PMID: 

Stem Cell Res Ther. 2020 Apr 22 ;11(1):159. Epub 2020 Apr 22. PMID: 32321569

Abstract Title: 

Vitamin C improves the therapeutic potential of human amniotic epithelial cells in premature ovarian insufficiency disease.

Abstract: 

BACKGROUND: Human amniotic epithelial cell (hAEC) transplantation holds great promise in treating premature ovarian insufficiency (POI). However, some deficient biological characteristics of hAECs restrict their application.METHODS: Vitamin C (VC) was added to the culture media of hAECs for 2 weeks. Then, the proliferative ability, migration ability, pluripotency, and self-renewal of VC-treated hAECs (VC-hAECs) were determined. Next, hAECs and VC-hAECs were transplanted into the ovaries of cyclophosphamide (CTX)-induced POI model mice. The ovarian function of POI mice was evaluated after transplantation by counting follicle numbers and measuring the blood levels of AMH, E2, and FSH. The rescue effects of VC-hAECs and hAECs were unveiled by coculturing with CTX-damaged human ovarian granulosa cells (hGCs) and analyzing relative marker expression. Additionally, ovarian marker expression and transplant survival were detected in POI mice after transplantation to verify the beneficial effect of VC-hAECs. The cytokine profiles of VC-hAECs and hAECs were revealed by performing a cytokine array and an ELISA to show their paracrine function.RESULTS: Our results indicated that VC promoted the proliferation, migration, pluripotency, and self-renewal of hAECs in vitro. The most effective concentration of VC was 50 μg/ml. After transplantation into the POI mouse model, VC-hAECs reversed ovarian function more powerfully than hAECs. Human granulosa cell marker expression in CTX-damaged hGCs was increased after coculture with VC-hAECs compared with hAECs. In the ovaries of the POI mice, ovarian marker expression was greater after VC-hAEC transplantation than after hAEC transplantation. VC-hAECs showed higher transplant survival than hAECs. Furthermore, VC-hAECs secreted more growth factors than hAECs.CONCLUSION: Treatment with VC promoted the proliferation, migration, self-renewal, and paracrine functions of hAECs. Additionally, VC elevated the therapeutic potential of hAECs in treating POI.

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PMID: 

PharmaNutrition. 2020 Apr 21:100190. Epub 2020 Apr 21. PMID: 32322486

Abstract Title: 

Intravenous Vitamin C for reduction of cytokines storm in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Abstract: 

The recent outbreak of Covid19 has required urgent treatments for numerous patients. No suitable vaccines or antivirals are available for Covid19. The efficiency against Covid19 of WHO therapies of choice, that are two antivirals developed for other pathologies, is controversial. Therefore, alternative approaches are required. Intravenous (IV) Vitamin C (Vit-C) has emerged as one of the other alternatives for this purpose. Here we review the effects of IV Vit-C on the immune system response, the antiviral properties of IV Vit-C, and finally the antioxidant properties of IV Vit-C to specifically address the cytokines' storm characteristic of the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) that occur in the later cycle of the Covid19 infectious disease.

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Scurvy is a devastating disease caused by not enough vitamin C in your body. While it’s often associated with pirates and seafarers from long ago, the disease is making a comeback in the modern day

PMID: 

Spectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc. 2020 Apr 13 ;236:118356. Epub 2020 Apr 13. PMID: 32325408

Abstract Title: 

Interaction between aspirin and vitamin C with human serum albumin as binary and ternary systems.

Abstract: 

Foods generally contain special ingredients which easily to interact with drugs human intaking, thus affecting drug efficacy and excretion, and even cause adverse reactions. Vitamin C (Vit. C) is abundant in fresh fruits and vegetables. It plays a regulatory role in redox metabolism, and its absence can cause scurvy. Aspirin (ASP) can be used to treat many diseases, is the earliest, common and widely used as antipyretic, analgesic and antirheumatic medicine. Human serum albumin (HSA) is the most abundant protein in vertebrate plasma and has the property of combining and transporting endogenous and exogenous substances. In this paper, the effects of Vit. C on the combination of ASP and HSA were studied by multi-spectra and voltammetric approaches. Fluorescence spectra showed that the quenching mode between Vit. C and HSA is dynamic, and the main binding force is hydrophobic force. The quenching mode between ASP and HSA is static one, and the main binding force is hydrogen bond and van der Waals force. For ternary biological system of (HSA-ASP)-Vit. C, the binding constant decreases compared with HSA-Vit. C system. However, for (HSA-Vit. C)-ASP system, the binding constant does not change when compared with binary system of HSA-ASP. Based on the technology combination of voltammetry, infrared, three-dimensional fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD), it is proved that the existence of ASP will influence the binding process of Vit. C to HSA. It could be concluded that taking Vit. C first doesn't affect the absorption of ASP and may be good for health; in contrast, it is not good to take Vit. C immediately as one have just taken ASP, because the existence of ASP reduce the absorption of Vit. C for human body.

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PMID: 

Oncol Rep. 2018 Jan ;39(1):417-424. Epub 2017 Nov 13. PMID: 29138841

Abstract Title: 

Enhanced activated T cell subsets in prostate cancer patients receiving iodine-125 low-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy.

Abstract: 

Radiotherapy (RT) is one of the most important treatments for prostate cancer. Although RT can kill cancer cells through direct and indirect effects of radiation, it occasionally induces an abscopal effect whereby localized radiation treatment is associated with elimination of metastatic cancer at a distance from the irradiated area. Thus, RT may induce an effective antitumor immune response, although the mechanism involved has remained unclear. The present was designed to evaluate this effect of RT in 36 patients with prostate cancer who provided informed consent prior to enrollment in this clinical trial. Peripheral blood samples were collected periodically after low-dose-rate (LDR) prostate brachytherapy, and lymphocyte subsets were analyzed by flow cytometry. The proportion of activated T cells (CD3+HLA-DR+, CD4+HLA-DR+ and CD8+HLA-DR+) in peripheral blood revealed a gradual and bimodal increase after LDR brachytherapy, whereas memory CD8+ T cells bimodally decreased after treatment. The ratios of activated T cells and regulatory T cells gradually increased after the treatment. Thus, LDR brachytherapy was demonstrated to induce effective immune responses in patients. This increase ofactivated T cells may contribute to maintenance of remission and reduction of relapse rates.

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PMID: 

Nutrients. 2019 Jul 17 ;11(7). Epub 2019 Jul 17. PMID: 31319484

Abstract Title: 

Adjuvant Effect of Molecular Iodine in Conventional Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer. Randomized Pilot Study.

Abstract: 

This study analyzes an oral supplement of molecular iodine (I), alone and in combination with the neoadjuvant therapy 5-fluorouracil/epirubicin/cyclophosphamide or taxotere/epirubicin (FEC/TE) in women with Early (stage II) and Advanced (stage III) breast cancer. In the Early group, 30 women were treated with I(5 mg/day) or placebo (colored water) for 7-35 days before surgery. For the Advanced group, 30 patients received Ior placebo, along with FEC/TE treatment. After surgery, all patients received FEC/TE + Ifor 170 days. Isupplementation showed a significant attenuation of the side effects and an absence of tumor chemoresistance. The control, I, FEC/TE, and FEC/TE + Igroups exhibited response rates of 0, 33%, 73%, and 100%, respectively, and a pathologic complete response of 18%, and 36% in the last two groups. Five-year disease-free survival rate was significantly higher in patients treated with the Isupplement before and after surgery compared to those receiving the supplement only after surgery (82% versus 46%). I-treated tumors exhibit less invasive potential, and significant increases in apoptosis, estrogen receptor expression, and immune cell infiltration. Transcriptomic analysis indicated activation of the antitumoral immune response. The results led us to register a phase III clinical trial to analyze chemotherapy + Itreatment for advanced breast cancer.

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PMID: 

BMC Cancer. 2019 Mar 22 ;19(1):261. Epub 2019 Mar 22. PMID: 30902074

Abstract Title: 

Molecular iodine exerts antineoplastic effects by diminishing proliferation and invasive potential and activating the immune response in mammary cancer xenografts.

Abstract: 

BACKGROUND: The immune system is a crucial component in cancer progression or regression. Molecular iodine (I) exerts significant antineoplastic effects, acting as a differentiation inductor and immune modulator, but its effects in antitumor immune response are not elucidated.METHODS: The present work analyzed the effect of Iin human breast cancer cell lines with low (MCF-7) and high (MDA-MB231) metastatic potential under both in vitro (cell proliferation and invasion assay) and in vivo (xenografts of athymic nude mice) conditions.RESULTS: In vitro analysis showed that the 200 μM Isupplement decreases the proliferation rate in both cell lines and diminishes the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) profile and the invasive capacity in MDA-MB231. In immunosuppressed mice, the Isupplement impairs implantation (incidence), tumoral growth, and proliferation of both types of cells. Xenografts of the animals treated with Idecrease the expression of invasion markers like CD44, vimentin, urokinase plasminogen activator and its receptor, and vascular endothelial growth factor; and increase peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma. Moreover, in mice with xenografts, the Isupplement increases the circulating level of leukocytes and the number of intratumoral infiltrating lymphocytes, some of them activated as CD8+, suggesting the activation of antitumor immune responses.CONCLUSIONS: Idecreases the invasive potential of a triple negative basal cancer cell line, and under in vivo conditions the oral supplement of this halogen activates the antitumor immune response, preventing progression of xenografts from laminal and basal mammary cancer cells. These effects allow us to propose iodine supplementation as a possible adjuvant in breast cancer therapy.

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PMID: 

Toxicol In Vitro. 2018 Dec ;53:172-177. Epub 2018 Aug 23. PMID: 30144574

Abstract Title: 

Immunostimulatory effect of Zinc Phthalocyanine derivatives on macrophages based on the pro-inflammatory TNFα and IL1β cytokine production levels.

Abstract: 

In this study, we examined the effect of halogen substitution on the ability of ZnPcs to stimulate or regulate the immune system cells. There have been studies focusing on the usage of Pcs as treatment option against different cancer types. More attention should be paid on their possible positive or negative effects on the immune system for better prognosis rates. We designed and synthesized unique ZnPcs with iodine substitution and further tested their effect on mammalian macrophage cell line. Macrophages are crucial cell types that can define the immune response by cytokine production as well as by antigen presentation to the other immune system cells after phagocytosis of the danger associated molecules. Our results suggest an immunostimulatory role for the iodine substituted ZnPc on macrophages based on the changes in pro-inflammatory cytokine production levels (TNFα, IL1β and IL6). This effect dependent on the presence of iodine; since non-substituted ZnPc did not exert such a stimulatory activity on the macrophages. These results support a possible use of the reagents against the tumor types that would get affected detrimentally by the pro-inflammatory environment.

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PMID: 

Int J Ment Health Nurs. 2020 Apr 20. Epub 2020 Apr 20. PMID: 32314526

Abstract Title: 

Family violence and COVID-19: Increased vulnerability and reduced options for support.

Abstract: 

Family violence refers to threatening or other violent behaviour within families that may be physical, sexual, psychological, or economic, and can include child abuse and intimate partner violence (Peterman et al. 2020, van Gelder et al. 2020). Family violence during pandemics is associated with a range of factors including economic stress, disaster-related instability, increased exposure to exploitative relationships, and reduced options for support (Peterman et al. 2020). Due to the social isolation measures implemented across the globe to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, people living in volatile situations of family violence are restricted to their homes. Social isolation exacerbates personal and collective vulnerabilities while limiting accessible and familiar support options (van Gelder et al. 2020). In many countries, including Australia, we have already seen an increase in demand for domestic violence services and reports of increased risk for children not attending schools (Duncan, 2020); a pattern similar to previous episodes of social isolation associated with epidemics and pandemics (Boddy, Young&O'Leary 2020).

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PMID: 

Thorax. 2020 Apr 21. Epub 2020 Apr 21. PMID: 32317268

Abstract Title: 

Social isolation and loneliness as risk factors for hospital admissions for respiratory disease among older adults.

Abstract: 

Rising hospital admissions due to respiratory disease (RD) are a major challenge to hospitals. This study explored modifiable social risk factors among 4478 older adults from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Data were linked with administrative hospital records and mortality registry data (follow-up 9.6 years) and analysed using survival analysis accounting for competing risks. Living alone and social disengagement but not social contact or loneliness were associated with an increased risk of RD admissions, independent of socio-demographic, health and behaviour factors. Providing support for disengaged adults living alone who are at risk of RD admissions should be explored.

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