parastou farshi

Neurodegenerative diseases are comprise a prominent class of neurological diseases. Generally, neurodegenerative diseases cannot be cured, and the available treatments can only regulate the symptoms or delay the disease progression. Among the several factors which could clarify the possible pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, next to aging as the main risk, the dietary related diseases are the most important. Vegetable oils, which are composed of triacyclglycerols as the main components and several other components in a trace amount, are the main part of our diet. This review aims to study the effect of refined or unrefined vegetable oil consumption as a preventive or aiding strategy to slow or halt the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. In the refining process, owing to the chemical materials or severe temperatures of the refining process, removal of the desirable minor components is sometimes unavoidable and thus a worrisome issue affecting physical and neurological health.

Nowadays the importance of vitamins is clear for everyone. However, many patients are suffering from insufficient intake of vitamins. Incomplete intake of different vitamins from food sources due to their destruction during food processing or decrease in their bioavailability when mixing with other food materials, are factors resulting in vitamin deficiency in the body. Therefore, various lipid based nanocarriers such as nanoliposomes were developed to increase the bioavailability of bioactive compounds. Since the function of nanoliposomes containing vitamins on the body has a direct relationship with the quality of produced nanoliposomes, this review study was planned to investigate the several aspects of liposomal characteristics such as size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, and encapsulation efficiency on the quality of synthesized vitamin-loaded nanoliposomes.

Recently emerged coronavirus, known as SARS‑CoV‑2 or Covid‑19 is considered as a serious threat for human health. Due to unavailable specific drugs for this virus, there is an urgent need for supportive cares. Epigenetic immune boosting approaches and developing anti‑inflammatory agents by gut‑associated bioactive macronutrients can be plausible protective cares for COVID‑19. Suitable intake of bioactive macronutrients including prebiotics, fatty acids, proteins and branched‑chain amino acids may result in anti‑viral responses through modulating macrophages and dendritic cells via Toll‑like receptors, decreasing viral load, inactivating the enveloped viruses, increasing the anti‑inflammatory metabolites and inhibiting the proliferation of microbial organisms. Bioactive macronutrients may help in promotion of immunological responses and recovery acceleration against Covid‑19. This review focuses on the mechanisms of bioactive macronutrients and related clinical trials on enveloped viruses with emphasis on gut‑microbiome‑immune axis. Macronutrients and this axis may be conducive strategies to protect host against the viral infection.

In this research, electrospinning method was employed to fabricate food-grade nanofibers (NFs) from chitosan-gelatin combination for stigmasterol encapsulation. The spinnability of mixed chitosan and gelatin solutions was investigated at different polymer ratios, and the physicochemical properties of the NFs were evaluated.

The mixture solution of chitosan (1.5 % w/v) and gelatin (20 % w/v) in acetic acid indicated spinnability under the following conditions: the ratio of 25:75, voltage of 17 kV, and 15 cm capillary collector distance with a flow rate of 0.2 mL/min. Stigmasterol (0.04 % w/v) was incorporated into NFs of chitosan-gelatin at a respective ratio of 25:75.

Encapsulation efficiency (EE) of loaded stigmasterol was found to be 87 ± 5 %. The antioxidant ability of loaded stigmasterol was considerably higher than that observed for free stigmasterol. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results demonstrated the formation of the ultrathin fibers with no bead (with diameters of 217 ± 43 nm). The concentration of polymeric solution and viscosity had a notable effect on the electrospinning efficiency of the chitosan-gelatin-based nanofibers. The thermal stability of chitosan and gelatin fibers was more than that of native gelatin and chitosan. The in vitro stigmasterol release from these nanofibers followed a controlled-release pattern. The released phytosterol from chitosan formula was less than from those without chitosan formula (46 ± 3 % and 96 ± 4 % respectively).

The obtained results suggested that gelatin had a high potential for enhancing the spinnability of chitosan under acidic conditions at optimized concentrations.