A personalized approach to chemoradiation is important in reducing its potential side effects and identifying a group of patients prone to toxicity. MicroRNAs have been shown to have a predictive potential for radiotoxicity. The goal of the study was to test if levels of miRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of glioblastoma patients are associated with toxicity and to identify the peak time point for toxicity. MicroRNA-10b/21/34a levels were measured in 43 patients with and without toxicity, at baseline, at the 15th, and at the 30th fraction by Real-Time quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction. MicroRNA-10b/21 levels increased with toxicity grade (p = 0.014; p = 0.013); miR-21/34a levels were significantly different between patients with and without toxicity at the 15th fraction (p = 0.030; p = 0.045), while miR-34a levels significantly changed during treatment (p < 0.001). All three miRNAs showed a significantly high positive correlation with one another. MiR-34a might be considered as a predictive factor for toxicity due to its changes during treatment, and differences between the groups with and without toxicity; miR-10b might be used to predict toxicity; miR-10b/21 might be used for predicting the grade of toxicity in GB patients.

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Honey mushroom, <i>Armillaria mellea</i>, is an edible and medicinal lignicolous basidiomycete. In this study, we investigated the chemical composition and bioactive properties of its methanolic and acetonic extracts. The chemical characterization of extracts was done with the HPLC-DAD-MS/MS method. The results showed that potassium was the most abundant mineral; chlorogenic acid was the most abundant polyphenol; malic acid was the most abundant organic acid; and among carbohydrates, the most abundant were sorbitol, glucose, fructose, and saccharose. Antioxidative activity was assessed by DPPH (IC₅₀ of the methanolic extract was 608.32 &mu;g/mL and of the acetonic extract 595.71 &mu;g/mL) and reducing power assays (the results ranged between 0.034 and 0.102 &mu;g/mL). Total phenolic content was determined as gallic acid equivalent (methanolic extract: 4.74 mg GAE/g; acetonic extract: 5.68 mg GAE/g). The microdilution assay was used to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of the extracts, and the results ranged from 1.25 to 20 mg/mL. The antidiabetic effect of the extracts was tested by the &alpha;-amylase (the results ranged from 34.90&#37; to 41.98&#37;) and &alpha;-glucosidase assays (the results were in the range of 0.55-2.79&#37;). The neuroprotective activity was explored by the acetylcholinesterase inhibition assay (the results were in the range of 1.94-7.76&#37;). The microtetrazolium assay was used to investigate the cytotoxic activity of the extracts (the IC₅₀ values ranged from 212.06 to &#62; 400 &mu;g/mL). Although some results suggest that some activities of the extracts are relatively moderate, the honey mushroom can still be considered an excellent source of food and bioactive compounds with medicinal value.

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