Recent patents on biotechnology最新文献

There is a current tendency towards bioactive natural products that can be used in different areas such as food, pharmaceutical, and biomedical. In the last decades, polysaccharides have attracted increasing interest because of their potent nontoxic effects, therapeutic properties, and diversified range of applications. Polysaccharides are complex and heterogeneous macromolecules constituted of different monosaccharides and, in some cases, of glucuronic acid and sulphate groups. Polysaccharides with biological activity can be derived from plants, animals and microorganisms, especially microalgae. Microalgae are considered one of the most promising sources of these compounds that have already proved to have several important biological properties. In this sense, our objective is to elucidate the use of bioactive polysaccharides from microalgae in biomedical applications, emphasizing the biological activity of these compounds. Furthermore, the microalgal biomass production systems and polysaccharides extraction methods were presented and discussed.

COVID-19 pandemic has been depicted to possess a robust association with psychological disorders. SARS-CoV-2 is the most recent virus of the coronavirus family and has the potential to bind the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) receptor. The receptor is mainly present peripherally and to some extent in the brain. Different psychological and neurodegenerative disorders can arise due to the peripheral origin of destruction. These triggers could be inflammatory pathways releasing pro-inflammatory cytokines reaching the brain and causing neuroinflammation. In continuation with traditional viruses, SARS-CoV-2 too might lead to brain diseases like meningitis, encephalitis, etc. Besides, several peripheral hormonal changes like cortisol can influence neurochemical alterations, thereby inflicting mood-related activities and psychological phenomena. In this regard, health care workers, frontline line warriors and relatives of COVID-19 patients can be the secondary victims; however, patients with COVID-19 remain the primary ones prone to neurological health problems. Several strategies like socialization, engagement, physical activity, etc., are well-opted measures to get relief from and check psychiatric disturbances. The worth of this review can be attributed to the understanding of brain-related mechanisms of COVID-19 in the context of its mechanism of action to create the pathology pertaining to brain disorder, precisely psychological devastation. Likewise, its epidemiological relevance has concisely been mentioned. Furthermore, different categories and classes of people prone to psychological deterioration are briefly elaborated on. Lastly, some coping strategies and approaches have been discussed to minimize or combat mental health problems.

Drug discovery and development are critical processes that enable the treatment of wide variety of health-related problems. These are time-consuming, tedious, complicated, and costly processes. Numerous difficulties arise throughout the entire process of drug discovery, from design to testing. Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has recently posed a significant threat to global public health. SARS-Cov-2 and its variants are rapidly spreading in humans due to their high transmission rate. To effectively treat COVID-19, potential drugs and vaccines must be developed quickly. The advancement of artificial intelligence has shifted the focus of drug development away from traditional methods and toward bioinformatics tools. Computer-aided drug design techniques have demonstrated tremendous utility in dealing with massive amounts of biological data and developing efficient algorithms. Artificial intelligence enables more effective approaches to complex problems associated with drug discovery and development through the use of machine learning. Artificial intelligence-based technologies improve the pharmaceutical industry's ability to discover effective drugs. This review summarizes significant challenges encountered during the drug discovery and development processes, as well as the applications of artificial intelligence-based methods to overcome those obstacles in order to provide effective solutions to health problems. This may provide additional insight into the mechanism of action, resulting in the development of vaccines and potent substitutes for repurposed drugs that can be used to treat not only COVID-19 but also other ailments.

Background: There is a potential for longitudinal and horizontal transfer of the cytotoxic effects of cypermethrin, and evidence suggests that date fruit extracts can ameliorate these cytotoxic effects. Thus, the current study evaluated female Wister rats' fertility and pup parameters after mating males treated with cypermethrin and date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera) extract.

Methods: Adult Wistar rats (n = 74; 140 - 207 g) were used to conduct this experiment in two phases: The first phase was a single dose toxicity study (n = 18), while the second phase (n = 56) evaluated female Wister rats' reproductive and pup development parameters after mating with male Wistar rats exposed to date fruit extract and cypermethrin. Male rats were distributed randomly into four groups (n = 7 per group) and administered distilled water (Group I); 60 mg/kg cypermethrin (Group II) to simulate infertility; 250 mg/kg date fruit extract alone (Group III); and date fruit extracts plus 60 mg/kg cypermethrin (Group IV). Treated males were then mated with healthy female rats at a ratio of 1:1. Successfully mated females were appraised for conception and pregnancy rates, gestation length, litter size, and weights at birth, and on days 5, 10, 15, and 21 post-partum, an anogenital distance at day-20, sex ratio, and age of pup when hair growth was evident.

Results: Significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed in litter size and male anogenital distance but not in reproductive performance. Also, the study demonstrated that date fruit extract skewed the sex ratio of offspring to more female than male pups when female Wister rats were mated with males that received date fruit extracts alone or cypermethrin and date fruit extracts. The body weight gain did not differ significantly between the control and cypermethrin-treated groups.

Conclusion: This evidence suggested a longitudinal transfer of the protective effects of date fruit extracts following a weekly exposure of male rats to cypermethrin at 60 mg/kg.

Background: As global awareness regarding climate change and environmental pollution outcomes arise, eco-friendly and negative emission technologies emerge.

Methods: In this scenario, polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA)-accumulating microorganisms play an important role in the transition from the petrochemical-based non-biodegradable polymer to renewable, eco-friendly, and biocompatible materials. More specifically, CO₂ can be converted to biopolymers through photosynthesis by cyanobacteria and algae, posing as a promising technology for renewable material, CO₂, and petroleum-dependence mitigations. However, although many microorganisms can accumulate PHA intracellularly, limitations persist, such as the elevated cost and limited market availability.

Results: Herein is presented a patent-based mapping on technological trends of PHAs production, including its production by microalgae and cyanobacteria using the Questel Orbit Intelligence software (version 1.9.8) in complement with the Espacenet Patent Search database.

Conclusion: The inquiry on PHAs retrieved 34,243 patents filed since 1912, whereas 156 are related to their specific production by photosynthetic microorganisms, evidencing a prospective market for intellectual property.

Background: The use of Lactobacillus probiotics may confer beneficial effects on an individual's health, such as the ability to act against fungi of the genus Candida. There are about 200 species of those yeasts, and they can develop candidiasis infections, which affect about 75% of adult women.

Objective: This study aimed to raise articles that investigated the potential action of several Lactobacillus strains in front of Candida species.

Methods: For this review, 15 articles published between 2015 and 2020 were studied.

Results: The results showed the Lactobacillus species L. paracasei, L. acidophilus, L. helveticus, L. rhamnosus, L. reuteri, and L. gasseri have the potential action to inhibit the growth and quantity of colony-forming units of Candida species in vitro studies. Further, they can reduce the rate of candidiasis recurrence and increase the cure rate, mainly when associated with traditional pharmacotherapy, as observed in vivo studies.

Conclusion: The time of use and the strain of Lactobacillus probiotics can also be determining factors for the efficiency in the treatment against Candida species, suggesting that a long time of use of Lactobacillus probiotics is directly associated with a better result.

Background: Artemia is considered an indispensable live food for rearing many fish and crustacean larvae and can be used in toxicity tests as a safe, practical, and economical method. It is straightforward to create and manipulate; however, many cysts do not hatch as expected.

Methods: A new device was used to hatch Artemia salina. The device includes a tubularshaped reservoir, lid with a central hole, heater with a thermostat, air compressor, three porous stones, funnel-shaped bottom, light source, collection valve, switch, and electrical outlet, which permits better control of temperature and aeration in a single apparatus. Different patent devices were used for comparative analysis.

Results: Hatched eggs of Artemia showed that the device was 97% efficient; in comparison, commercial and other devices hatched approximately less than 80% of the cysts. Although Artemia is an easy-to-handle animal, the device described here facilitates changes in the growth parameters and produces more nauplii larvae.

Conclusion: This paper presents a new device that is effective, compact, and successful for hatching brine shrimp cysts, thereby improving Artemia production.

Background: Beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) is botanically classified as a herbaceous biennial belonging to the Chenopodiaceae family and has several varieties with bulb colors ranging from yellow to red. Peroxidases are widely occurring in organisms including microorganisms, plants, and animals, and have been involved in various physiological and biochemical functions.

Objective: The study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of enzyme extracts from red beet leaves, root pulp, and peel.

Methods: The enzyme extraction involved the homogenization of the sample and filtrate in cold acetone and then the filtrate was homogenized in 0.1M sodium acetate buffer, pH 7. The protein content was determined using the Lowry assay using bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a standard protein. Then, enzymatic activity was determined by peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase, and catalase assays. The patent for biological activity of enzymes was obtained from the Office of Career Development, Haramaya University. The antioxidant activities of the enzyme extract were conducted by using DPPH and hydrogen peroxide free radical scavenging activities.

Results: The result indicated that the Enzymatic activity of crude enzyme extract of red beet leaf, root pulp and peel indicated that significantly the highest total soluble protein (16.68 mg/ml), peroxidase activity (PODA, 111.50 U/ml), polyphenol oxidase activity (PPOA, 170.90 U/ml), polyphenol oxidase specific activity (PPOspa, 10.25 U/mg), catalase activity (CATA, 180.50 U/ml) and catalase specific activity (CATspa, 10.82 U/mg), were recorded for red beet leaf enzyme extract. The antioxidant activity of the enzyme extracts demonstrated that significantly higher DPPH radical scavenging activity of leaf extract (59.16) and peel extract (61.92) were recorded. The Pearson correlation coefficient of enzyme activity parameters and free radical scavenging activities presented that protein content was significantly and positively correlated with CATA, PPOA, and PPOspa. Catalase- specific activity (CATspa) was significant and positively correlated only with HPSA. Peroxidase-specific activity (PODspa) was significant and positively correlated with PODA and DPPH. Based on the plot for principal component PC2 vs. PC1 for D statistics DPPH, PODA, and PODspa have close PC1 and PC2 scores (with vector angle < 90° showing similar/correlated effects.

Conclusion: In this study, B. vulgaris has shown promising peroxidase enzyme activity. Beetroot peel contained higher antioxidant compounds thus promising a more intense utilization of the peels in food and nutraceuticals.

Trans-Himalayan region has been a major component of the India's opulent medicinal plant heritage that encompasses numerous critically endangered plant species. Arnebia euchroma (Royle ex Benth.) Johnston (common name: Ratanjot), a Trans- Himalayan native, is amongst them, and it belongs to the family Boraginaceae. Ratanjot has long been used as a colourant in food and cosmetics besides a major ingredient of traditional remedies prescribed for curing mild constipation, dermatitis, frostbite, and eczema like health disorders. Though principally harvested for its roots, almost all the parts of this plant have been used in pharmaceutical products, food, dyes and beverages since prehistoric times. Its roots are a rich source of naphthoquinone pigment(s) mainly shikonin, acetylshikonin and deoxyshikonin, accountable for its medicinal value as antimicrobial, wound healing, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antioxidant agent(s). Considering the medicinal importance and critically endangered status of this taxon, the need of the hour is to conserve and propagate it for supplying sufficient raw materials for its commercial exploitation.