Emel Yilmaz

Effect of ultrasound‐assisted extraction on phenolic profile, bio‐accessibility, OVCAR‐3, and SKOV‐3 cytotoxicity in blackthorn ( Prunus spinosa L.)

Abstract This study aimed to examine the extraction of specific phenolic compounds from blackthorn using ultrasound‐assisted extraction (UAE) and to evaluate the influence of UAE on the phenolic composition, bioaccessibility, and cytotoxic effect evaluated on ovarian cancer (OVCAR‐3 and SKOV‐3) and healthy (HaCaT) cell lines. The UAE parameters were optimized by modeling with the response surface method. Temperature, time, and ultrasound amplitude were utilized to determine the optimal extraction conditions. Optimization experiments were conducted to assess the influence of independent variables on the maximum concentrations of six phenolic compounds identified via high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and the 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity. The optimal conditions for UAE were determined as an extraction temperature of 33.177°C, a duration of 4.334 min, and an amplitude of 38.980%. The phenolic profile of the extract obtained under optimized UAE conditions (B‐UAE opt ) was re‐examined, confirming that it remained consistent at the individual component level. Using an in vitro digestion model, UAE was found to increase the bioaccessibility of antioxidant activity in the small intestine. The IC 50 values for OVCAR‐3 were 64 and 67 mg mL −1 for blackthorn and B‐UAE opt , while the IC 50 values for SKOV‐3 were 53 mg mL −1 and 50 mg mL −1 for blackthorn and B‐UAE opt , respectively. This study showed that UAE is an exceptionally effective method for extracting phenolic compounds from blackthorn, as it preserves the phenolic profile, enhances bioaccessibility, and maintains cytotoxic effects without any detrimental impact.

First international proficiency study on human papillomavirus testing in cervical cancer screening

Although cervical screening using Human Papillomavirus (HPV) testing is globally recommended public health policy, there has been no international proficiency studies specifically targeting HPV testing for cervical screening. To obtain the first global overview of the current proficiency of HPV testing services for cervical cancer screening. A coded proficiency panel of 12 samples containing HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, 58 or 35/39/51/56/59/68 in human DNA in varying amounts as well as control. Datasets detecting at least a) 10 International Units (IU) of HPV16 and 18, b) 1000 IU of HPV types 31, 33, 45, 52, 58 and c) having no false positives were considered proficient. In total, 84 laboratories worldwide submitted 158 datasets (some laboratories used >1 HPV testing platform). Of those, 122 (77%) were 100% proficient. Only 14/158 datasets (9%) contained false positive results. Comparison of results with assays approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suggest that future proficiency requirements should also accommodate assays detecting only 100 IU of HPV16/18. A pool of low oncogenicity HPV types that contributed very little to sensitivity, but adversely affected specificity, was detectable by most datasets. Internationally recognized proficiency studies of HPV screening, traceable to international standards, provided an overview of current testing performance. There was a high level of proficiency in terms of sensitivity and few false positives, but specificity was not optimal and further research on optimal specificity of HPV screening tests may be warranted.