4 ligand, possesses a marked antitumoral activity both standing alone and in combination with chemotherapeutics. Moreover, EMICORON represents a good example of multimodal class of antitumoral drug, able to simultaneously affect multiple targets participating in several distinct signaling pathways, thus simplifying the treatment modalities and improving the selectivity against cancer cells., General Significance: Due to the importance of G4 forming sequences in crucial biological processes participating in tumor progression, their successful targeting with small molecules could represent a very important innovation in the development of effective therapeutic strategies against cancer. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "G-quadruplex" Guest Editor: Dr. Concetta Giancola and Dr. Daniela Montesarchio., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)