Eating more berries may reduce cognitive decline in the elderly

In continuation of my update on berries

Eating more berries may reduce cognitive decline in the elderly: Blueberries and strawberries, which are high in flavonoids, appear to reduce cognitive decline in older adults according to a new study. The study results suggest that cognitive aging could be delayed by up to 2.5 years in elderly who consume greater amounts of the flavonoid-rich berries.

WPI Research Shows How Cranberry Juice Fights Bacteria at the Molecular Level

The study tested proanthocyanidins or PACs, a group of flavonoids found in cranberries. Because they were thought to be the ingredient that gives the juice its infection-fighting properties, PACs have been considered a hopeful target for an effective extract. The new WPI report, however, shows that cranberry juice, itself, is far better at preventing biofilm formation, which is the precursor of infection, than PACs alone. The data is reported in the paper "Impact of Cranberry Juice and Proanthocyanidins on the Ability of Escherichia coli to Form Biofilms," which will be published on-line, ahead of print on Oct. 31, 2011, by the journal Food Science and Biotechnology.

WPI Research Shows How Cranberry Juice Fights Bacteria at the Molecular Level

New low-cost combined therapy shows promise against malaria

Molecular parasitologist Stephen Rich at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has led a research team who report a promising new low-cost combined therapy with a much higher chance of outwitting P. falciparum than current modes. He and plant biochemist Pamela Weathers at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), with research physician Doug Golenbock at the UMass Medical School, also in Worcester, have designed an approach for treating malaria based on a new use of Artemisia annua, a plant employed for thousands of years in Asia to treat fever.

"The emergence of resistant parasites has repeatedly curtailed the lifespan of each drug that is developed and deployed," says UMass Amherst graduate student and lead author Mostafa Elfawal. Rich, an expert in the malaria parasite and how it evolves, adds, "We no sooner get the upper hand than the parasite mutates to become drug resistant again. This cycle of resistance to anti-malarial drugs is one of the great health problems facing the world today. We're hoping that our approach may provide an inexpensive, locally grown and processed option for fighting malaria in the developing world."

Currently the most effective malaria treatment uses purified extracts from the Artemisia plant as part of an Artemisinin Combined Therapy (ACT) regime with other drugs such as doxycycline and/or chloroquine, a prescription far too costly for wide use in the developing world. Also, because Artemisia yields low levels of pure artemisinin, there is a persistent worldwide shortage, they add.

The teams's thesis, first proposed by Weathers of WPI, is that locally grown and dried leaves of the whole plant, rich in hundreds of phytochemicals not contained in the purified drug, might be effective against disease at the same time limiting post-production steps, perhaps substantially reducing treatment cost. She says, "Whole-plant Artemisia has hundreds of compounds, some of them not even known yet. These may outsmart the parasites by delivering a more complex drug than the purified form."

Rich adds, "The plant may be its own complex combination therapy. Because of the combination of parasite-killing substances normally present in the plant (artemisinin and flavonoids), a synergism among these constituent compounds might render whole plant consumption as a form of artemisinin-based combination therapy, or what we're calling a 'pACT,' for plant Artemisinin Combination Therapy."

Ref : http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0052746

New low-cost combined therapy shows promise against malaria

Berries, Tea May Cut Men's Odds for Parkinson's: Study

In continuation of my update on the benefits of   berries, apple, tea...

Berries, Tea May Cut Men's Odds for Parkinson's: Study:  - Regularly consumption of food and drink rich in substances called flavonoids, such as berries, apples, tea and red wine, can lower a man's risk of developing Parkinson's disease by 40 percent, new research suggests.

Xanthohumol may help in preventing prostate cancer....

We know that Xanthohumol is a Xanthone (phenylated chalcone or Phenylflavonoid). Xanthohumol was initially detected in an extract(series of Humulones) from Hops (Humulus lupulus) and is present in beer. This prenylated flavonoid has been shown to be a potent bioactive compound. Xanthohumol has been shown to have antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects in human cancer cell lines. It has also been displayed to inhibit diacyl glycerol acetyl transferase (DGAT) and human P450 enzymes. Xanthohumol inhibits the expression of HIF-1a and VEGF under hyposic conditions.

Higher antioxidant activity is reported for prenylchalcones than for prenyl flavanones in the Cu2+- mediated oxidation of LDL, suggesting a relation between structure and function. Also, many chalcones suppress tumor promotion more effectively than flavonoids themselves.

Quantities of xanthohumol found in Hop are to small to have any biological effects under normal consumption amounts. Some of the researchers also claims that it has got anti-HIV-1 activity too.

Now researchers from German Cancer Research Center, in Heidelberg, Germany, have come up with more interesting result, i.e., Xanthohumol may aid in preventing prostate cancer. As per the claim by the authors, the compound blocks the effects of the male hormone testosterone.

Studies to date have shown that xanthohumol blocks the action of estrogen by binding to its receptor, which may lead to prevention of breast cancer. Since testosterone receptors act similarly to that of estrogen — by binding, then stimulating hormone-dependent effects, such as gene expression and cell growth — the researchers examined whether xanthohumol might not only block the effects of estrogen, but also of the male hormone androgen. Xanthohumol prevented the receptor from translocating to the cell nucleus, thus inhibiting its potential to stimulate the secretion of PSA and other hormone-dependent effects.

The interesting part of their research is the molecular modeling results, which showed that xanthohumol directly binds to the androgen receptor structure. The researchers suggest that this compound may have beneficial effects in animals — when they measured the anti-androgenic potential of xanthohumol in a rat model, they found that although xanthohumol was not able to prevent an increase in prostate weight after testosterone treatment, it could reduce testosterone-increased seminal vesicle weight.

As per the claim by the researchers the prostate weights were not changed, xanthohumol still reduced the effects of hormone signaling, such as gene expression, measured in the prostate tissue...

Ref : http://mct.aacrjournals.org/content/1/11/959.full