Ricerc@Sapienza

Inflammation is a physiological response to different pathological, cellular or vascular damages due to physical, chemical or mechanical trauma. It is characterized by pain, redness, heat and swelling. Current natural drugs are carefully chosen as a novel therapeutic strategy for the management of inflammatory diseases. Different phytochemical constituents are present in natural products. These phytochemicals have high efficacy both in vivo and in vitro.

Benzydamine (BZY) is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug used for the topical treatment of inflammations of the oral and vaginal mucosae. Virtually nothing is known about the central pharmacological actions of BZY. Yet there are reports of voluntary systemic overdosage of BZY in drug addicts, resulting in a euphoric, hallucinatory state. In the present study, we investigated the reinforcing properties of BZY in a rat self-administration paradigm.

Marine species represent a great source of biologically active substances; Actinia equina (AE),
an Anthozoa Cnidaria belonging to the Actinidiae family, have been proposed as original food and have
already been included in several cooking recipes in local Mediterranean shores, and endowed with
excellent nutraceutical potential. The aim of this study was to investigate some unexplored features
of AE, through analytical screening and an in-vitro and in-vivo model. An in-vitro study, made on