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The commercial production of artemisinin and other valuable bioactive natural products depends on their plant sources, which may provide variable amounts of the compound depending on plant variety, the period of the year, abiotic stress and other factors. Therefore, it requires a method for large-scale, low-cost natural product quantification. The standard HPLC and UHPLC methods are accurate but the analysis are costly and require different optimization for structurally-diverse products. An alternative method using NMR with TBS-pyrrole as a novel "universal" reference affords a simple, fast method to quantify many different products. The method is shown with antimalarial artemisinin, whose yield using conventional and novel extraction procedures was determined by standard UHPLC-MS procedures and by our NMR protocol, with similar quantification results. The novel reference compound does not interfere with artemisinin or extract signals, only needs a small amount of the extract, is accurate and operationally simple, and a large volume of samples can be processed in little time. Moreover, bioactive terpenes, steroids, alkaloids, aromatic compounds, and quinones, among others, were quantified in a model vegetal extract with this "universal" reference with excellent accuracy., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 García-García, Hernández, Santana-Mayor, Jiménez-Arias and Boto.)

Introduction: Artemisinin is a secondary metabolite well-known for its use in the treatment of malaria. It also displays other antimicrobial activities which further increase its interest. At present, Artemisia annua is the sole commercial source of the substance, and its production is limited, leading to a global deficit in supply. Furthermore, the cultivation of A. annua is being threatened by climate change. Specifically, drought stress is a major concern for plant development and productivity, but, on the other hand, moderate stress levels can elicit the production of secondary metabolites, with a putative synergistic interaction with elicitors such as chitosan oligosaccharides (COS). Therefore, the development of strategies to increase yield has prompted much interest. With this aim, the effects on artemisinin production under drought stress and treatment with COS, as well as physiological changes in A. annua plants are presented in this study., Methods: Plants were separated into two groups, well-watered (WW) and drought-stressed (DS) plants, and in each group, four concentrations of COS were applied (0, 50,100 and 200 mg•L-1). Afterwards, water stress was imposed by withholding irrigation for 9 days., Results: Therefore, when A. annua was well watered, COS did not improve plant growth, and the upregulation of antioxidant enzymes hindered the production of artemisinin. On the other hand, during drought stress, COS treatment did not alleviate the decline in growth at any concentration tested. However, higher doses improved the water status since leaf water potential (YL) improved by 50.64% and relative water content (RWC) by 33.84% compared to DS plants without COS treatment. Moreover, the combination of COS and drought stress caused damage to the plant's antioxidant enzyme defence, particularly APX and GR, and reduced the amount of phenols and flavonoids. This resulted in increased ROS production and enhanced artemisinin content by 34.40% in DS plants treated with 200 mg•L-1 COS, compared to control plants., Conclusion: These findings underscore the critical role of ROS in artemisinin biosynthesis and suggest that COS treatment may boost artemisinin yield in crop production, even under drought conditions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 García-García, Matos, Feijão, Cruz de Carvalho, Boto, Marques da Silva and Jiménez-Arias.)

Introduction and Aim: Anastomosis leak occurs in 1-19% of colorrectal surgeries. Our objective was to present the first Mexican case series on colorrectal surgery using indocyanine green fluorescence angiography to evaluate perfusion prior to carrying out the anastomosis., Materials and Methods: A retrospective, analytic, descriptive study was conducted. We studied the case records of consecutive patients that underwent colorrectal surgery with indocyanine green angiography performed by the same group of colorrectal surgeons., Results: Twenty-one case records were reviewed. Eleven (52.3%) of the patients were women, mean patient age was 57 years (38-82), and mean body mass index was 25 kg/m 2 (17-34). Fifteen (71.4%) patients were diagnosed with malignant disease. Indocyanine green angiography changed our therapeutic decision in three (14.2%) patients. Two colorrectal anastomoses (14.2%) were performed at fewer than 5 cm from the anal verge and 13 (61.9%) were performed at more than 5 cm from the anal verge. Three of the anastomoses were ileocolic (14.2%), two were coloanal (9.5%), and one was ileoanal (4.7%). There were six (28.5%) complications, no cases of anastomotic leak, and no complications associated with the use of indocyanine green. The mortality rate was 0%., Conclusion: The present case series is the first on colorrectal surgery conducted in Mexico using indocyanine green fluorescence angiography, with excellent results., (Copyright © 2020 Asociación Mexicana de Gastroenterología. Published by Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.)

Water is indispensable for the life of any organism on Earth. Consequently, osmotic stress due to salinity and drought is the greatest threat to crop productivity. Ongoing climate change includes rising temperatures and less precipitation over large areas of the planet. This is leading to increased vulnerability to the drought conditions that habitually threaten food security in many countries. Such a scenario poses a daunting challenge for scientists: the search for innovative solutions to save water and cultivate under water deficit. A search for formulations including biostimulants capable of improving tolerance to this stress is a promising specific approach. This review updates the most recent state of the art in the field.

Introduction and Aim: Anastomotic leak occurs in 1-19% of colorrectal surgeries. Our objective was to present the first Mexican case series on colorrectal surgery using indocyanine green fluorescence angiography to evaluate perfusion prior to carrying out the anastomosis., Materials and Methods: A retrospective, analytic, descriptive study was conducted. We studied the case records of consecutive patients that underwent colorrectal surgery with indocyanine green angiography performed by the same group of colorrectal surgeons., Results: Twenty-one case records were reviewed. Eleven (52.3%) of the patients were women, mean patient age was 57 years (38-82), and mean body mass index was 25 kg/m 2 (17-34). Fifteen (71.4%) patients were diagnosed with malignant disease. Indocyanine green angiography changed our therapeutic decision in three (14.2%) patients. Two colorrectal anastomoses (14.2%) were performed at fewer than 5 cm from the anal verge and 13 (61.9%) were performed at more than 5 cm from the anal verge. Three of the anastomoses were ileocolic (14.2%), two were coloanal (9.5%), and one was ileoanal (4.7%). There were six (28.5%) complications, no cases of anastomotic leak, and no complications associated with the use of indocyanine green. The mortality rate was 0%., Conclusion: The present case series is the first on colorrectal surgery conducted in Mexico using indocyanine green fluorescence angiography, with excellent results., (Copyright © 2020 Asociación Mexicana de Gastroenterología. Publicado por Masson Doyma México S.A. All rights reserved.)

Biostimulants (BSs) are probably one of the most promising alternatives nowadays to cope with yield losses caused by plant stress, which are intensified by climate change. Biostimulants comprise many different compounds with positive effects on plants, excluding pesticides and chemical fertilisers. Usually mixtures such as lixiviates from proteins or algal extracts have been used, but currently companies are interested in more specific compounds that are capable of increasing tolerance against abiotic stress. Individual application of a pure active compound offers researchers the opportunity to better standarise formulations, learn more about the plant defence process itself and assist the agrochemical industry in the development of new products. This review attempts to summarise the state of the art regarding various families of organic compounds and their mode/mechanism of action as BSs, and how they can help maximise agricultural yields under stress conditions aggravated by climate change., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2020 García-García, García-Machado, Borges, Morales-Sierra, Boto and Jiménez-Arias.)