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Neuroinflammation is an important contributor to pathogenesis of age-related neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. Accumulating evidence indicates that inhibition of microglia-mediated neuroinflammation may become a reliable protective strategy for neurodegenerative processes. Flavonoids, widely distributed in the vegetable kingdom and in foods such as honey, have been suggested as novel therapeutic agents for the reduction of the deleterious effects of neuroinflammation. The present study investigated the potential protective effect of a honey flavonoid extract (HFE) on the production of pro-inflammatory mediators by lipopolysaccharide-stimulated N13 microglia. The results show that HFE significantly inhibited the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-1β. The expressions of iNOS and the production of reactive oxygen intermediates (ROS) were also significantly inhibited. Accordingly, the present study demonstrates that HFE is a potent inhibitor of microglial activation and thus a potential preventive-therapeutic agent for neurodegenerative diseases involving neuroinflammation.

We studied the influence of six edaphic biostimulants/biofertilizers (BSs) manufactured by the pH-stat method from different sewage sludge (SS): SS1 (an anaerobic mature sludge, one year old), SS2 (an aerobic young sludge, without maturation) and SS3 (an aerobic mature sludge, four months old), not previously autoclaved (A) and autoclaved (B), by analysing their effects on soil biological properties. Soil enzymatic activities were measured at 1, 3, 5, 7, 15, 30 and 60 days of the incubation period, whereas the 16S rDNA-DGGE profiles were determined at 0, 5 and 60 days. The enzymatic activities were significantly stimulated. The highest stimulation was found in the B2 treatment followed by B3, A2, A3, B1 and A1 treatments. Increasing the number of lower molecular weight proteins in the BS enhances the stimulation of soil enzymatic activities. The application of BS caused at 5 days of the incubation period temporal variations in the soil bacterial community structure.

Due to the important contribution that it makes to human nutrition, maize is one of the most widely-consumed cereals in the world. There is, therefore, high demand for fertilizers that will maintain maize production at both high yield and quality levels. The objective of this work was to study the effect of foliar fertilization using a biostimulant, obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis from chicken feathers, on the productivity and quality of maize crops (Zea mays, L. cv PR32W86 Pioneer), located in Trujillanos (Extremadura, Spain), over two consecutive seasons.Foliar biostimulant/biofertilizer was applied three times each season and at two rates (3.6 and 7.2 l ha -1 ). At the higher rate and for both seasons, foliar fertilization significantly increased the leaf concentrations of macro-and micronutrients, while grain protein content and yield increased by 26% and 14%. These results suggest that the foliar use of this biostimulant could be of great interest to the farmer for improving both maize crop yield and quality.

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