Aspartame is a sweetener introduced to replace the commonly used sucrose. It was discovered by James M. Schlatter in 1965. Being 180–200 times sweeter than sucrose, its intake was expected to reduce obesity rates in developing countries and help those struggling with diabetes. It is mainly used as a sweetener for soft drinks, confectionery, and medicines. Despite its widespread use, its safety remains controversial. This narrative review investigates the existing literature on the use of aspartame and its possible effects on the human body to refine current knowledge. Taking to account that aspartame is a widely used artificial sweetener, it seems appropriate to continue research on safety. Studies mentioned in this article have produced very interesting results overall, the current review highlights the social problem of providing visible and detailed information about the presence of aspartame in products. The studies involving the impact of aspartame on obesity, diabetes mellitus, children and fetus, autism, neurodegeneration, phenylketonuria, allergies and skin problems, its cancer properties and its genotoxicity were analyzed. Further research should be conducted to ensure clear information about the impact of aspartame on health.

Radiolabeled peptides are a relatively new, very specific radiotracer group, which is still expanding. This group is very diverse in terms of peptide size. It contains very small structures containing several amino acids and whole antibodies. Moreover, radiolabeled peptides are diverse in terms of the binding aim and therapeutic or diagnostic applications. The majority of this class of radiotracers is utilized in oncology, where the same structure can be used in therapy and diagnostic imaging by varying the radionuclide. In this study, we collected new reports of radiolabeled peptide applications in diagnosis and therapy in oncology and other fields of medicine. Radiolabeled peptides are also increasingly being used in rheumatology, cardiac imaging, or neurology. The studies collected in this review concern new therapeutic and diagnostic procedures in humans and new structures tested on animals. We also performed an analysis of clinical trials, which concerns application of radiolabeled peptides and antibodies that were reported in the clinicaltrials.gov database between 2008 and 2018.

Memantine is used in Alzheimer’s disease treatment as a non-competitive modern-affinity strong voltage-dependent N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist. The fundamental role of these receptors is to bind glutamate: the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, believed to play a crucial role in neuronal plasticity and learning mechanisms. Glutamate transmission plays an important role in all internal CNS structures and maintains the physiological state of the brain. Excessive glutamate transmission can lead to enlarged calcium ion current which may cause neurotoxicity; however, insufficient transmission can drastically alter the information flow in neurons and the brain, potentially causing schizophrenia-like symptoms by replacing lost information with completely new stimuli. Hence, it is possible that the modulation of NMDA activity may give rise to pathophysiological states. Available literature and clinical trials indicate that memantine is well tolerated by patients, with very few and light side effects. There is a belief that memantine may also benefit other conditions such as schizophrenia and depression.

As lifespan tendency is increasing, age-related diseases are becoming a burden to the society and health care system. Mostly incurable, constitute a subject of researchers' work. In this review, the insight into the problem of Alzheimer Disease (AD) diagnostics will be given. The unquestionable diagnosis is possible only during a post-mortem examination. AD is known as one of the forms of dementia and its differentiation from mild cognitive impairments has to be improved. Despite a great diagnostic progress during last decades, medicine still needs more accurate tools for an early detection of this incurable disease. It is hoped that this strategy will enable an administration of more aggressive therapy preventing AD development. Nowadays, pharmacotherapy is based mainly on symptomatic treatment which is not able to reverse pathological changes caused by the disease. Hence, more accurate identifying testing and monitoring methods are crucial to reveal new therapeutic targets. The most popular techniques present for detecting local brain functional changes use nuclear medicine imaging devices: Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT). Constant process of improving is not possible without new radiotracers. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a tool for an assessment of structural changes in brain tissue. However, providing satisfying results, these methods are not completely specific and accurate. As very promising hallmarks of AD enhancing high accuracy of testing, biomarkers – tau tangles and β-amyloid plaques have been found. At the present time they are being used only as an additional examination, one day they may become a gold standard of AD diagnostics.