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Olive (Olea europaea Linn., Fam. Oleaceae) is commonly known as Zaytoon in Mediterranean region. Its fruits and oil are essential components of Mediterranean diets. Olive tree is a prevalent plant species and one of the important cultivated crops of Mediterranean region. Oleuropein is a phenolic constituents of olive, which, along with its related compounds, has been indicated to be majorly responsible for its beneficial effects. Oleuropein is a secoiridoid type of phenolic compound and consists of three structural subunits: hydroxytyrosol, elenolic acid, and a glucose molecule. It is also reported to be the chemotaxonomic marker of olive. The oleuropein is reported to possess a number of biological activities including action against dyslipidemia, antiobesity, antidiabetic, antioxidant, antiatherogenic, antihypertensive, antiinflammatory, and hepatoprotective actions. The scientific evidence supports the role of oleuropein as a potential agent against metabolic syndrome. The present review discusses chemistry of oleuropein along with potential role of oleuropein with reference to pathophysiology of metabolic syndrome.

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Background Alzheimer's disease (AD), a cognitive dysfunction/dementia state amongst the elders is characterized by irreversible neurodegeneration due to varied pathophysiology. Up till now, anti-AD drugs having different pharmacology have been developed and used in clinic. Yet, these medications are not curative and only lowering the AD associated symptoms. Improvement in treatment outcome required drug targeting across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to the central nervous system (CNS) in optimal therapeutic concentration. Nanotechnology based diagnostic tools, drug carriers and theranostics offer highly sensitive molecular detection, effective drug targeting and their combination. Over the past decade, significant works have been done in this area and we have seen very remarkable outocome in AD therapy. Various nanoparticles from organic and inorganic nanomaterial category have successfully been investigated against AD. Conclusion This paper discussed the role of nanoparticles in early detection of AD, effective drug targeting to brain and theranostic (diagnosis and therapy) approaches in AD’s management.

Cancer is a highly heterogeneous disease, both within a single patient as well as between patients, and is the leading cause of death worldwide. A variety of mono and combinational therapies, including chemotherapy, have been developed and refined over recent years for its effective treatment. However, the evolution of chemotherapeutic resistance or multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer has become a major challenge to successful chemotherapy. MDR is a complex process that combines multifaceted non-cellular and cellular-based mechanisms. Research in the area of cancer nanotechnology over the past two decades has reached the point where smartly designed nanoparticles with targeting ligands can aid successful chemotherapy by preferentially accumulating within the tumor region through means of active and passive targeting to overcome MDR, and simultaneously reduce the off-target accumulation of their payload. Such nanoparticle formulations – sometimes termed nanomedicines - are at different stages of cancer clinical trials and show promise in resistant cases. Nanoparticles as chemotherapeutics carriers provide the opportunity to have multiple payloads of drug and/or imaging agents for combinational and theranostic therapy. Moreover, nanotechnology has the potential to combine new treatment strategies, such as near-infrared (NIR), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) into cancer chemotherapy and imaging. Here we discuss the cellular/non-cellular factors that underpin MDR in cancer, and the potential of nanomedicines to combat MDR, along with recent advances in combining nanotechnology with other approaches in cancer therapy.