In this study, the authors investigated the time-dependent cytokine secretion ability of phyto-hemagglutinin (PHA)-activated T cells derived from human peripheral (PB) and cord blood (CB). They hypothesized that the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10, and pro-inflammatory cytokine, TNFα, levels would be higher in PHA-activated T cells obtained from PB as compared to the levels obtained from CB and would decrease over time. Upon PHA-activation, the IL-10 levels were relatively high while the TNFα levels decreased, making these findings applicable in therapeutic treatments e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and organ transplantation.

In this study, the authors investigate whether a new compound has anti-cancer properties. Using the crude extract from the Amaranthus spinosus plant, HeLa cancer cells were assessed for cell death. Findings reveal that the extract (AS20) has cytotoxic effects on HeLa cells. Their findings introduce a new compound to potentially pursue in the hunt for novel cancer treatments.

Psoriasis is a heritable autoimmune disorder characterized by abnormal red and itchy skin patches. The authors study the family of a man with psoriasis. They explore whether the man's children, who do not show any symptoms of psoriasis, demonstrate gene expression consistent with the disease.

Resveratrol is a type of stillbenoid, a phenolic compound produced in plants, that is known for its anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects. Many oligomers of resveratrol have recently been isolated their bioactivities remain unknown. Here, authors compared the bioactivities of resveratrol with natural dimers (ε-viniferin and gnetin H) and trimers (suffruticosol B and C). Results provide preliminary evidence that resveratrol oligomers could be potential preventive or therapeutic agents for cancers and other immune-related diseases

Neuroinflammation and oxidative stress are both known to play a role in the occurrence and severity of seizures. This study tested effects of oxidative stress from seizures by evaluating the longevity, egg-laying, and electroshock resilience of C. elegans. Results revealed that oxidative stress and neuroinflammation diminish longevity and reproductivity while also increasing recovery time after seizures in C. elegans. This research can help lead to future studies and may also lead to finding new therapeutics for epilepsy.

Thymoquinone is a compound of great therapeutic potential and scientific interest. However, its clinical administration and synthetic modifications are greatly limited by its instability in the presence of light. This study employed quantitative 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to identify the effect of solvation on the degradation of thymoquinone under ultraviolet light (UV). It found that the rate of degradation is highly solvent dependent occurs maximally in chloroform.

Alzheimer's disease is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and is characterized by neurodegeneration. Mishra et al. wanted to understand the role of two transport proteins, LRP1 and AQP4, in the neurodegeneration of Alzheimer's disease. They used a model organism for Alzheimer's disease, the nematode C. elegans, and genetic engineering to look at whether they would see a decrease in neurodegeneration if they increased the amount of these two transport proteins. They found that the best improvements were caused by increased expression of both transport proteins, with smaller improvements when just one of the proteins is overly expressed. Their work has important implications for how we understand neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease and what we can do to slow or prevent the progression of the disease.

Dhar and colleagues established a Type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) model in fruit flies, using this model to induce insulin resistance and characterize the effects Resveratrol and Pterostilbene on a number of growth and activity metrics. Resveratrol and Pterostilbene treatment notably overturned the weight gain and glucose levels. The results of this study suggest that Drosophila can be utilized as a model organism to study T2DM and novel pharmacological treatments.

Regenerative medicine has become a mainstay in recent times, and employing stem cells to treat several degenerative, inflammatory conditions has resulted in very promising outcomes. These forms of cell-based therapies are novel approaches to existing treatment modalities. In this study, the authors compared the concentrations of the cytokines PDGF, IL-8, and VEGF between conditioned and spent media of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to evaluate their potential therapeutic properties for wound healing in inflammatory conditions. They hypothesized that conditioned media contains higher concentrations of wound healing cytokines compared to spent media. The authors found that while IL-8 and VEGF were present in highest concentrations in conditioned media, PDGF was present in maximal amounts in spent media.

The purpose of this study was to test the anti-cancer properties and pro-apoptotic effects of the polyherbal formulation MAT20 as a complementary treatment. Moringa oleifera (Moringa), Phyllanthus emblica (Amla) and Ocimum sanctum (Tulsi), these 3 herbs were used to formulate MAT20, which contain phytochemicals that are known to display anti-cancer properties. In this study, we hypothesized that MCF-7 breast cancer cells treated with MAT20 would show increased cytotoxicity compared to its individual plant extracts.