Veeramani Veeramanikandan

Neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases pose significant challenges to individuals’ well-being and healthcare systems. These conditions share common mechanisms like oxidative stress, protein aggregation, inflammation, impaired neurotransmission, mitochondrial dysfunction, and excitotoxicity. Current treatments offer limited efficacy and often come with adverse effects. Mushrooms, recognized as a valuable cultural and nutritional resource, hold therapeutic potential. As a future superfood, they contribute to overall health and well-being. Various mushroom groups have been studied for their bioactive compounds, including polysaccharides, protein complexes, peptides, terpenoids, and phenolic compounds, demonstrating efficacy in different neurodegenerative conditions. Notably, edible mushrooms have shown promise in mitigating beta-amyloid-induced neurotoxicity. This review explores the utilization of mushroom biomolecules in treating neurodegenerative diseases, offering novel research insights with preclinical and clinical trials in both rat model and humans paving the way for the development and utilization of mushroom bioactive compounds as neuroprotective agents.

A variety of bacteria, including beneficial probiotic lactobacilli, produce antibacterials to kill competing bacteria. Lactobacilli secrete antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) called bacteriocins and organic acids. In the food industry, bacteriocins, but even whole cell-free supernatants, are becoming more and more important as bio-preservatives, while, in orthopedics, bacteriocins are introducing new perspectives in biomaterials technologies for anti-infective surfaces. Studies are focusing on Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (previously known as Lactobacillus plantarum). L. plantarum exhibits great phenotypic versatility, which enhances the chances for its industrial exploitation. Importantly, more than other lactobacilli, it relies on AMPs for its antibacterial activity. In this study, Response Surface Methodology (RSM) through a Box–Behnken experimental design was used to estimate the optimal conditions for the production of antibacterials by L. plantarum. A temperature of 35 °C, pH 6.5, and an incubation time of 48 h provided the highest concentration of antibacterials. The initial pH was the main factor influencing the production of antibacterials, at 95% confidence level. Thanks to RSM, the titer of antibacterials increased more than 10-fold, this result being markedly higher than those obtained in the very few studies that have so far used similar statistical methodologies. The Box–Behnken design turned out to be a valid model to satisfactorily plan a large-scale production of antibacterials from L. plantarum.

Therapies based on mesenchymal stem cells have incredible potential for tissue regeneration. Tracking cells and keeping them at the injury site are creating challenges. The cells can be sown into a biocompatible scaffold as a possible remedy. Tissue engineering construction is a difficult, multistep process that requires many variables to be optimized, including the stem cell source, molecular components, scaffold architecture, and a suitable in vivo animal model. In order to locate a suitable regenerative scaffold for delivering stromal cells to regions with greater healing potential, we assessed whether human Wharton's Jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells (WJMSCs) responded on biological membranes. WJMSCs were isolated, characterized, and seeded onto an amniotic membrane-based scaffold. Results obtained in vitro revealed that the seeded scaffolds had a significant impact on a number of critical variables, including seeding effectiveness, cellular dispersion, adhesion, survival, and metabolic activity. The research sheds light on a fresh facet of material behavior and paves the way for the creation of scaffold materials that support tissue regeneration and repair. Furthermore, the methods used herein can be utilized to test other scaffold materials to increase their healing potential with WJMSCs.

Ex vivo expanded decidua-basalis(DB)-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) obtained from single donors have demonstrated therapeutic benefits in in vitro and in vivo studies. In this report, the intravenous and subcutaneous administration of DB-MSCs obtained from five healthy donors was assessed considering clinical grade proliferation, accessibility, and toxic effects in Wistar albino rats. The ability of the obtained DB-MSCs for differentiating, as well as their expression of several cell surface markers and immunomodulatory activities, were all assessed. Clinical standard proliferated cells were administered to animals intravenously and subcutaneously in a series of preclinical models in order to assess their in vivo toxicity, general safety, and tumorigenic possibilities. We established that DB cells exhibit structural and functional traits with MSCs. At various doses supplied intravenously or subcutaneously, the research showed no fatality, abnormal response to therapy, or substantial pathological modifications in the rats. Furthermore, there was no indication of prenatal damage in the same animal species when the rats were repeatedly treated with DBMSCs. Thus, DBMSCs were demonstrated to be non-toxic, non-teratogenic, and non-tumorigenic. To determine whether they can be administrated to human patients without risk, more investigation is recommended.

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) were isolated from Decidua Basalis (DB) and studied for their final cellular product measures, such as safety, purity, quality, quantity, and integrity that are ascribed as cellular products. This research aimed to isolate MSCs for expansion under the clinical scale level with potency, secretion of cytokines, growth factors secreted by DB-MSCs, and their role in wound healing. Placentas isolated from DB were expanded up to the 10th passage, and their characteristics were assessed by phenotypic characterization using a flow cytometer and analyzed for trilineage differentiation by cytochemical staining. Growth factors (GF), interleukins (IL), chemokines, and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP) were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The harvested cells from the placenta yield 1.63–2.45 × 10⁴cells/cm² at P(0), 3.66–5.31 × 10⁴cells/cm² at P(1), 4.01–5.47 × 10⁴cells/cm² at P(2), and 3.94–5.60 × 10⁴cells/cm² at P(10) accordingly; up to 4.74 × 10⁹ P(2) DB-MSCs were harvested within 9–11 days. The viability of the freshly harvested cells was greater than 90% in all cases. It is able to differentiate into chondrocytes, adipocytes, and osteogenic cells, proving their ability to differentiate into a trilineage. Thus, this study put an insight into a secure and conventional approach toward their ability to differentiate into multiple lineages and secrete factors related to immune regulation, making DB-MSCs a potential source in various therapeutic applications.