The present study is aimed to design ethosomes and transethosomes for topical administration of quercetin. To overcome quercetin low bioavailability, scarce solubility and poor permeability that hamper its pharmaceutical use, the drug was loaded in ethosomes and transethosomes based on different concentrations of phosphatidylcholine. Vesicle morphology was studied by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy, while size distribution and quercetin entrapment capacity were evaluated up to 3 months, respectively, by photon correlation spectroscopy and high-performance liquid chromatography. The antioxidant property was studied by photochemiluminescence test. Quercetin release and permeation was investigated in vitro, using Franz cells associated to different membranes. In vitro assays were conducted on human keratinocytes and melanoma cells to study the behavior of quercetin-loaded nano-vesicular forms with respect to cell migration and proliferation. The results evidenced that both phosphatidylcholine concentration and quercetin affected the vesicle size. Quercetin entrapment capacity, antioxidant activity and size stability were controlled using transethosomes produced by the highest amount of phosphatidylcholine. In vitro permeation studies revealed an enhancement of quercetin permeation in the case of transethosomes with respect to ethosomes. Notably, scratch wound and migration assays suggested the potential of quercetin loaded-transethosomes as adjuvant strategy for skin conditions.

Biofilm resistance to antimicrobials is a complex phenomenon, driven not only by genetic mutation induced resistance, but also by means of increased microbial cell density that supports horizontal gene transfer across cells. The prevention of biofilm formation and the treatment of existing biofilms is currently a difficult challenge; therefore, the discovery of new multi-targeted or combinatorial therapies is growing. The development of anti-biofilm agents is considered of major interest and represents a key strategy as non-biocidal molecules are highly valuable to avoid the rapid appearance of escape mutants. Among bacteria, staphylococci are predominant causes of biofilm-associated infections. Staphylococci, especially Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is an extraordinarily versatile pathogen that can survive in hostile environmental conditions, colonize mucous membranes and skin, and can cause severe, non-purulent, toxin-mediated diseases or invasive pyogenic infections in humans. Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) has also emerged as an important opportunistic pathogen in infections associated with medical devices (such as urinary and intravascular catheters, orthopaedic implants, etc.), causing approximately from 30% to 43% of joint prosthesis infections. The scientific community is continuously looking for new agents endowed of anti-biofilm capabilities to fight S. aureus and S epidermidis infections. Interestingly, several reports indicated in vitro efficacy of non-biocidal essential oils (EOs) as promising treatment to reduce bacterial biofilm production and prevent the inducing of drug resistance. In this report were analyzed 89 EOs with the objective of investigating their ability to modulate bacterial biofilm production of different S. aureus and S. epidermidis strains. Results showed the assayed EOs to modulated the biofilm production with unpredictable results for each strain. In particular, many EOs acted mainly as biofilm inhibitors in the case of S. epidermidis strains, while for S. aureus strains, EOs induced either no effect or stimulate biofilm production. In order to elucidate the obtained experimental results, machine learning (ML) algorithms were applied to the EOs’ chemical compositions and the determined associated anti-biofilm potencies. Statistically robust ML models were developed, and their analysis in term of feature importance and partial dependence plots led to indicating those chemical components mainly responsible for biofilm production, inhibition or stimulation for each studied strain, respectively.

Alpha-phellandrene is a very common cyclic monoterpene found in several EOs, which shows extensive biological activities. Therefore, the main focus of the present systematic review was to provide a comprehensive and critical analysis of the state of the art regarding its biological activities and pharmaceutical and food applications. In addition, the study identified essential oils rich in alpha-phellandrene and summarized their main biological activities as a preliminary screening to encourage subsequent studies on their single components. With this review, we selected and critically analyzed 99 papers, using the following bibliographic databases: PubMed, SciELO, Wiley and WOS, on 8 July 2022. Data were independently extracted by four authors of this work, selecting those studies which reported the keyword “alpha-phellandrene” in the title and/or the abstract, and avoiding those in which there was not a clear correlation between the molecule and its biological activities and/or a specific concentration from its source. Duplication data were removed in the final article. Many essential oils have significant amounts of alpha-phellandrene, and the species Anethum graveolens and Foeniculum vulgare are frequently cited. Some studies on the above-mentioned species show high alpha-phellandrene amounts up to 82.1%. There were 12 studies on alpha-phellandrene as a pure molecule showed promising biological functions, including antitumoral, antinociceptive, larvicidal and insecticidal activities. There were 87 research works on EOs rich in alpha-phellandrene, which were summarized with a focus on additional data concerning potential biological activities. We believe this data is a useful starting point to start new research on the pure molecule, and, in particular, to distinguish between the synergistic effects of the different components of the OEs and those due to alpha-phellandrene itself. Toxicological data are still lacking, requiring further investigation on the threshold values to distinguish the boundary between beneficial and toxic effects, i.e., mutagenic, carcinogenic and allergenic. All these findings offer inspiration for potential applications of alpha-phellandrene as a new biopesticide, antimicrobial and antitumoral agent. In particular, we believe our work is of interest as a starting point for further studies on the food application of alpha-phellandrene.

Iran has a rich and diverse cultural heritage, consisting of a complex traditional medicine deeply rooted in the history of the territory that goes back to the Assyrian and Babylonian civilizations. The ethnomedical practices that can be identifiable nowadays derive from the experience of local people who have developed remedies against a wide range of diseases handing down the knowledge from generation to generation over the millennia. Traditional medicine practices represent an important source of inspiration in the process of the development of new drugs and therapeutic strategies. In this context, it is useful to determine the state of the art of ethnomedical studies, concerning the Iranian territory, and of scientific studies on plants used in traditional Iranian medicine. Data regarding 245 plants used in Iranian ethnomedical practices and scientific studies conducted on 89 plants collected in the Iranian territory have been reported. All of the scientific studies here reported draw inspiration from traditional medicine. The World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly called for an intensification of the scientific validation processes of traditional medicines intended as an important contribution to public health in various parts of the world. The process of study and validation of Iranian ethnomedical practices appears to be at an early stage.

This research investigated plant extracts as a source of potential new actives in the nutritional, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical fields. Moringa oleifera, which is extensively known for its nutritional properties, has been investigated in this work by preparation, characterization, and evaluation of the antioxidant (FRAP, DPPH, ORAC, and PCL test), antifungal, photoprotective, and cytotoxicity profile against human melanoma Colo38 cell line of two different extracts (hydroalcoholic and methanolic) and one infusion of dry leaves collected from Paraguay in four distinct harvest times (February, March, April, and May 2017). The outcomes of this study highlight Moringa oleifera as a potential ally to counteract skin aging and oxidative stress, as indicated by the favorable antioxidant profile of the extracts and infusions of Paraguay, which was, in all cases, superior to that provided by the same plant species when collected from Senegal. Moreover, some samples were more efficient in preventing the photodegradation of UVA filter butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane (Avobenzone) compared to commercial filters, thus suggesting an interesting future role as natural additives in sunscreens.

Sorbic acid is the most commonly used preservative in the food industry. The antimicrobial inhibition of sorbic acid could be influenced by its lipophilic nature, which reduces its use in hydrophilic food formulations. Reactions between sorbic acid and glycerol catalyzed by lipases were studied in order to develop a novel sorbic acid derivate with a promising hydrophilic profile. The esterification reaction between sorbic acid and glycerol in a solvent-free system were performed with an immobilized lipase B from Candida antarctica (CALB). The glycerol sorbate product has been tested against S. griseus bacterium and Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast. Results indicate that the esterification of sorbic acid with glycerol does improve its antimicrobial properties against Saccharomyces cerevisie. The reported results demonstrate that esterification can be used as a strategy to improve the antimicrobial activity of sorbic acid.