No abstract

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic represents an ongoing healthcare emergency responsible for more than 3.4 million deaths worldwide. COVID-19 is the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, a virus that targets not only the lungs but also the cardiovascular system. COVID-19 can manifest with a wide range of clinical manifestations, from mild symptoms to severe forms of the disease, characterized by respiratory failure due to severe alveolar damage. Several studies investigated the underlying mechanisms of the severe lung damage associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and revealed that the respiratory failure associated with COVID-19 is the consequence not only of acute respiratory distress syndrome but also of macro- and microvascular involvement. New observations show that COVID-19 is an endothelial disease, and the consequent endotheliopathy is responsible for inflammation, cytokine storm, oxidative stress, and coagulopathy. In this review, we show the central role of endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, and oxidative stress in the COVID-19 pathogenesis and present the therapeutic targets deriving from this endotheliopathy.

The human microbiome has emerged as a central research topic in human biology and biomedicine. Current microbiome studies generate high-throughput omics data across different body sites, populations, and life stages. Many of the challenges in microbiome research are similar to other high-throughput studies, the quantitative analyses need to address the heterogeneity of data, specific statistical properties, and the remarkable variation in microbiome composition across individuals and body sites. This has led to a broad spectrum of statistical and machine learning challenges that range from study design, data processing, and standardization to analysis, modeling, cross-study comparison, prediction, data science ecosystems, and reproducible reporting. Nevertheless, although many statistics and machine learning approaches and tools have been developed, new techniques are needed to deal with emerging applications and the vast heterogeneity of microbiome data. We review and discuss emerging applications of statistical and machine learning techniques in human microbiome studies and introduce the COST Action CA18131 “ML4Microbiome” that brings together microbiome researchers and machine learning experts to address current challenges such as standardization of analysis pipelines for reproducibility of data analysis results, benchmarking, improvement, or development of existing and new tools and ontologies.

Edible coatings and films represent an alternative packaging system characterized by being more environment-and customer-friendly than conventional systems of food protection. Research on edible coatings requires multidisciplinary efforts by food engineers, biopolymer specialists and biotechnologists. Entrapment of probiotic cells in edible films or coatings is a favorable approach that may overcome the limitations linked with the use of bioactive compounds in or on food products. The recognition of several health advantages associated with probiotics ingestion is worldwide accepted and well documented. Nevertheless, due to the low stability of probiotics in the food processing steps, in the food matrices and in the gastrointestinal tract, this kind of encapsulation is of high relevance. The development of new and functional edible packaging may lead to new functional foods. This review will focus on edible coatings and films containing probiotic cells (obtaining techniques, materials, characteristics, and applications) and the innovative entrapment techniques use to obtained such packaging.Polymers 2020, 12, 12 2 of 15 are biopolymers, proteins, lipids or composites. Thus, even if they are not consumed with food, they can be more rapidly and easily degraded with respect to plastic materials [5].The main difference between coating and film is in their preparation and application process. Indeed, edible films are usually obtained in parallel to food and then applied to the surface, whereas coatings are directly prepared on food surface [6]. Both coatings and films can entrap live probiotic microorganisms.Due to handling and hygienic limitations, EP can be combined with ecofriendly non-EP [6][7][8].The utilization of films for food preservation dates back to the 12th century in China, where wax was utilized to delay moisture loss from fruits. Sixteen centuries ago, the first edible films made from soymilk were used in Japan for fruits preservation and in order to obtain a shiny surface [9,10]. Due to the narrow variety of materials used to protect fruits and vegetables at that time, no big interest was shown to this type of package. Refrigeration, controlled/modified atmosphere, heat or radiation sterilization, smoking have ever received stronger attention than edible packaging. Of course, food conservation methods have considerably increased and have offered unlimited opportunities to prepare, store and consume any type of food in any season. However, EP can currently be applied to a large variety of food products, with unique, tailored and innovative ways of action than conventional food preservation techniques [1].Among various roles played by EP, physical protection [11] amplification and protection of food properties, carriers of food additives and prolongation of shelf life are the most important ones.EP may be categorized according to the class of their constituent material. Hydrocolloids (polysaccharides and proteins) and lipids are the most used materials. Among these, polysaccharides are the easiest to pu...

Iron deficiency in the human body is a global issue with an impact on more than two billion individuals worldwide. The most important functions ensured by adequate amounts of iron in the body are related to transport and storage of oxygen, electron transfer, mediation of oxidation-reduction reactions, synthesis of hormones, the replication of DNA, cell cycle restoration and control, fixation of nitrogen, and antioxidant effects. In the case of iron deficiency, even marginal insufficiencies may impair the proper functionality of the human body. On the other hand, an excess in iron concentration has a major impact on the gut microbiota composition. There are several non-genetic causes that lead to iron deficiencies, and thus, several approaches in their treatment. The most common methods are related to food fortifications and supplements. In this review, following a summary of iron metabolism and its health implications, we analyzed the scientific literature for the influence of iron fortification and supplementation on the gut microbiome and the effect of probiotics, prebiotics, and/or synbiotics in iron absorption and availability for the organism.