Lettuce is one of the most famous leafy vegetables worldwide with lots of applications from food to other specific uses. There are different types in the lettuce group for consumers to choose from. Additionally, lettuce is an excellent source of bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, carotenoids, and chlorophyll with related health benefits. At the same time, nutrient composition and antioxidant compounds are different between lettuce varieties, especially for green and red lettuce types. The benefit of lettuce consumption depends on its composition, particularly antioxidants, which can function as nutrients. The health benefits rely on their biochemical effect when reaching the bloodstream. Some components can be released from the food matrix and altered in the digestive system. Indeed, the bioaccessibility of lettuce is measuring the quantity of these compounds released from the food matrix during digestion, which is important for health-promoting features. Extraction of bioactive compounds is one of the new trends observed in lettuce and is necessarily used for several application fields. Therefore, this review aims to demonstrate the nutritional value of lettuce and its pharmacological properties. Due to their bioaccessibility and bioavailability, the consumer will be able to comprehensively understand choosing a healthier lettuce diet. The common utilization pattern of lettuce extracted nutrients will also be summarized for further direction.

Background During the last few decades, patients worldwide have been interested in using alternative medicine in treating diseases to avoid the increased side effects of chemical medications. Green coffee is unroasted coffee seeds that have higher amounts of chlorogenic acid compared to roasted coffee. Green coffee was successfully used to protect against obesity, Alzheimer disease, high blood pressure and bacterial infection. Methods This study aimed to investigate the probable protective activity of the green coffee methanolic extract, silymarin and their combination on CCl4-induced liver toxicity in male rats. Thirty Sprague – Dawley male albino rats were divided into 5 groups; control negative (G1) just got the vehicle (olive oil) and the other four groups received CCl4 dissolved in olive oil through an intraperitoneal injection and were divided into untreated control positive group (G2), the third group (G3) was treated with green coffee methanolic extract, the fourth group (G4) was treated with silymarin, and the fifth group (G5) was treated with a combination of green coffee methanolic extract and silymarin. Results In the positive control group treated with CCl4 (G2), the CCl4-induced toxicity increased lipid peroxidation, IL-6, kidney function parameters, liver function enzymes, total cholesterol, triglycerides and low-density lipoproteins, and decreased irisin, antioxidants, CYP450 and high-density lipoprotein levels. Hepatic tissues were also injured. However, treating the injured rats in G3, G4 and G5 significantly improved the altered parameters and hepatic tissues. Conclusions Green coffee methanolic extract, silymarin, and their combination succeeded in protecting the male rats against CCl4 hepatotoxicity due to their antioxidant activity. Effect of green coffee methanolic extract mixed with silymarin in G5 was more efficient than that of green coffee methanolic extract in G3 or silymarin in G4.

The green biosynthesis of metal nanoparticles of already explored phytomedicines has many advantages such as enhanced biological action, increased bioavailability, etc. In this direction, keeping in view the peculiar medicinal value of Tropaeolum majus L., we synthesized its silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) by adopting eco-friendly and cost-effective protocol by using methanolic and aqueous extract of T. majus. The synthesized AgNPs were characterized by using several techniques including UV spectroscopic analysis, FTIR analysis, and atomic force microscopy. The methanolic/aqueous extracts of T. majus and synthesized AgNPs were assessed for antioxidant potential and antimicrobial effect. The preliminary screening showed that the T. majus extracts have variety of reducing phytochemicals including tannins, terpenoids, flavonoids, and cardiac glycosides. The green synthesis of AgNPs was confirmed by the appearance of sharp peak at 430–450 nm in the UV-Visible spectra. The FTIR spectral analysis of extract and AgNPs exhibited that peaks at 2947.23, 2831.50, 2592.33, 2522.89, and 1,411 cm−1 disappeared in the spectra of FTIR spectra of the AgNPs, indicating carboxyl and hydroxyl groups are mainly accountable for reduction and stabilization of AgNPs. Atomic force microscopic scan of the synthesized AgNPs confirmed its cylindrical shape with size of 25 µm. The extracts and AgNPs were investigated for antioxidant potential by DPPH-free radical essay, which showed that aqueous extract has significant and dose-independent antioxidant activity; however, the synthesized AgNPs showed decline in antioxidant activity. The extracts and synthesized AgNPs were also evaluated for antibacterial activity against Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus subtilis. Neither extract nor AgNPs were active against Klebsiella pneumonia. The aqueous and methanolic extract exhibited inhibition against Bacillus subtilis and their synthesized AgNPs were active against Staphylococcus aureus. Our data concluded that the extracts of T. majus have necessary capping and reducing agents which make it capable to develop stable AgNPs. The aqueous extract of T. majus has potential antioxidant effect; however, the AgNPs did not enhance its free radical scavenging effect. The bacterial strains’ susceptibility of the extract and AgNPs was changed from Bacillus subtilis to Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. The biological action of AgNPs is changed in case of antibacterial activity which means that AgNPs might change the specificity of T. majus and likewise other drugs.

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A small library of truncated/lipid-conjugated neuromedin U (NmU) analogs was synthesized and tested in vitro using an intracellular calcium signaling assay. The selected, most active analogs were then tested in vivo, and showed potent anorexigenic effects in a diet-induced obese (DIO) mouse model. The most promising compound, NM4-C16 was effective in a once-weekly-dose regimen. Collectively, our findings suggest that short, lipidated analogs of NmU are suitable leads for the development of novel anti-obesity therapeutics.