Marine bivalves are usually cultivated in shallow, estuarine waters where there is a high concentration of nutrients. Many micro-pollutants, including the protozoan parasites Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp., which also occur in such environments, may be concentrated in shellfish tissues during their feeding process. Shellfish can thus be considered as vehicles for foodborne infections, as they are usually consumed lightly cooked or raw. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate the presence of both parasites in Mediterranean mussels, Mytilus galloprovincialis that are cultivated in Thermaikos Gulf, North Greece, which is fed by four rivers that are contaminated with both protozoa. Moreover, the occurrence of these protozoa was monitored in treated wastewaters from 3 treatment plants that discharge into the gulf. In order to identify potential sources of contamination and to estimate the risk for human infection, an attempt was made to genotype Giardia and Cryptosporidium in posporidium was found only in few cases (by PCR detection only). Our results suggest that the likelihood that mussels from these locations act as vehicles of human infection for Giardia and Cryptosporidium seems low. Vegetable oils are frequently used as solvents for lipophilic materials; accordingly, the effects of their components should be considered in animal experiments. In this study, the effects of various vegetable oils on the course of Trypanosoma congolense infection were examined in mice. C57BL/6J mice were orally administered four kinds of oils (i.e., coconut oil, olive oil, high oleic safflower oil, and high linoleic safflower oil) with different fatty acid compositions and infected with T. congolense IL-3000. Oil-treated mice infected with T. congolense showed significantly higher survival rates and lower parasitemia than those of control mice. Notably, coconut oil, which mainly consists of saturated fatty acids, delayed the development of parasitemia at the early stage of infection. These results indicated that vegetable oil intake could affect T. congolense infection in mice. These findings have important practical implications; for example, they suggest the potential effectiveness of vegetable oils as a part of the regular animal diet for controlling tropical diseases and indicate that vegetable oils are not suitable solvents for studies of the efficacy of lipophilic agents against T. congolense. Prostate cancer is one of the most dangerous and deadly cancers in elderly men. Early diagnosis using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) facilitates disease detection, management and treatment. Biosensors have recently been used as sensitive, selective, inexpensive and rapid diagnostic tools for PSA detection. In this review, a variety of PSA biosensors such as aptasensors, peptisensors and immunesensors are highlighted. These use aptamers, peptides and antibodies in the biorecognition element, respectively, and can detect PSA with very high sensitivity via electrochemical, electrochemiluminescence, fluorescence and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. To improve the sensitivity of most of these PSA biosensors, different nanostructured materials have played a critical role. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) are widely used in the food industry, cosmetics, personal care and paints among others. Through occupational exposure and daily consumption, and because of their small size, TiO2-NPs can enter the body through different routes such as oral, dermal and inhalation, and accumulate in multiple organs including the brain. TiO2-NPs cause severe damage to many cell types, however their effects in the central nervous system remain largely unexplored. Therefore, in the present study we determined the cytotoxic effect of TiO2-NPs on rat astrocytes. We tested the oxidant properties of TiO2-NPs through DTT depletion, and measured oxidative stress-induced damage in mitochondria, through oxidation of 2,7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H2DCFDA) and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) with Mitotracker Green FM. We further examined oxidative stress-derived responses such as IκB-α degradation by Western Blot, NF-κB translocation by EMSA, autophagy induction by LC3-II levels, and expression of the inflammasome protein NLRP3. TiO2-NPs showed high oxidant properties and induced strong oxidative stress in astrocytes following their internalization, causing mitochondrial damage detected by ΔΨm loss. Responses against oxidative damage such as NF-κB translocation and autophagy were induced and NLRP3 protein expression was downregulated, indicating lower inflammasome-mediated responses in astrocytes. These results support TiO2-NPs cytotoxicity in astrocytes, cells that play key roles in neuronal homeostasis and their dysfunction can lead to neurological disorders including cognitive impairment and memory loss. Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most prevalent degenerative joint diseases, and the risk of developing OA significantly increases with age as well as with concomitant diseases, such as diabetes. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) accumulate in the body over time and are associated with increased expression of various molecules involved in the pathophysiology of OA. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), along with its precursor cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, plays an integral role in the pathogenesis of OA and is highly upregulated in response to AGEs. selleckchem The most significant event in OA is excessive degradation of the cartilage extracellular matrix, which is composed primarily of type II collagen and aggrecan. In the present study, we investigated the involvement of the receptor for glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1 in the response of chondrocytes to insult from AGEs using the selective GLP-1 agonist dulaglutide. Firstly, our results indicate that AGEs reduced the expression of the receptor for GLP-1 (GLP-1R) in human SW1353 chondrocytes. Interestingly, we found that treatment with dulaglutide could ameliorate deterioration of the components of the articular extracellular matrix (ECM), such as type II collagen and aggrecan, induced by AGEs through downregulation of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 and MMP-13 and a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs (ADAMTS)-4 and ADAMTS-5. We also found that dulaglutide exerted a potent inhibitory effect against the expression of several proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines closely associated with OA, as well as the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Finally, we showed that the effects of dulaglutide were mediated through the nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) pathway. Our findings indicate that dulaglutide displayed a robust protective effect against AGEs-induced damage in chondrocytes, suggesting that it might be a possible therapeutic agent for the treatment of OA. V.