Restoring the structures and functions of tissues along with organs in human bodies is a topic gathering attention nowadays. These issues are widely discussed in the context of regenerative medicine. Excipients/delivery systems play a key role in this topic, guaranteeing a positive impact on the effectiveness of the drugs or therapeutic substances supplied. Advances in materials engineering, particularly in the development of hydrogel biomaterials, have influenced the idea of creating an innovative material that could serve as a carrier for active substances while ensuring biocompatibility and meeting all the stringent requirements imposed on medical materials. This work presents the preparation of a natural polymeric material based on pullulan modified with silymarin, which belongs to the group of flavonoids and derives from a plant called Silybum marianum. Under UV light, matrices with a previously prepared composition were crosslinked. Before proceeding to the next stage of the research, the purity of the composition of the matrices was checked using Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Incubation tests lasting 19 days were carried out using incubation fluids such as simulated body fluid (SBF), Ringer's solution, and artificial saliva. Changes in pH, electrolytic conductivity, and weight were observed and then used to determine the sorption capacity. During incubation, SBF proved to be the most stable fluid, with a pH level of 7.6-7.8. Sorption tests showed a high sorption capacity of samples incubated in both Ringer's solution and artificial saliva (approximately 350%) and SBF (approximately 300%). After incubation, the surface morphology was analyzed using an optical microscope for samples demonstrating the greatest changes over time. The active substance, silymarin, was released using a water bath, and then the antioxidant capacity was determined using the Folin-Ciocâlteu test. The tests carried out proved that the material produced is active and harmless, which was shown by the incubation analysis. The continuous release of the active ingredient increases the biological value of the biomaterial. The material requires further research, including a more detailed assessment of its balance; however, it demonstrates promising potential for further experiments.

• Klíčová slova
• flavonoids, polyethylene glycol, polymers, pullulan, silymarin,
• MeSH
• glukany * chemie   MeSH
• koncentrace vodíkových iontů MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nosiče léků * chemie   MeSH
• polyethylenglykoly * chemie   MeSH
• silymarin * chemie   MeSH
• spektroskopie infračervená s Fourierovou transformací MeSH
• systémy cílené aplikace léků metody   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• glukany * MeSH
• nosiče léků * MeSH
• polyethylenglykoly * MeSH
• pullulan MeSH Prohlížeč
• silymarin * MeSH

Milk thistle [Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn.] achieved a significant increase in interest over the past few years from local and foreign pharmaceutical corporations. The silymarin complex of constituents extracted from milk thistle achenes provides compelling health benefits primarily thanks to antioxidant activities and hepatoprotective effects. However, consuming mycotoxin-contaminated plant material can cause immunosuppression and hepatotoxic problems. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a method for the determination of mycotoxin content in milk thistle. Fusarium toxins as T-2 and HT-2 toxins in grown milk thistle harvested from a breeding station in the Czech Republic during 2020-2021 were studied. The analysis of T-2 and HT-2 toxins was performed by UPLC-MS/MS after immunoaffinity columns EASI-EXTRACT® T-2 & HT-2 clean up. All analysed samples of milk thistle were contaminated with T-2 toxin and HT-2 toxin. The content of T-2 toxin in the samples from 2020 was in the range of 122.7-290.2 µg/kg and HT-2 toxin 157.0-319.0 µg/kg. In 2021, the content of T-2 toxin was in the range of 28.8-69.9 µg/kg and HT-2 toxin was 24.2-75.4 µg/kg. The results show that the climatic conditions of the year of harvesting have a highly statistically significant effect on the content of T-2 and HT-2 toxins in milk thistle.

• Klíčová slova
• HT-2 toxin, T-2 toxin, UPLC-MS/MS, immunoaffinity column, milk thistle, validation method,
• MeSH
• antioxidancia MeSH
• biologické přípravky * MeSH
• chromatografie kapalinová MeSH
• flavonoidy MeSH
• mykotoxiny * MeSH
• ostropestřec mariánský MeSH
• semena rostlinná MeSH
• silymarin * MeSH
• šlechtění rostlin MeSH
• T-2 toxin * analogy a deriváty   MeSH
• tandemová hmotnostní spektrometrie MeSH
• vysokoúčinná kapalinová chromatografie metody   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• antioxidancia MeSH
• biologické přípravky * MeSH
• flavonoidy MeSH
• HT-2 toxin MeSH Prohlížeč
• mykotoxiny * MeSH
• silymarin * MeSH
• T-2 toxin * MeSH

The aims of this work were to summarize the nutritional value of the milk thistle seed cakes and hempseed cakes and describe the influence on selected performance parameters, metabolism and animal health from inclusion of these non-traditional feeds into diets. It seems more appropriate to apply the extract of the bioactive substances complex to the livestock diets than addition of expellers or other forms of plants processing. The seed expellers, etc. mostly worsened the chickens' performance parameters with higher doses in diets, while most of the work using the extract yields had positive results on animal performance.

• Klíčová slova
• Cannabis sativa, Silybum marianum, broilers, expellers, hens, pomace, poultry nutrition,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

Excessive alcohol consumption is the cause of several diseases and thus is of a major concern for society. Worldwide alcohol consumption has increased by many folds over the past decades. This urgently calls for intervention and relapse counteract measures. Modern pharmacological solutions induce complete alcohol self-restraint and prevent relapse, but they have many side effects. Natural products are most promising as they cause fewer adverse effects. Here we discuss in detail the medicinal plants used in various traditional/folklore medicine systems for targeting alcohol abuse. We also comprehensively describe preclinical and clinical studies done on some of these plants along with the possible mechanisms of action.

• Klíčová slova
• alcohol, alcoholism, binge drinking, drug abuse, fatty liver, natural products,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

Long-range non-covalent interactions play a key role in the chemistry of natural polyphenols. We have previously proposed a description of supramolecular polyphenol complexes by the B3P86 density functional coupled with some corrections for dispersion. We couple here the B3P86 functional with the D3 correction for dispersion, assessing systematically the accuracy of the new B3P86-D3 model using for that the well-known S66, HB23, NCCE31, and S12L datasets for non-covalent interactions. Furthermore, the association energies of these complexes were carefully compared to those obtained by other dispersion-corrected functionals, such as B(3)LYP-D3, BP86-D3 or B3P86-NL. Finally, this set of models were also applied to a database composed of seven non-covalent polyphenol complexes of the most interest. Graphical abstract Weakly bound natural polyphenolsᅟ.

• Klíčová slova
• DFT-D, Natural polyphenols, Non-covalent interactions,
• MeSH
• chemické databáze MeSH
• molekulární modely MeSH
• molekulární struktura MeSH
• polyfenoly chemie   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• polyfenoly MeSH