Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cell Therapeutic Features: The Bridge between the Bench and the Clinic

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are considered a relevant therapeutic product for various clinical applications [...]

Engineering NK Cells for CAR Therapy—Recent Advances in Gene Transfer Methodology

The development of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy has introduced a new and effective strategy to guide and promote the immune response against tumors in the clinic. More recently, in an attempt to enhance its utility, this method has been expanded to novel cell types. One of the more successful variants has proven to be the expression of CARs in Natural Killer (NK) cells (CAR-NK). Gene engineering NK cells to express an exogenous CAR receptor allows the innate anti-tumor ability of NK cells to be harnessed and directed against a target tumor antigen. In addition, the biology of NK cells allows the development of an allogeneic cell therapeutic product useable with most or all patient haplotypes. NK cells cause little or no graft versus host disease (GvHD) and are therefore suitable for development of an “off the shelf” therapeutic product. Initial trials have also shown that CAR-NK cells rarely cause cytokine release syndrome. However, despite their potential NK cells have proven to be difficult to engineer, with high sensitivity to apoptosis and low levels of gene expression. The creation of optimized methods to introduce genes into NK cells will promote the widespread application of CAR-NK in research laboratories and the clinics.

Efficacy and tolerability of a specialized dietary therapeutic product in long-chain and very long-chain fatty acid metabolism disorders in children

Aim: to assess the efficacy and tolerability of a specialized dietary therapeutic product in long-chain and very long-chain fatty acid metabolism disorders in children. Patients and Methods: this open-label prospective uncontrolled study enrolled 5 children aged 35 ± 14 months who were diagnosed with longchain and very long-chain fatty acid metab-olism disorders. Diet therapy using the tested product (“Monogen”) was prescribed and corrected after the analysis of actual diet. Physical development and neurological status were evaluated, blood levels of specific acyl-carnitines (С16-ОН, С18-ОН, С18:1-ОН, С14:1, С14) were measured. Tolerability was assessed by the rate and severity of adverse events (including allergic reactions) and the changes in vital functions compared to baseline. Patient and doctor satisfaction was evaluated using a questionnaire. Results: children received the tested product throughout the study (30±2 days). The lev-els of acyl-carnitines were within normal ranges in all children. No dyspepsia, allergic reactions, somatic dysfunction, or neurological deviations were reported. Physical exam consistently fell in the range of normal for age. Parents and doctors were fully satisfied with the tested product (“Monogen”). Conclusions: “Monogen” is highly effective for therapeutic feeding of children with long-chain and very long-chain fatty acid metabolism disorders. KEYWORDS: long-chain fatty acid oxidation disorders, β-oxidation of fatty acids, long-chain acyl-coA dehydrogenase deficiency, biallelic mutation, therapeutic feeding. FOR CITATION: Semenova N.A., Shestopalova E.A., Kutsev S.I. Efficacy and tolerability of a specialized dietary therapeutic product in longchain and very long-chain fatty acid metabolism disorders in children. Russian Journal of Woman and Child Health. 2021;4(1):98–102. DOI: 10.32364/2618-8430-2021-4-1-98-102.

In Vitro Evaluation of the Potential Use of Propolis as a Multitarget Therapeutic Product: Physicochemical Properties, Chemical Composition, and Immunomodulatory, Antibacterial, and Anticancer Properties

Propolis is a resin that honeybees produce by mixing saliva and beeswax with exudate gathered from botanical sources. The present in vitro study investigated the potential use of propolis as a multitarget therapeutic product and the physicochemical properties, chemical composition, and immunomodulatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, and anticancer properties of a propolis extract from the northern Morocco region (PNM). Pinocembrin, chrysin, and quercetin were the main phenolic compounds of PNM as measured in HPLC. The PNM showed significant inhibitory effects against all tested Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains and showed high antioxidant activities by scavenging free radicals with IC50 (DPPH = 0.02, ABTS = 0.04, and FRAP = 0.04 mg/ml). In addition, PNM induced a dose-dependent cytostatic effect in MCF-7, HCT, and THP-1 cell lines at noncytotoxic concentrations with IC50 values of 479.22, 108.88, and 50.54 μg/ml, respectively. The production of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) was decreased in a dose-dependent manner in LPS-stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNCs), whereas the production of the anti-inflammatory interleukin-10 (IL-10) was increased in a dose-dependent manner reaching 15-fold compared to the levels measured in untreated PBMNCs. Overall, the results showed that the traditionally known multitarget therapeutic properties of the PNM seem to be mediated, at least in part, through cytostatic, antibacterial, and immunomodulatory effects.