Elena González Burgos

• PhD
• Professor (Assistant) at Complutense University of Madrid

Background Respiratory tract infections are a common health issue, driving interest in preventive strategies like nutritional supplements, while evidence on their usage and effectiveness remains limited. In this context, social media platforms, particularly X (formerly Twitter), provide a unique opportunity to gather large-scale public health-relat...

This study investigates the phytochemical profile, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and 3D-printing application of Origanum vulgare L. ssp. hirtum extract. The extract revealed a diverse range of phenolic compounds, with rosmarinic acid as the predominant compound (47.76%). The extract showed moderate to high lipoxygenase inhibition (I...

Pulmonary infections are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, a situation exacerbated by the COVID-19. Azithromycin (AZM) is used orally to treat pulmonary infections due to its ability to accumulate in lung tissues and immune cells after oral administration. Sulfated polysaccharides, such as heparin, are known to inhibit SARS-CoV-...

Objectives This study aimed to determine the prevalence of potentially inappropriate prescriptions (PIPs) and potential prescription omissions (PPOs) in a Spanish cohort of people living with HIV (PLWH) aged ≥65 years and to identify risk factors for the presence of PIPs and PPOs. Methods This retrospective cross‐sectional study was conducted acro...

Industry 4.0 is the realization of digital transformation including enhanced productivity and flexibility due to real-time decision-making, which is possible due to the high-speed internet, the internet of things, and smart machines capable of autonomously exchanging information, triggering actions, and controlling each other independently. A high...

Background: The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) is a doctoral research degree that represents the highest level of academic qualification awarded by universities. It is expected that professionals holding a Ph.D. degree can target higher-paying jobs. However, little is known about the real correlation between Ph.D. holders and professional career deve...

The use of additive manufacturing or 3D printing in biomedicine has experienced fast growth in the last few years, becoming a promising tool in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing, especially in parenteral formulations and implantable drug delivery systems (IDDSs). Periprosthetic joint infections (PJIs) are a common complication in arthrop...

Background Heterotheca inuloides , traditionally employed in Mexico, has demonstrated anticancer activities. Although it has been proven that the cytotoxic effect is attributed to cadinane-type sesquiterpenes such as 7-hydroxy-3,4-dihydrocadalene, the mechanism of action by which these agents act in tumor lines and their regulation remain unknown....

Background: College students are vulnerable to suffering from anxiety and depression. Moreover, mental disorders can contribute to drug consumption or inappropriate use of prescribed drugs. Studies on this topic in Spanish college students are limited. This work analyses anxiety and depression and psychoactive drug intake pattern in the post-COVID...

Background and Importance Due to a higher burden of non-HIV comorbidities and the use of multiple medicines in comparison to non-infected population, older people living with HIV (PLWH) are more likely to be at risk of drug-related problems, including potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) and potentially omitted prescriptions (PPOs). Aim an...

Depsides and tridepsides are secondary metabolites found in lichens. In the last 10 years, there has been a growing interest in the pharmacological activity of these compounds. This review aims to discuss the research findings related to the biological effects and mechanisms of action of lichen depsides and tridepsides. The most studied compound is...

Background The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled “International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce” (INPST) was established in 2018, to bring...

Educational escape rooms have emerged as an excellent active learning tool to improve student learning, motivation, and engagement. In this work, a methodology to design and develop escape rooms in the classroom has been established and implemented within the general pharmacology, biopharmacy and pharmacokinetics, and pharmaceutical technology disc...

Background: The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled "International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce" (INPST) was established in 2018, to brin...

Background: The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled “International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce” (INPST) was established in 2018, to brin...

The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled “International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce” (INPST) was established in 2018, to bring together i...

Oxidative stress is involved in the pathophysiology of many neurodegenerative diseases. Lichens have antioxidant properties attributed to their own secondary metabolites with phenol groups. Very few studies delve into the protective capacity of lichens based on their antioxidant properties and their action mechanism. The present study evaluates the...

We used molecular data to address species delimitation in a species complex of the parmelioid genus Canoparmelia and compare the pharmacological properties of the two clades identified. We used HPLC_DAD_MS chromatography to identify and quantify the secondary substances and used a concatenated data set of three ribosomal markers to infer phylogenet...

The genus Cetraria s. str. (Parmeliaceae family, Cetrarioid clade) consists of 15 species of mostly erect brown or greenish yellow fruticose or subfoliose thallus. These Cetraria species have a cosmopolitan distribution, being primarily located in the Northern Hemisphere, in North America and in the Eurasia area. Phytochemical analysis has demonstr...

Introduction: Lichens, due to the presence of own secondary metabolites such as depsidones and depsides, became a promising source of health-promoting organisms with pharmacological activities. However, lichens and their active compounds have been much less studied. Therefore, the present study aims to evaluate for the first time the antioxidant c...

Antifungal drugs such as amphotericin B (AmB) interact with lipids and phospholipids located on fungal cell membranes to disrupt them and create pores, leading to cell apoptosis and therefore efficacy. At the same time, the interaction can also take place with cell components from mammalian cells, leading to toxicity. AmB was selected as a model an...

This book, based on a Special Issue of Nutrients, contains a total of 12 papers (8 original research and 4 reviews) on the effect of phenolic compounds on human health. [...]

Lichens are a symbiotic association between a fungus (mycobiont) and a green algae/cyanobacterium (photobiont). Lichens are a source of secondary metabolites, most of them being exclusively for these species, among which dibenzofurans are found. Dibenzofurans are a small group (over 35 different identified compounds), being usnic acid the most stud...

Age-related neurodegenerative disorders are an increasing public health problem. Oxidative stress is one of the major causes. Medicinal plant-based functional foods can be effective for these diseases. The aim of this work is to investigate the neuroprotective role of methanol extracts of Moringa oleifera leaf powder on antioxidant/oxidant imbalanc...

Depsidones are some of the most abundant secondary metabolites produced by lichens. These compounds have aroused great pharmacological interest due to their activities as antioxidants, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic agents. Hence, this paper aims to provide up-to-date knowledge including an overview of the potential biological interest of lichen deps...

The open innovation hub Digital Health and Patient Safety Platform (DHPSP) was recently established with the purpose to invigorate collaborative scientific research and the development of new digital products and personalized solutions aiming to improve human health and patient safety. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of a Twitter-base...

Understanding the in vitro biology and behaviour of human osteoblasts is crucial for developing research models that reproduce closely the bone structure, its functions, and the cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions that occurs in vivo. Mimicking bone microenvironment is challenging, but necessary, to ensure the clinical translation of novel medic...

Valeriana officinalis L. (Caprifoliaceae) has been traditionally used to treat mild nervous tension and sleep problems. The basis of these activities are mainly attributed to valerenic acid through the modulation of the GABA receptor. Moreover, V. officinalis is claimed to have other biological activities such as cardiovascular benefits, anticancer...

Worldwide, breast cancer is the second most common cancer after lung cancer and it is the first most incident and prevalent cancer in women. Plant-derived natural products have historically been in drug discovery process as a source of chemotherapeutic agents against different kinds of cancers, including breast cancer. More than half of the antican...

There is growing interest for medicinal plants in the world drug market. Particularly, Matricaria recutita L., Valeriana officinalis L., Tilia spp., and Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze are some of the most consumed medicinal plants for treatment of minor health problems. Medicinal plants are seen as natural and safe; however, they can cause interacti...

This systematic review shows the effectiveness of Matricaria chamomilla for improving health. Original papers and case reports published during 2014–2018 in PubMed, Science Direct and Scopus were included. Most studies were in vitro, performed with extracts, in 2018, and originated from Iran. In vitro assays focused mainly on antimicrobial, antipar...

Background The usage of medicinal plants as a key component of complementary and alternative medicine, has acquired renewed interest in developed countries. The current situation of medicinal plants in Spain is very limited. This paper provides new insights and greater knowledge about current trends and consumption patterns of medicinal plants in t...

Tea made from Camellia sinensis leaves is one of the most consumed beverages worldwide. This systematic review aims to update Camellia sinensis pharmacological activity on metabolic and endocrine disorders. Inclusion criteria were preclinical and clinical studies of tea extracts and isolated compounds on osteoporosis, hypertension, diabetes, metabo...

Aloe vera has been traditionally used to treat skin injuries (burns, cuts, insect bites, and eczemas) and digestive problems because its anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and wound healing properties. Research on this medicinal plant has been aimed at validating traditional uses and deepening the mechanism of action, identifying the compounds respo...

Parmelia Acharius is one of the most representative genera within Parmeliaceae family which is the largest and the most widespread family of lichen-forming fungi. Parmelia lichens present a medium to large foliose thallus and they are distributed from the Artic to the Antartic continents, being more concentrated in temperate regions. According to i...

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease are multifactorial disorders which are increasing in incidence and prevalence over world without existing effective therapies. The search of new multi-target compounds are the latter therapeutically strategy to address these pathological conditions. Lichens have an impor...

Blended learning has risen in popularity in the last two decades as it has been shown to be an effective approach for accommodating an increasingly diverse student population in higher education and enriching the learning environment by incorporating online teaching resources. Blending significant elements of the learning environment such as face-t...

Cyanidin and chlorogenic acid are polyphenols from plant origin that are present in many common fruits, particularly in berries. To corroborate the protective or detrimental effects of both compounds from a neuro-inflammatory perspective, in vitro experiments were carried out in human astrocytes (U-373). Astrocytes were pre-treated with a range of...

Background: Candida albicans is an opportunistic yeast that causes more than 90% of all vulvovaginal infections. Because of inherently resistant to antifungals drugs such as azole derivatives, the search for anti-Candida albicans agents with new pharmacological targets is considered as the main therapeutic strategy to prevent and treat these type...

Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, also known as kuromanin, is one of the most important anthocyanins in nature. The scope of this paper is to discuss the potential role of this anthocyanin as therapeutic agent to prevent or treat chronic diseases in which oxidative stress may be involved through a modulation of certain enzymes. The inhibitory potential of cy...

Sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) juice is a relevant source of polyphenols and antioxidants. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the protective effects and mechanism of action of sour cherry juice under oxidative stress conditions using hydrogen peroxide as neurotoxic agent in the SH-SY5Y cell line. Cells were pre-treated with the juice for 24...

Blueberry and cranberry are fruits with high polyphenol content, particularly anthocyanins. As cyanidin derivatives have been identified as one of the most representative polyphenols in berry juices, cyanidin has been designated for a better comparison and understanding of the potential neuroprotection of juices obtained from two Vaccinium species....

Eucalyptus globulus is employed as herbal tea and therapeutical purposes. In this work, it is investigated for first time the neuroprotective activities, based on antioxidant properties, of varying polarity extracts (acetone, ethanol and methanol) from E. globulus leaves and elucidate their main bioactive constituents. Methanol and acetone extracts...

Achillea fragrantissima (Forssk.) Sch. Bip. is one of the most popular and important medicinal plants extensively used in Egyptian folk medicine for healing different sufferings and diseases. The antioxidant properties of hydroalcoholic extract obtained from the aerial parts of A. fragrantissima were in vitro studied. The total phenolic content was...

Background Ginseng (Panax sp.) is a drug with multiple pharmacological actions that has been largely used in traditional medicines for the treatment of many health problems. In the therapy of neurodegenerative disorders, it has been employed due to its capacity to strengthen mental processes by enhancing cognitive performance and psychological func...

Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction play key roles in Parkinson's disease (PD) initiation and progression. Ginsenosides are major compounds of Ginseng species and they are responsible for pharmacological activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential neuroprotective effects and mechanism of the major ginsenosides Rd and...

Introducción El arándano rojo americano o “cranberry” (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton) y arándano azul o mirtilo (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) son frutos con un alto contenido en polifenoles con potencial antioxidante. El estrés oxidativo (desequilibrio entre radicales libres/antioxidantes) contribuye a la patogenia de enfermedades neurodegenerativas. El u...

Oxidative stress within the cellular environment results from an imbalance between prooxidant and antioxidant species, and it is characterized by an abnormal level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can cause oxidative damage to cell structures, including alterations in membrane lipids, proteins, and DNA. In turn, it may trigger cellular organ...

Salvia spp. (sage) is the largest genus of the family Lamiaceae (formerly Labiatae). This important genus includes about 900 species widespread throughout the world. Their species have been cultivated worldwide due to their excellent medicinal values, pharmaceutical applications and for culinary purposes. Studies on the chemical constituents of Sal...

Parmeliaceae represents the largest and widespread family of lichens and includes species that attract much interest regarding pharmacological activities, due to their production of unique secondary metabolites. The current work aimed to investigate the in vitro antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of the methanol extracts of ten Parmeliaceae speci...

Oxidative stress is involved in the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Natural products are considered as therapeutically useful antioxidant agents against reactive oxygen species (ROS). We have evaluated the antioxidant and protective potential of the monoterpenes 1,8-cineole and α-pine...

Context: Foliol, linearol, and sidol are the most common diterpenes found in Sideritis L. spp. (Lamiaceae) with a wide range of demonstrated properties including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-apoptotic effects. Objective: For the first time, the present work was studied for the potential protective role of these kaurane-type diterpene...

Mitochondria are cytoplasmic organelles that regulate both metabolic and apoptotic signaling pathways; their most highlighted functions include cellular energy generation in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), regulation of cellular calcium homeostasis, balance between ROS production and detoxification, mediation of apoptosis cell death, and...

Oxidative stress results from pro-oxidant/antioxidant imbalance leading to an overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which can cause oxidative damage to cell structures and even trigger to cell death. Oxidative stress contributes to the progressive neurodegeneration associated to diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's diseas...

Oxidative stress results from pro-oxidant/antioxidant imbalance leading to an overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which can cause oxidative damage to cell structures, including alterations in membrane lipids and proteins, and even trigger to cell death. Oxidative stress contributes to the progressive neurodegeneration associated to dise...

Context: Salvia lavandulifolia has been employed in folk medicine for the treatment of memory and dementia problems. This specie contains numerous bioactive terpenes which may contribute to its effectiveness. Objective: To analyze the composition of essential oil of S. lavandulifolia and to investigate the potential in vitro cytoprotective and a...

Parkinson's disease is a chronic, multifactorial and progressive neurologic condition that affects around six million people worldwide, normally over 60 years of age, and is characterized by neurodegeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. The species of the genus Panax, popularly named as "Ginseng", are widely used as herbal reme...

The aerial parts ofMentha longifolia L. are used as herbal remedies for curing different diseases through traditional Bedouin medicine. The antioxidant activity of the ethanolic extracts of M longifolia was investigated measuring peroxyl radical-scavenging activity by ORAC assay, with Trolox (a water-soluble analogue of α-tocopherol) employed as re...

The Sinai desert in Egypt contains great variability in plants extensively used for traditional medicines such as Achillea fragrantissima, Chiliadenus montanus, Mentha longifolia and Haplophyllum tuberculatum. The essential oils extracted by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts have been analyzed. Subsequently, their potential protective activit...

The influence of phenological stages (vegetative and full flowering stages) on chemical composition and antioxidant activity of essential oils of Salvia lavandulifolia were investigated. GC analysis of the essential oil samples pointed to a quantitative variability of components; terpene hydrocarbons derivatives predominate at the vegetative stage...

Cancer causes the death of about 7.6 million people each year. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is estimated that this number will be increased to 11.5 million of deaths around 2030, which implies an over the incidence of 75%. There is still a need for effective therapies for cancer. Diterpenes are secondary metabolites with a l...

The use of aromatic plants for food flavoring and medicinal purposes began a long time ago. The chemical composition of two essential oils from Salvia lavandulifolia from Spain differing in plant density conditions (sample S-1 - high density and sample S-2 - low density) was evaluated. Moreover, the antioxidant and cytoprotective effects of both es...

Context: The search for new sources of natural antioxidants from plant material may have beneficial therapeutic potential for those diseases associated with oxidative stress. The medicinal plant Haplophyllum tuberculatum (Forsskal) A. Juss. (Rutaceae) contains phenolic compounds as main phytochemicals; however, there are no reports on its antioxid...

The major diterpenes andalusol, conchitriol, foliol, lagascatriol, linearol, and sidol, isolated from Sideritis spp., have been recently identified as neuroprotective agents. In this study, the blood brain-barrier permeability characteristics of these natural compounds were investigated for the first time using in silico and in vitro (RBE4 monocult...

The antioxidant and cytoprotective activities of the hydroalcoholic extract of Chiliadenus montanus, widely used in Egyptian traditional medicine, were investigated. The antioxidant potential, determined using ORAC assay, revealed that Chiliadenus montanus extracts are active radical scavengers (ORAC value 1.720 μmol TE/mg sample). Total phenolic c...

Mitochondrial impairment and oxidative stress are considered widely to be central events in many forms of neurodegenerative disease. The current study has evaluated for the first time the potential protective role of three diterpenoids [andalusol (1), conchitriol (2), and lagascatriol (3)] in response to the deleterious H2O2-induced changes on mito...

Kaurane diterpenes have been shown to possess antioxidant properties. As a part of our ongoing studies on the identification of biologically active diterpenes from Sideritis spp., we have previously isolated and structurally elucidated the major kaurane diterpenes foliol, linearol and sidol, in a previous study from the aerial parts of Sideritis li...

Ethnopharmacological relevance: The species of the genus Sideritis are extensively used in the Mediterranean area in folk medicine for their digestive, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, among others. Moreover, Sideritis species as tea infusions are popularly known for improving memory function and cognitive ability. Dite...

Terpenes are one of the most abundant groups of natural products that occur mostly in plants, being identified more than 30,000 different compounds. Chemically, terpene group is one of the most diverse in structure, sharing isoprene units as a common structural motif. The number of isoprene units that defined each terpene compound classifies them i...

Plant polyphenols are chemical components that exert a variety of biochemical andbiological effects; being secondary metabolites in plants derived from phenylpropane andthree malonyl-CoA molecules, they constitute one of the most promising groups ofnatural products from a pharmacological point of view. They are the most abundantantioxidants in diet...

Oxidative stress occurs when the generation of ROS exceeds the capacity of the antioxidant defense system to remove or neutralize them, and the normal cellular redox state is altered. Reactive oxygen species, produced from both intracellular and extracellular sources (i.e., environmental pollutants, irradiation, drugs, etc.), can cause direct oxida...

The potential effect of the extracts from free-run and pressed Merlot red wine has been evaluated in PC12 cells under oxidative stress situation. Comparing both vinification process, pressed Merlot red wine extract possessed higher neuroprotective activity than the free run wine, possibly attributed to the major content in all global polyphenolic f...

Oxidative stress is a common harmful condition of several neurodegenerative diseases. Antioxidants represent the medical choice strategy for protection against this unbalanced oxidant-antioxidant status. The present study was undertaken to address the role of kaurane diterpenes foliol, linearol and sidol in the protection against H(2)O(2)- induced...

Reactive Oxygen Species are involved in the pathological development of many important human diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular processes, diabetes and many others. The most promising strategy to prevent from the oxidative damage caused by these reactive species is the use of antioxidant molecules. These compounds can act a...

The neuroprotective effect of Merlot red wine and its isolated polyphenols was evaluated in an oxidative stress model induced by Fenton reaction and hydrogen peroxide in the human astrocytoma U373 MG cell line. Compared with cells treated only with oxidative stress inductors, the pre-incubation with Merlot red wine for 24h caused a significant incr...

The genus Sideritis (Lamiaceae) comprises more than 150 perennial and annual vegetal species widely distributed in the Mediterranean area, together with Canary and Madeira islands. It is a controversial botanic genus, with a complex taxonomical classification due to the high number of hybridizations that occur between species; their study requires...