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As one of the oldest plants cultivated by humans, hemp used to be banned in the United States but returned as a legal crop in 2018. Since then, the United States has become the leading hemp producer in the world. Currently, hemp attracts increasing attention from consumers and scientists as hemp products provide a wide spectrum of potential functions. Particularly, bioactive peptides derived from hemp proteins have been proven to be strong antioxidants, which is an extremely hot research topic in recent years. However, some controversial disputes and unknown issues are still underway to be explored and verified in the aspects of technique, methodology, characteristic, mechanism, application, caution, etc. Therefore, this review focusing on the antioxidant properties of hemp proteins is necessary to discuss the multiple critical issues, including in vitro structure-modifying techniques and antioxidant assays, structure-activity relationships of antioxidant peptides, pre-clinical studies on hemp proteins and pathogenesis-related molecular mechanisms, usage and potential hazard, and novel advanced techniques involving bioinformatics methodology (QSAR, PPI, GO, KEGG), proteomic analysis, and genomics analysis, etc. Taken together, the antioxidant potential of hemp proteins may provide both functional food benefits and phytotherapy efficacy to human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background This study was the first human validation of the gram-positive bacterial DNA polymerase IIIC target in patients with Clostridioides difficile infection. The primary objectives were to assess clinical cure rates and adverse events (AEs). Secondary objectives were to evaluate plasma/fecal pharmacokinetics, microbiologic eradication, microbiome and bile acid effects, and sustained clinical cure (SCC) with ibezapolstat. Methods This single-arm, open-label, phase 2a study enrolled adults with C. difficile infection at 4 US centers. Patients received ibezapolstat 450 mg orally every 12 hours for 10 days and followed for an additional 28 days to assess study objectives. Results Ten patients with a mean (standard deviation [SD]) age of 49 [15] years were enrolled. Seven AEs were reported classified as mild-moderate. Plasma levels of ibezapolstat ranged from 233 to 578 ng/mL while mean (SD) fecal levels were 416 (494) µg/g stool by treatment day 3 and >1000 µg/g stool by days 8–10. A rapid increase in alpha diversity in the fecal microbiome was noted after starting ibezapolstat therapy, which was maintained after completion of therapy. A proportional decrease in Bacteroidetes phylum was observed (mean change [SD], −10.0% [4.8%]; P  = .04) with a concomitantly increased proportion of Firmicutes phylum (+14.7% [5.4%]; P  = .009). Compared with baseline, total primary bile acids decreased by a mean (SD) of 40.1 (9.6) ng/mg stool during therapy (P  < .001) and 40.5 (14.1) ng/mg stool after completion of therapy (P  = .007). Rates of both initial clinical cure and SCC at 28 days were 100% (10 of 10 patients). Conclusions In this phase 2a study, 10 of 10 patients achieved SCC, demonstrated favorable pharmacokinetics, minimal AEs, and beneficial microbiome and bile acids results. These results support continued clinical development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glyphosate is an active ingredient in most herbicides utilized for the purpose of weed control and desiccation on cereal and other grain crops in the U.S. and globally. Glyphosate residues in these products are causing public health concerns regarding its exposure. This review focuses on glyphosate applications for grain crops and contamination in relevant products. Topics include: brief history of glyphosate, glyphosate safety issues and health concerns, regulations regarding glyphosate maximum residue limits (MRLs), glyphosate quantification and residue analysis, its degradation during grain and food processing, and water contamination. Although herbicide degradation is reported during post-harvest grain processing, there lacks consensus to support glyphosate degradation in cereal grains through these processes. Animal trials found that high doses of glyphosate damaged the organs, reproduction and nerve systems; however, limited human evidence supports the carcinogenicity of glyphosate exposure on humans. Due to primary application of glyphosate in agriculture, glyphosate has recovered from environmental samples such as water. Overall, glyphosate residues in grains and foods were below the current MRLs. More studies are needed to further elucidate any health-related concerns pertaining to glyphosate exposure and consumption, degradation of glyphosate during grain storage and processing, as well as its long-term safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]