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In December 2019, a novel coronavirus, COVID-19, was discovered to be the causal agent of a severe respiratory infection named SARS-CoV-2, and it has since been recognized worldwide as a pandemic. There are still numerous doubts concerning its pathogenesis and particularly the underlying causes of the various clinical courses, ranging from severe manifestations to asymptomatic forms, including acute respiratory distress syndrome. The major factor responsible for acute respiratory distress syndrome is the so-called \"cytokine storm,\" which is an aberrant response from the host immune system that induces an exaggerated release of proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines. In this review, we will discuss the role of cytokine storm in COVID-19 and potential treatments with which counteract this aberrant response, which may be valuable in the clinical translation.

Neurodegenerative diseases are debilitating and currently incurable conditions causing severe cognitive and motor impairments, defined by the progressive deterioration of neuronal structure and function, eventually causing neuronal loss. Understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying these disorders are essential to develop therapeutic approaches. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs implicated in gene expression regulation at the post-transcriptional level. Moreover, miRNAs are crucial for different processes, including cell growth, signal transmission, apoptosis, cancer and aging-related neurodegenerative diseases. Altered miRNAs levels have been associated with the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondrial dysfunction and ROS formation occur in many neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases. The crosstalk existing among oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and miRNAs dysregulation plays a pivotal role in the onset and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Based on this evidence, in this review, with a focus on miRNAs and their role in mitochondrial dysfunction in aging-related neurodegenerative diseases, with a focus on their potential as diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Brain cells normally respond adaptively to oxidative stress or bioenergetic challenges, resulting from ongoing activity in neuronal circuits. During aging and in neurodegenerative disorders, these mechanisms are compromised. In fact, neurons show unique age-related changes in functions and metabolism, resulting in greater susceptibility to insults and disease. Aging affects the nervous system as well as other organs. More precisely, as the nervous system ages, neuron metabolism may change, inducing glucose hypometabolism, impaired transport of critical substrates underlying metabolism, alterations in calcium signaling, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Moreover, in neuronal aging, an accumulation of impaired and aggregated proteins in the cytoplasm and in mitochondria is observed, as the result of oxidative stress: reduced antioxidant defenses and/or increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS). These changes lead to greater vulnerability of neurons in various regions of the brain and increased susceptibility to several diseases. Specifically, the first part of the review article will focus on the major neuronal cells' rearrangements during aging in response to changes in metabolism and oxidative stress, while the second part will cover the neurodegenerative disease areas in detail.

The increasing number of elderly individuals has made age-related disorders a significant health concern. Aging is a natural, progressive and gradual phenomenon that leads to irreversible modifications in all molecules, cells, tissues and organs of an organism. Brain senescence is associated with increased risk of developing various neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and stroke. Therefore, finding effective strategies to counteract or delay brain senescence is of great importance for improving the quality of life and health span of the elderly population. Previous studies demonstrated that D-galactose is an appropriate agent to induce aging effects in in vivo and in vitro models. In the present study, we evaluated anti-aging effects of a local Saffron extract (SE from Central Italy) on D-GAL-induced aging model in vitro. Based on promising preliminary results, future studies will focus on testing this specific Crocus sativus stigma preparation in animal models of aging. The potential anti-aging effect was evaluated using assessment of cell proliferation, live-cell cytotoxicity, Beta-Galactosidase (β-GAL), lipid peroxidation, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. Additionally, the effects of SE pretreatment were examined on cell cycle and endoplasmic reticulum stress. Additionally, we employed a novel approach to analyze deeper changes upon saffron extract treatment, which is label-free holotomography. Overall, our findings suggested that pretreatment with SE was protective against D-GAL-induced senescence, by counteracting oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum stress and proteins that regulate cell death. We obtained interesting results since pre-treatment with SE ameliorated overall condition, and for the first time we observed the strong anti-aging effect of SE not only in term of morphology, but also dynamics and total dry mass of cells. Overall, our work introduces a novel and promising approach to counteract or delay brain senescence, potentially improving the quality of life and health span of the elderly population.

Marine habitats offer a rich reservoir of new bioactive compounds with great pharmaceutical potential; the variety of these molecules is unique, and its production is favored by the chemical and physical conditions of the sea. It is known that marine organisms can synthesize bioactive molecules to survive from atypical environmental conditions, such as oxidative stress, photodynamic damage, and extreme temperature. Recent evidence proposed a beneficial role of these compounds for human health. In particular, xanthines, bryostatin, and 11-dehydrosinulariolide displayed encouraging neuroprotective effects in neurodegenerative disorders. This review will focus on the most promising marine drugs’ neuroprotective potential for neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. We will describe these marine compounds’ potential as adjuvant therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, based on their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic properties.

Retinal disorders are leading causes of blindness and are due to an imbalance between reactive oxygen species and antioxidant scavenger (in favor of pro‐oxidant species) or a disruption of redox signaling and control. Indeed, it is well known that oxidative stress is one of the leading causes of retinal degenerative diseases. Different approaches using nutraceuticals resulted in protective effects in these disorders. This review will discuss the impact of oxidative stress in retinal neurodegenerative diseases and the potential strategies for avoiding or counteracting oxidative damage in retinal tissues, with a specific focus on taurine. Increasing data indicate that taurine may be effective in slowing down the progression of degenerative retinal diseases, thus suggesting that taurine can be a promising candidate for the prevention or as adjuvant treatment of these diseases. The mechanism by which taurine supplementation acts is mainly related to the reduction of oxidative stress. In particular, it has been demonstrated to improve retinal reduced glutathione, malondialdehyde, superoxide dismutase, and catalase activities. Antiapoptotic effects are also involved; however, the protective mechanisms exerted by taurine against retinal damage remain to be further investigated. Increasing data indicate that taurine supplement may be effective in slowing down the progression of retinal diseases (including glaucoma, AMD, and DR), thus suggesting that taurine can be a promising candidate for the prevention or as adjuvant treatment of these diseases. The mechanism by which taurine supplementation acts is mainly related to the reduction of oxidative stress. Antiapoptotic effects are also involved; however, the protective mechanisms exerted by taurine against retinal damage remain to be further investigated.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition marked by the gradual deterioration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Oxidative stress has been identified as a key player in the development of PD in recent studies. In the first part, we discuss the sources of oxidative stress in PD, including mitochondrial dysfunction, dopamine metabolism, and neuroinflammation. This paper delves into the possibility of mitigating oxidative stress as a potential treatment approach for PD. In addition, we examine the hurdles and potential of antioxidant therapy, including the challenge of delivering antioxidants to the brain and the requirement for biomarkers to track oxidative stress in PD patients. However, even if antioxidant therapy holds promise, further investigation is needed to determine its efficacy and safety in PD treatment.

Chronic pain is a distressful condition that impacts strongly on people’s health, and, to date, no cure has been found. However, several strategies against pain have been proposed. Promising data regarding the usage of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in combination with gabapentin in pain management laid the foundations for more complex approaches. A recently published study proposed a multimodal approach based on ketoprofen lysine salt (KLS) combined with gabapentin (GABA) in the context of chronic pain. Experiments on in vitro models showed supra-additive effects in modulating key pathways involved in neuropathic pain and gastric mucosal damage. Thus, the co-crystallization of ketoprofen, lysine, and gabapentin led to a new ternary drug-drug co-crystal (KLS-GABA co-crystal) to better take advantage of such effects. The new compound showed positive features in in vitro and in vivo pain models, particularly at the gastrointestinal level. To better understand the gastric impact of the co-crystal we chose to analyze proteomic fluctuations that occur in an in vitro model of gastric epithelium upon ethanol injury, aiming to observe the gastric effects of KLS-GABA co-crystal’s administration in comparison with KLS or GABA alone or co-administered as in the multimodal approach. Thus, we performed a 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) to compare proteomes from lysates of NCI-N87 cells, chosen as model of gastric epithelium. Among all the localized spots (n = 117), the differentially abundant ones have been filtered and excised (n = 24) to perform mass spectrometry. A total of 414 non-redundant proteins have been found in the excised spots analyzed. A Gene Ontology-based enrichment analysis identified the proteins involved in biological processes, cellular components, and pathways. We then compared the 2DE findings with the western blot analysis confirming the differential proteomic fluctuations in the model. The methodology described here provides a broader picture of the effects of KLS, GABA, and KLS-GABA co-crystal administration in the ethanol-gastric injury model, identifying processes not revealed by other studies by showing proteomic changes and related mechanisms in detail, particularly via modulation of the oxidative stress-related GSTP1 which suggests the higher gastric tolerability of KLS-GABA co-crystal in the analyzed model highlighting its clinical reliability.

Huntington’s Disease (HD) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of a CAG triplet repeat in the HTT gene, resulting in the production of an aberrant huntingtin (Htt) protein. The mutant protein accumulation is responsible for neuronal dysfunction and cell death. This is due to the involvement of oxidative damage, excitotoxicity, inflammation, and mitochondrial impairment. Neurons naturally adapt to bioenergetic alteration and oxidative stress in physiological conditions. However, this dynamic system is compromised when a neurodegenerative disorder occurs, resulting in changes in metabolism, alteration in calcium signaling, and impaired substrates transport. Thus, the aim of this review is to provide an overview of the cell’s answer to the stress induced by HD, focusing on the role of oxidative stress and its balance with the antioxidant system.

Many anti-cancer drugs, such as taxanes, platinum compounds, vinca alkaloids, and proteasome inhibitors, can cause chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). CIPN is a frequent and harmful side effect that affects the sensory, motor, and autonomic nerves, leading to pain, numbness, tingling, weakness, and reduced quality of life. The causes of CIPN are not fully known, but they involve direct nerve damage, oxidative stress, inflammation, DNA damage, microtubule dysfunction, and altered ion channel activity. CIPN is also affected by genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors that modulate the risk and intensity of nerve damage. Currently, there are no effective treatments or prevention methods for CIPN, and symptom management is mostly symptomatic and palliative. Therefore, there is a high demand for better understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in CIPN, as well as the development of new biomarkers and therapeutic targets. This review gives an overview of the current knowledge and challenges in the field of CIPN, focusing on the biological and molecular mechanisms underlying this disorder.