Extensive research has been carried out during the last few decades, providing a detailed account of thousands of discovered phytochemicals and their biological activities that have the potential to be exploited for a wide variety of medicinal purposes. These phytochemicals, which are pharmacologically important for clinical use, primarily consist of polyphenols, followed by terpenoids and alkaloids. There are numerous published reports indicating the primary role of phytochemicals proven to possess therapeutic potential against several diseases. However, not all phytochemicals possess significant medicinal properties, and only some of them exhibit viable biological effects. Naringenin, a flavanone found in citrus fruits, is known to improve immunity, repair DNA damage, and scavenge free radicals. Despite the very low bioavailability of naringenin, it is known to exhibit various promising biological properties of medicinal importance, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. This review focuses on the various aspects related to naringenin, particularly its physicochemical, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic properties. Furthermore, various pharmacological activities of naringenin, such as anticancer, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective, cardioprotective, nephroprotective, and gastroprotective effects, have been discussed along with their mechanisms of action.

This decade has seen the beginning of ground-breaking conceptual shifts in the research of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which acknowledges risk elements and the evolving wide spectrum of complicated underlying pathophysiology among the range of diverse neurodegenerative diseases. Significant improvements in diagnosis, treatments, and mitigation of AD are likely to result from the development and application of a comprehensive approach to precision medicine (PM), as is the case with several other diseases. This strategy will probably be based on the achievements made in more sophisticated research areas, including cancer. PM will require the direct integration of neurology, neuroscience, and psychiatry into a paradigm of the healthcare field that turns away from the isolated method. PM is biomarker-guided treatment at a systems level that incorporates findings of the thorough pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disorders as well as methodological developments. Comprehensive examination and categorization of interrelated and convergent disease processes, an explanation of the genomic and epigenetic drivers, a description of the spatial and temporal paths of natural history, biological markers, and risk markers, as well as aspects about the regulation, and the ethical, governmental, and sociocultural repercussions of findings at a subclinical level all require clarification and realistic execution. Advances toward a comprehensive systems-based approach to PM may finally usher in a new era of scientific and technical achievement that will help to end the complications of AD.

With the increase in the expectancy of the life span of humans, neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) have imposed a considerable burden on the family, society, and nation. In defiance of the breakthroughs in the knowledge of the pathogenesis and underlying mechanisms of various NDs, very little success has been achieved in developing effective therapies. This review draws a bead on the availability of the nutraceuticals to date for various NDs (Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, vascular cognitive impairment, Prion disease, Spinocerebellar ataxia, Spinal muscular atrophy, Frontotemporal dementia, and Pick’s disease) focusing on their various mechanisms of action in various in vivo and in vitro models of NDs. This review is distinctive in its compilation to critically review preclinical and clinical studies of the maximum phytochemicals in amelioration and prevention of almost all kinds of neurodegenerative diseases and address their possible mechanism of action. PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library searches were used for preclinical studies, while ClinicalTrials.gov and PubMed were searched for clinical updates. The results from preclinical studies demonstrate the efficacious effects of the phytochemicals in various NDs while clinical reports showing mixed results with promise for phytochemical use as an adjunct to the conventional treatment in various NDs. These studies together suggest that phytochemicals can significantly act upon different mechanisms of disease such as oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptotic pathways, and gene regulation. However, further clinical studies are needed that should include the appropriate biomarkers of NDs and the effect of phytochemicals on them as well as targeting the appropriate population.

In recent years, organizations around the globe have begun measuring the engagement level of employees in order to improve productivity and profitability. Employee engagement has the potential to significantly affect employee retention and loyalty. To explore pharmacists' perceptions of the organizational support and impact of resilience and perceived organizational support on employee engagement in a stressful and competitive work environment. We carried out a cross-sectional survey of 81 pharmacists, who were selected as a random sample in Saudi Arabia. Those pharmacists were assigned in highly competitive jobs within organizations such as pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and pharmaceutical distributors. We used the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), and the Perceived Organizational Support Scale (POS) to collect the data, which then was analyzed using the descriptive and analytical tests and multiple logistic regressions in IBM® SPSS® version 24.0. Eighty one out of 100 surveys were collected back with responses-the response rate was 81% (n = 81). We obtained moderate levels of perceived organizational support and resilience; means were 4.6 ± 0.8 and 3.2 ± 0.45, respectively. Demographic variables, resilience, and perceived organizational support predicted were approximately 29.2%, 29.6%, and 36.2%, respectively, of the variance in employee engagement. We also found a significant correlation between the pharmacists' perceptions of organizational support and their engagement (β = 0.31, p < 0.05), but no statistically significant relationship between resilience and employee engagement. This study showed how pharmacists' perceptions of organizational support are related to their engagement in the workplace, demonstrating a significant relationship between perceived organizational support and employee engagement.

In case of studies associated with human genetics, genomics, and pharmacogenetics the genomic DNA is extracted from the buccal cells, whole blood etc. Several methods are exploited by the researchers to extract DNA from the whole blood. One of these methods, which utilizes cell lysis and proteolytic properties of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and proteinase K respectively, might also be called SDS-PK method. It does not include any hazardous chemicals such as phenol or chloroform and is inexpensive. However, several researchers report the same method with different formulas and conditions. During our experiments with whole blood DNA extraction we experienced problems such as protein contamination, DNA purity and yield when followed some SDS-PK protocols reported elsewhere. A260/A280 and A260/A230 ratios along with PCR amplification give a clear idea about the procedure that was followed to extract the DNA. In an effort to increase the DNA purity from human whole blood, we pointed out some steps of the protocol that play a crucial role in determining the extraction of high quality DNA.

Physalis angulata L. belongs to the family Solanaceae and is distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions. Physalis angulata leaf and fruit extracts were assessed for in vitro anticancer, antioxidant activity, and total phenolic and flavonoid content. The GC-MS technique investigated the chemical composition and structure of bioactive chemicals reported in extracts. The anticancer activity results revealed a decrease in the percentage of anticancer cells’ viability in a concentration- and time-dependent way. We also noticed morphological alterations in the cells, which we believe are related to Physalis angulata extracts. Under light microscopy, we observed that as the concentration of ethanolic extract (fruit and leaves) treated HeLa cells increased, the number of cells began to decrease.