Edible berries, a potential source of natural anthocyanin antioxidants, have demonstrated a broad spectrum of biomedical functions. These include cardiovascular disorders, advancing age-induced oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, and diverse degenerative diseases. Berry anthocyanins also improve neuronal and cognitive brain functions, ocular health as well as protect genomic DNA integrity. This chapter demonstrates the beneficial effects of wild blueberry, bilberry, cranberry, elderberry, raspberry seeds, and strawberry in human health and disease prevention. Furthermore, this chapter will discuss the pharmacological benefits of a novel combination of selected berry extracts known as OptiBerry, a combination of wild blueberry, wild bilberry, cranberry, elderberry, raspberry seeds, and strawberry, and its potential benefit over individual berries. Recent studies in our laboratories have demonstrated that OptiBerry exhibits high antioxidant efficacy as shown by its high oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) values, novel antiangiogenic and antiatherosclerotic activities, and potential cytotoxicity towards Helicobacter pylori, a noxious pathogen responsible for various gastrointestinal disorders including duodenal ulcer and gastric cancer, as compared to individual berry extracts. OptiBerry also significantly inhibited basal MCP-1 and inducible NF-kappabeta transcriptions as well as the inflammatory biomarker IL-8, and significantly reduced the ability to form hemangioma and markedly decreased EOMA cell-induced tumor growth in an in vivo model. Overall, berry anthocyanins trigger genetic signaling in promoting human health and disease prevention.

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This clinical practice guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of acute hematogenous osteomyelitis (AHO) in children was developed by a multidisciplinary panel representing Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). This guideline is intended for use by healthcare professionals who care for children with AHO, including specialists in pediatric infectious diseases, orthopedics, emergency care physicians, hospitalists, and any clinicians and healthcare providers caring for these patients. The panel’s recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of AHO are based upon evidence derived from topic-specific systematic literature reviews. Summarized below are the recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of AHO in children. The panel followed a systematic process used in the development of other IDSA and PIDS clinical practice guidelines, which included a standardized methodology for rating the certainty of the evidence and strength of recommendation using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) approach. A detailed description of background, methods, evidence summary and rationale that support each recommendation, and knowledge gaps can be found online in the full text.

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