Natural Psychoplastogens As Antidepressant Agents

Natural estrogen as an antidepressant for women.

Recent well-controlled studies suggest that estrogen has antidepressant actions in perimenopausal women. Estrogen may also have antidepressant actions in postpartum women and across the life cycle for women who are resistant to treatment with various antidepressants. The question, however, of which depressed women to treat with antidepressants, which with estrogen, and which with both remains u...

Actinopyga lecanora Hydrolysates as Natural Antibacterial Agents

Actinopyga lecanora, a type of sea cucumber commonly known as stone fish with relatively high protein content, was explored as raw material for bioactive peptides production. Six proteolytic enzymes, namely alcalase, papain, pepsin, trypsin, bromelain and flavourzyme were used to hydrolyze A. lecanora at different times and their respective degrees of hydrolysis (DH) were calculated. Subsequent...

Natural polyphenols as anti-inflammatory agents.

Celiac Disease is a worldwide spread condition affecting 1:100-1:200 individuals. It is a permanent food intolerance to ingested gluten in genetically predisposed subjects. In this review we analyze the biochemical markers of the disease going from laboratory findings to histology passing through genetics. Gluten intolerance is a unique model of autoimmune disease in which we can recognize the ...

Natural Products as Sources of Antitumor Agents

Natural Products as Therapeutic Agents for Schistosomiasis

Schistosomiasis (known as Bilharziasis) is the disease caused by a blood born fluke (trematode) of the genus Schistosoma. The intermediate hosts of all digenetic trematodes are snails and schistosomes are no exception. Adult schistosome worms live in a mammalian host, Schistosomiasis is the second most prevalent tropical disease in Africa after malaria and is of great public health and socio-ec...