Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease of the brain due to degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN). Glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK-3β) is implicated in the pathogenesis of PD. Therefore, the purpose of the present review was to revise the mechanistic role of GSK-3β in PD neuropathology, and how GSK-3β inhibitors affect PD neuropathology. GSK-3 is a conserved threonine/serine kinase protein that is intricate in the regulation of cellular anabolic and catabolic pathways by modulating glycogen synthase. Over-expression of GSK-3β is also interconnected with the development of different neurodegenerative diseases. However, the underlying mechanism of GSK-3β in PD neuropathology is not fully clarified. Over-expression of GSK-3β induces the development of PD by triggering mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress in the dopaminergic neurons of the SN. NF-κB and NLRP3 inflammasome are activated in response to dysregulated GSK-3β in PD leading to progressive neuronal injury. Higher expression of GSK-3β in the early stages of PD neuropathology might contribute to the reduction of neuroprotective brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Thus, GSK-3β inhibitors may be effective in PD by reducing inflammatory and oxidative stress disorders which are associated with degeneration of dopaminergic in the SN.

Myrtus communis L. (Family: Myrtaceae) is naturally found in the western part of Asia, Southern Europe, and North Africa. It has been reportedly applied in pharmaceutical industry, traditional medicine, cosmetics, spices, and food. Pubmed, Google scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus were utilized to seek out relevant content concerning the therapeutic potential of M. communis. Subsequently, we conducted a review to identity noteworthy updates pertaining to M. communis. Myrtle berries, leaves, seeds, and essential oils are natural sources of several nutrients and bioactive compounds with marked health effects. The chemical analysis showed that M. communis contained oils, alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, coumarins, saponosides, tannins, quinines, and anthraquinones. A pharmacological investigation revealed that M. communis possessed anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, antioxidant, antidiabetic, anticancer, antimutagenic, immunomodulatory, dermatological, cardiovascular, central nervous system, and gastrointestinal protective effects, among numerous other biological effects. This current review focused on the biochemical, pharmacological, therapeutic effects, and various biological activities of different parts of M. communis. It signifies that M. communis is a therapeutic plant with numerous applications in medicine and could be used as a drug isolate based on its safety and effectiveness.

Background:: Vitamin C (VC) is believed to enhance immunity and is regularly integrated as a supplementary agent during several treatments.Objective:: The green (GC) and roasted (RC) coffee (Coffea arabica) aqueous extracts (0, 125, 250 and 500 μg/ml) combined with VC (50 μg/ml) were examined on the cancerous MCF-7 cell line and normal human lymphocytes.Methods:: Neutral red uptake assay, comet assay, immunocytochemical reactivity for protein expression and mRNA expression of apoptosis-related genes were performed.Results:: A significant (P< 0.05) concentration-dependent increase of apoptotic features, such as morphological changes, and abundant nuclear condensation, altered the expression of p53 and caspase-3 mRNA, down-regulation of Bcl-2 protein as well as the acidic autophagosomal vacuolization in treated cells. The oxidative stress and DNA single-strand breaks were noticed too.Conclusion:: These results suggest that coffee in combination with VC undergoes apoptotic anticancer pathway. This supports the integration of coffee and VC as a valuable candidate for anticancer research and treatments.

This study compared the cardioprotective action of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and PUFAs in a rat model of gentamicin (GM)-induced cardiac degeneration. Male Wistar albino rats were randomized into four groups of eight rats each: group I (control group), group II (gentamicin-treated rats receiving gentamicin intraperitoneally (IP) at dose of 100 mg/kg/day for 10 consecutive days), group III (gentamicin and PUFA group receiving gentamicin IP at dose of 100 mg/kg/day for 10 consecutive days followed by PUFAs at a dose of 100 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks), and group IV (gentamicin and MSC group receiving gentamicin IP at dose of 100 mg/kg/day followed by a single dose of MSCs (1 × 10⁶)/rat IP). Cardiac histopathology was evaluated via light and electron microscopy. Immunohistochemical detection of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), caspase-3 (apoptosis), Bcl2, and Bax expression was performed. Moreover, cardiac malonaldehyde (MDA) content, catalase activity, and oxidative stress parameters were biochemically evaluated. Light and electron microscopy showed that both MSCs and PUFAs had ameliorative effects. Their actions were mediated by upregulating PCNA expression, downregulating caspase-3 expression, mitigating cardiac MDA content, catalase activity, and oxidative stress parameters. MSCs and PUFAs had ameliorative effects against gentamicin-induced cardiac degeneration, with MSCs showing higher efficacy compared to PUFAs.

Background: Previous studies have shown that cytomegalovirus (CMV) induced innate immune response via activation of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2). The association between CMV among specific single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the TLR2 gene was also investigated. Objective: This study investigated the relationship between specific SNPs in the TLR2 gene (G>A), TLR2-Arg753Gln (rs5743708), and CMV replication after bone marrow transplantation. Methods: The TLR2-Arg753Gln SNP was genotyped in 181 patients after bone marrow transplantation: 83 and 98 patients with and without CMV infection, respectively. CMV load was determined in serially collected blood samples using real-time PCR. Genotyping was performed using specific sequence primer PCR (SSP-PCR), and the results were confirmed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the PCR-amplified fragments for GG (wild type), GA and AA identification. Results: Roughly, 85% of the patients screened for the presence of the TLR2-Arg753Gln were GG homozygous, and 15% were GA heterozygous; no patients were homozygous for the mutant allele (A). The GA heterozygous allele was more frequent in the CMV-infected group after bone marrow transplantation. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is a novel observation that supports the notion that the functional missense mutation (TLR2-Arg753Gln polymorphism) is possibly associated with CMV replication after bone marrow transplantation. This suggests a role for TLR2 in the innate immune response of human CMV infection in Egyptian bone marrow recipients..