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The plant-derived polyphenol curcumin has been used in promoting health and combating disease for thousands of years. Its therapeutic effects have been successfully utilized in Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine in order to treat inflammatory diseases. Current results from modern biomolecular research reveal the modulatory effects of curcumin on a variety of signal transduction pathways associated with inflammation and cancer. In this context, curcumin’s antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumorigenic, and even anti-metastatic activities are discussed. On the cellular level, the reduced activity of several transcription factors (such as NFkB or AP-1) and the suppression of inflammatory cytokines, matrix degrading enzymes, metastasis related genes and even microRNAs are reported. On functional levels, these molecular effects translate into reduced proliferative, invasive, and metastatic capacity, as well as induced tumor cell apoptosis. All these effects have been observed not only in vitro but also in animal models. In combination with anti-neoplastic drugs like Taxol, kinase inhibitors, and radiation therapy, curcumin potentiates the drugs’ therapeutic power and can protect against undesired side effects. Natural plant-derived compounds like curcumin have one significant advantage: They do not usually cause side effects. This feature qualifies curcumin for primary prevention in healthy persons with a predisposition to cancer, arteriosclerosis, or chronic inflammatory diseases. Nonetheless, curcumin is considered safe, although potential toxic effects stemming from high dosages, long-term intake, and pharmacological interactions with other compounds have yet to be assessed. This Special Issue examines in detail and updates current research on the molecular targets, protective effects, and modes of action of natural plant-derived compounds and their roles in the prevention and treatment of human diseases.

brain ischemia --- curcumin --- Alzheimer’s disease --- neurodegeneration --- amyloid --- tau protein --- autophagy --- mitophagy --- apoptosis --- genes --- glioblastoma multiforme --- autophagy --- mitophagy --- curcumin --- chaperone-mediated autophagy --- Akt/mTOR signaling --- transmission electron microscopy --- Curcuma longa --- turmeric tuber --- Zingiberaceae --- TLC bioautography --- antimicrobial agents --- ImageJ --- TLC-MS --- hydrostatic counter-current chromatography --- centrifugal partition chromatography --- curcumin --- death receptor --- apoptosis --- curcumin --- anticancer --- structure activity relationship --- cellular pathway --- mechanism of action --- delivery system --- wound --- wound healing --- diet --- nutrition --- micronutrients --- macronutrients --- curcumin --- amino-acids --- vitamins --- minerals --- curcumin --- oxidative metabolites --- inflamm-aging --- cancer --- metabolic reprogramming --- direct protein binding --- IL-17 --- STAT3 --- SHMT2 --- ageing --- anti-cancer --- autophagy --- microbiota --- senescence --- senolytics --- curcumin --- transthyretin --- amyloidosis --- protein aggregation --- protein misfolding --- drug discovery --- curcumin --- renal cell cancer --- tumor growth --- tumor proliferation --- cell cycling --- curcumin --- reflux esophagitis --- gastroprotection --- gastric ulcer --- Helicobacter pylori --- gastric cancer --- curcumin --- complementary medicine --- cancer treatment --- supportive care --- antioxidants --- anti-inflamation --- ulcerative colitis --- Crohn’s disease --- necrotizing enterocolitis --- curcumin --- inflammatory bowel disease --- curcumin --- silica --- chitosan --- nanoparticles --- anti-tumor --- antioxidant activity --- n/a

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The papers reported here will contribute to proposing new insights into the mechanisms of several conditions, as well as suggesting new diagnostic alternatives and therapeutic targets in widespread pathologies such inflammation and inflammatory-based diseases. The discovery of the new is, as always, anchored in recourse to the old.

nuciferine --- inflammation --- PPARs --- IL-6 --- TNF-? --- inflammation --- iso-?-acids --- microglia --- tau --- tauopathy --- acute lung injury --- Portulaca oleracea --- inflammation --- inflammation --- nitric oxide --- macrophage --- NF-?B --- lupane-type triterpene --- black tea polyphenol --- depression --- inflammation --- memory --- microglia --- neuroprotection --- theaflavins --- cytokines --- resveratrol --- endometriosis --- anti-inflammatory --- inflammatory disease --- lipopolysaccharide --- solid lipid nanoparticle --- curcumin --- antineuroinflammation --- toxicity --- SEM --- inflammation --- short-term high-fat diet --- juçara --- nutraceutical food --- liver --- adipose tissue --- Alnus sibirica --- oregonin --- hirsutanonol --- enzymatic hydrolysis --- antioxidant --- anti-inflammatory --- Tagetes patula L. --- chronic nonbacterial prostatitis --- metabolomics --- energy metabolism --- network pharmacology --- ammonium glycyrrhizinate --- docking --- long-lasting effect --- nociception --- inflammation --- Nardostachys chinensis --- nardochinoid B --- nitric oxide --- inducible nitric oxide synthase --- heme oxygenase-1

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Polyamines are ubiquitous polycations essential for all cellular life. The most common polyamines in eukaryotes, spermine, spermidine, and putrescine, exist in millimolar intracellular concentrations that are tightly regulated through biosynthesis, catabolism, and transport. Polyamines interact with, and regulate, negatively charged macromolecules, including nucleic acids, proteins, and ion channels. Accordingly, alterations in polyamine metabolism affect cellular proliferation and survival through changes in gene expression and transcription, translation, autophagy, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. Dysregulation of these multifaceted polyamine functions contribute to multiple disease processes, thus their metabolism and function have been targeted for preventive or therapeutic intervention. The correlation between elevated polyamine levels and cancer is well established, and ornithine decarboxylase, the rate-limiting biosynthetic enzyme in the production of putrescine, is a bona fide transcriptional target of the Myc oncogene. Furthermore, induced polyamine catabolism contributes to carcinogenesis that is associated with certain forms of chronic infection and/or inflammation through the production of reactive oxygen species. These and other characteristics specific to cancer cells have led to the development of polyamine-based agents and inhibitors aimed at exploiting the polyamine metabolic pathway for chemotherapeutic and chemopreventive benefit. In addition to cancer, polyamines are involved in the pathologies of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, parasitic and infectious diseases, wound healing, ischemia/reperfusion injuries, and certain age-related conditions, as polyamines are known to decrease with age. As in cancer, polyamine-based therapies for these conditions are an area of active investigation. With recent advances in immunotherapy, interest has increased regarding polyamine-associated modulation of immune responses, as well as potential immunoregulation of polyamine metabolism, the results of which could have relevance to multiple disease processes. The goal of this Special Issue of Medical Sciences is to present the most recent advances in polyamine research as it relates to health, disease, and/or therapy.

polyamine transport inhibitor --- Drosophila imaginal discs --- difluoromethylorthinine --- DFMO --- polyamine --- cancer --- metabolism --- difluoromethylornithine --- polyamine transport inhibitor --- pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma --- curcumin --- diferuloylmethane --- ornithine decarboxylase --- polyamine --- NF-?B --- chemoprevention --- carcinogenesis --- polyphenol --- ornithine decarboxylase --- polyamines --- untranslated region --- polyamines --- ?-difluoromethylornithine --- polyamine transport system --- melanoma --- mutant BRAF --- spermine --- spermidine --- putrescine --- polyamine metabolism --- mast cells --- eosinophils --- neutrophils --- M2 macrophages --- airway smooth muscle cells --- Streptococcus pneumoniae --- polyamines --- pneumococcal pneumonia --- proteomics --- capsule --- complementation --- metabolism --- cadaverine --- polyamines --- ornithine decarboxylase --- difluoromethylornithine --- eflornithine --- DFMO --- African sleeping sickness --- hirsutism --- colorectal cancer --- neuroblastoma --- aging --- atrophy --- autophagy --- oxidative stress --- polyamines --- skeletal muscle --- spermidine --- spermine oxidase --- transgenic mouse --- immunity --- T-lymphocytes --- B-lymphocytes --- tumor immunity --- metabolism --- epigenetics --- autoimmunity --- polyamines --- ornithine decarboxylase --- polyamine analogs --- spermidine/spermine N1-acetyl transferase --- spermine oxidase --- bis(ethyl)polyamine analogs --- breast cancer --- MCF-7 cells --- transgenic mice --- polyamines --- MYC --- protein synthesis in cancer --- neuroblastoma --- protein expression --- antizyme 1 --- ornithine decarboxylase --- CRISPR --- human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) --- cell differentiation --- DFMO --- ornithine decarboxylase --- osteosarcoma --- polyamines --- polyamines --- polyamine metabolism --- antizyme --- antizyme inhibitors --- ornithine decarboxylase --- Snyder-Robinson Syndrome --- spermine synthase --- X-linked intellectual disability --- polyamine transport --- spermidine --- spermine --- transglutaminase

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Development of strategies to assist the movement of poorly permeable molecules across biological barriers has long been the goal of drug delivery science. In the last three decades, there has been an exponential increase in advanced drug delivery systems that aim to address this issue. However, most proprietary delivery technologies that have progressed to clinical development are based on permeation enhancers (PEs) that have a history of safe use in man. This Special Issue entitled “Transmucosal Absorption Enhancers in the Drug Delivery Field” aims to present the current state-of-the-art in the application of PEs to improve drug absorption. Emphasis is placed on identification of novel permeation enhancers, mechanisms of barrier alteration, physicochemical properties of PEs that contribute to optimal enhancement action, new delivery models to assess PEs, studies assessing safety of PEs, approaches to assist translation of PEs into effective oral, nasal, ocular and vaginal dosage forms and combining PEs with other delivery strategies.

absorption enhancers --- sugar-based surfactants --- biocompatibility studies --- transmucosal drug delivery --- intestinal permeation enhancers --- sodium cholate (NaC) --- N-dodecyl-?-D-maltoside (DDM) --- small intestine --- enterocyte --- brush border --- tryptophan --- oral delivery --- insulin --- GLP-1 --- intestinal absorption --- amino acid --- cell-penetrating peptide --- combined microsphere --- chitosan --- cyclodextrin --- nasal delivery --- nose to brain transport --- penetration enhancer --- nasal formulation --- in vivo studies --- nose to brain delivery --- antiepileptic drug --- drug delivery --- block copolymers --- thermogel system --- chitosan derivatives --- amphiphilic polymers --- polymeric micelles --- quaternization --- curcumin --- intestinal delivery --- mucoadhesiveness --- cervicovaginal tumors --- cationic functionalization --- imatinib --- nanocrystals --- in situ hydrogel --- bioenhancer --- cytochrome P450 --- drug absorption enhancer --- efflux --- metabolism --- P-glycoprotein --- pharmacokinetic interaction --- tight junction --- Aloe vera --- gel --- whole leaf --- absorption enhancement --- Caco-2 --- confocal laser scanning microscopy --- F-actin --- FITC-dextran --- tight junctions --- transepithelial electrical resistance --- permeation enhancer --- oral delivery --- formulation --- permeability --- safety --- simulated intestinal fluid --- hydrophobization --- epithelium --- compound 48/80 --- chitosan --- nanoparticles --- mast cell activator --- vaccine adjuvant --- nasal vaccination --- absorption enhancer --- antimicrobial peptide --- Caco-2 --- claudin --- cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) --- drug delivery --- intestinal epithelial cells --- KLAL --- PN159 --- tight junction modulator --- oral macromolecule delivery --- oral peptides --- sodium caprate --- salcaprozate sodium --- epithelial permeability --- epithelial transport --- nasal permeability --- nose-to-brain --- simvastatin --- nanocapsules --- mucoadhesion --- CNS disorders --- chitosan --- nasal --- pulmonary --- drug administration --- absorption enhancers --- nanoparticle --- and liposome --- absorption enhancer --- gemini surfactant --- intestinal absorption --- poorly absorbed drug --- Caco-2 cells --- PTH 1-34 --- teriparatide --- nasal delivery --- pharmacokinetics --- osteoporosis --- man --- sheep --- clinical trial --- preclinical --- Caco-2 --- intestinal absorption --- nanomedicine --- nanoparticle --- oral delivery --- transferrin --- ocular drug delivery --- cornea --- penetration enhancers --- ocular conditions --- ophthalmology --- permeation enhancers --- absorption modifying excipients --- oral delivery --- nasal delivery --- ocular delivery --- vaginal delivery --- transmucosal permeation