Search Results (1,678)

Background/Objectives: Alzheimer’s disease (AD), one of the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorders in the elderly, is characterized by progressive cognitive loss, amyloid-β (Aβ) plaque deposition, and neurofibrillary tangle formation. Cerebral hypoxia has been reported as a complex modulator of AD pathology, with hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) emerging as a central molecular marker associated with neurodegeneration. This review aims to comprehensively report the roles of HIF-1 signaling in AD pathogenesis, emphasizing its neuroprotective and neurotoxic mechanisms along with demonstrating the therapeutic potential and challenges of translating this pathway for AD therapeutics. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and Google Scholar databases for articles published between January 2000 and December 2025 on the context. Results: Under mild hypoxic conditions, HIF-1 activation enhances neuronal survival through upregulation of glucose transporters, glycolytic enzymes, angiogenic factors, erythropoietin, and antioxidant defense mechanisms. In contrast, chronic hypoxia modulates HIF-1 into a pathogenic marker through transcriptional activation of β-site amyloid precursor protein (APP) cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) and γ-secretase, facilitating amyloidogenic APP processing, along with tau hyperphosphorylation. Moreover, HIF-1 exacerbates neuroinflammation through microglial activation and pro-inflammatory cytokine release. The cell-type-specific expression patterns of HIF-1α and the temporal dynamics of its activation regulate whether the pathway exerts neuroprotective or neurodegenerative effects. Conclusions: This review discusses the current understanding of HIF-1-mediated mechanistic insights in AD pathology and impacts of existing HIF-1 modulators on AD pathology, along with the therapeutic implications of targeting this pathway for translational application in AD therapeutics. Full article

Background/Objectives: Microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) have emerged as ubiquitous environmental contaminants resulting from the extensive production, use, and degradation of plastic materials. Human exposure occurs primarily through contaminated food and drinking water, with inhalation representing an additional important route. Growing concern has focused on the ability of these particles, particularly NPs, to cross biological barriers, enter the systemic circulation, and reach human tissues. The aim of this review was to summarize current evidence on dietary exposure to MPs and NPs, their gastrointestinal bioavailability and toxicokinetics, and their potential systemic health effects, with particular emphasis on organ-specific responses, underlying biological mechanisms, and the strength and limitations of the available evidence. Methods: A comprehensive narrative review of the scientific literature published between 2000 and 2026 was conducted using PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Original research articles and review papers addressing dietary exposure, occurrence in food and drinking water, migration from food-contact materials, gastrointestinal absorption, translocation, biodistribution, bioaccumulation, elimination, molecular mechanisms, and potential organ-specific or systemic health effects were included. Publications without full-text availability, conference proceedings, editorials, commentaries, duplicate publications, and studies without relevance to human exposure or health were excluded. Results: Food, drinking water, beverages, and food-contact materials represent important sources of human exposure to MPs and NPs. Following ingestion, most larger particles are eliminated through the gastrointestinal tract, whereas smaller MPs and particularly NPs may cross biological barriers and potentially reach the systemic circulation and distant tissues. Experimental studies consistently identify interconnected biological responses involving oxidative stress, inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, barrier impairment, immune dysregulation, genotoxicity, apoptosis, and endocrine disruption. These mechanisms have been associated with alterations in the gastrointestinal, respiratory, cardiovascular, nervous, urinary, reproductive, endocrine, and skeletal systems and with biological processes relevant to carcinogenesis. However, most mechanistic evidence derives from in vitro and animal models, whereas human evidence remains limited and predominantly observational. Consequently, the extent to which these experimental findings translate into clinically significant effects in humans remains uncertain. Conclusions: Current evidence supports the biological plausibility of systemic effects associated with MNP exposure but is insufficient to establish causal relationships between chronic dietary exposure and specific human diseases. The detection of MNPs in human tissues and reported associations with pathological conditions should therefore be interpreted cautiously. Standardized analytical methods, improved characterization of realistic human exposure, and well-designed longitudinal epidemiological studies integrating quantitative exposure assessment with validated clinical outcomes are required to clarify dose–response relationships, long-term health effects, and the clinical significance of MNP exposure. Full article

Background: Maintenance hemodialysis is characterized by repetitive changes in fluid distribution, blood pressure, and organ perfusion. Conventional clinical examination, empirical dry-weight adjustment, and biomarkers do not fully resolve the compartment-specific nature of congestion in this population. This narrative review reframes ultrasound-based volume assessment as a multimodal diagnostic problem involving pulmonary congestion, intravascular filling, systemic venous congestion, cardiac reserve, tissue response, and perfusion vulnerability. Methods: We synthesized clinically relevant evidence indexed in PubMed and Google Scholar for studies published between January 2016 and April 2026, prioritizing dialysis-specific randomized trials, prospective cohorts, systematic reviews, consensus statements, and methodological studies related to diagnostic ultrasound, Doppler-based congestion assessment, contrast-enhanced ultrasound, elastography, artificial intelligence, point-of-care ultrasound, and remote ultrasound monitoring. Results: Lung ultrasound currently has the strongest dialysis-specific evidence for detecting and tracking pulmonary congestion. Inferior vena cava ultrasound provides adjunctive information on intravascular filling and right-sided pressure but is not a surrogate for total body water. Echocardiographic parameters help characterize filling pressure and cardiac tolerance to fluid removal, whereas venous Doppler and the Venous Excess Ultrasound Score provide an emerging approach to systemic venous congestion. Elastography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound remain investigational tools for tissue characterization and perfusion vulnerability, while AI-assisted analysis, handheld point-of-care ultrasound, and tele-ultrasound may improve standardization, automated B-line quantification, and scalability. Conclusions: Different ultrasound modalities answer different diagnostic questions in maintenance hemodialysis. A compartment-specific framework integrating congestion, perfusion, and cardiac-reserve domains may better support individualized ultrafiltration planning, hemodynamic risk assessment, and future outcome-oriented research. Full article

This article maps research on artificial intelligence (AI) in Christian Religious Education (CRE) during the first phase of rapid development following the widespread adoption of generative AI. A scoping review was conducted in Scopus, Web of Science, the Open Digital Theological Library, and IxTheo, supplemented by Google Scholar. Included were full-text English-language publications from 1 January 2023 to 31 March 2026 that addressed AI in Christian educational, catechetical, theological–educational, or formative contexts. The final corpus comprised 23 publications. Data were charted by publication type, geographical and educational context, main topic, and key claims or findings. The results show that the field is recent, methodologically heterogeneous, and not yet well consolidated, but that the emerging debate is organised around four inter-related strands: didactic potential and personalisation, ethical–technical limitations, anthropological–theological reflection, and systemic, institutional, and cultural–geographical conditions. The literature is marked by a tension between AI’s didactic potential and concerns regarding its ethical, theological, anthropological, and institutional implications. The review contributes a thematic synthesis that clarifies why AI integration in CRE requires not only educational innovation but also theologically informed, pedagogically mediated, and context-sensitive frameworks for religious formation. Significant gaps remain, including limited empirical and longitudinal research, insufficient attention to students’ and parents’ perspectives, cultural and linguistic contexts, and a lack of religion-specific, empirically tested didactic models. The review concludes that future research should move toward longitudinal, practice-based, and theologically grounded models for AI use in CRE. Full article

Adaptive decision-making has emerged as an important direction in audio classification. Reinforcement learning (RL) and multi-armed bandit (MAB) methods offer principled frameworks for sequential and localized decision-making. However, despite growing interest in these approaches and the availability of review studies on audio classification and audio-based learning, their role within the audio classification pipeline remains fragmented and has not been systematically synthesized. This study presents a systematic review of RL- and MAB-based approaches in audio classification, to characterize how adaptive decision-making is formulated, where it is applied within the pipeline, and what impact it has on system performance, robustness, and efficiency. The review followed PRISMA guidelines. A literature search across IEEE Xplore, Scopus, Nature, and Google Scholar identified 1896 records. Thirty-one studies met the predefined inclusion criteria and data were extracted for analysis. Reporting quality was assessed using the TRIPOD framework, and methodological reliability was evaluated using a domain-specific risk-of-bias tool. The findings show that adaptive decision-making in audio classification is evolving toward a control-centric paradigm. RL-based optimization and control approaches dominated the literature, whereas bandit-based approaches remained comparatively underused. A central finding of the review is a structural mismatch between problem type and method choice. Many adaptive tasks are inherently local and repeated decision problems, yet they are predominantly addressed using full RL frameworks rather than lighter bandit formulations. This review introduces a taxonomy of adaptive decision-making mechanisms and proposes a unified framework that reframes audio classification as a layered decision-making process under uncertainty. The evidence suggests that the future of audio classification lies not only in improved prediction, but in adaptive decision-making architectures capable of managing uncertainty, variability, and real-world deployment constraints. Full article

Background/Objectives: Achondroplasia is the most common genetic skeletal dysplasia associated with disproportionate short stature and is primarily caused by gain-of-function variants in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gene. Constitutive FGFR3 activation disrupts growth plate homeostasis and endochondral ossification through complex alterations in chondrocyte proliferation, differentiation, hypertrophy, extracellular matrix organization, and intracellular signaling. The increasing understanding of these mechanisms has enabled the transition from exclusively supportive management toward disease-modifying and precision-based therapeutic strategies. This narrative review aimed to critically synthesize current evidence on the genetic basis, molecular pathogenesis, growth plate abnormalities, and current and emerging targeted therapies in achondroplasia. Methods: A narrative literature review was conducted using PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science Core Collection, with Google Scholar used as a supplementary source, together with manual screening of the reference lists of relevant original studies, clinical trials, reviews, consensus documents, and clinical guidelines. The principal literature search covered publications from January 2010 to March 2026, while selected seminal primary studies published before 2010 were included when necessary to document the original identification of pathogenic FGFR3 variants and foundational mechanisms of FGFR3-mediated growth plate regulation. Particular emphasis was placed on FGFR3 variants, receptor activation mechanisms, growth plate dysfunction, intracellular signaling pathways, vosoritide, C-type natriuretic peptide-based therapies, FGFR3 inhibitors, ligand–receptor blockade, drug repurposing, Wnt/β-catenin modulation, and gene-based therapeutic approaches. Results: Achondroplasia is characterized by marked molecular homogeneity, with the recurrent p.Gly380Arg substitution accounting for most cases. Mutant FGFR3 displays sustained activity through partial ligand independence, enhanced receptor dimerization and kinase activation, increased receptor stability, and reduced degradation. Excessive signaling through MAPK/ERK, STAT, PI3K/AKT, IHH/PTHrP, and related pathways impairs chondrocyte proliferation and hypertrophic differentiation, alters extracellular matrix turnover, disrupts primary cilium function, and reduces longitudinal bone growth. Vosoritide provides clinical proof that pharmacological modulation of FGFR3-related signaling can improve growth velocity. Additional therapeutic strategies under clinical or preclinical investigation include long-acting CNP analogues, selective FGFR inhibitors, decoy receptors, RNA aptamers, repurposed drugs, Wnt/DKK1 pathway modulation, and gene- or enhancer-targeted interventions. Conclusions: Achondroplasia is increasingly understood as a disorder of dysregulated growth plate signaling rather than solely a condition of reduced stature. Although vosoritide has established the feasibility of disease-modifying treatment, substantial uncertainty remains regarding final adult height, skeletal proportionality, cranio-spinal development, orthopedic outcomes, and long-term safety. Future progress will depend on mechanistically informed therapeutic combinations, improved biomarkers, advanced cellular and animal models, and long-term clinical and real-world evidence. Full article

The rapid evolution of AI-driven language technologies has inadvertently widened the gap between high-resource and marginalised languages. Despite significant progress in AI-driven translation for high-resource languages, low-resource languages remain underrepresented due to limited data, a lack of benchmarks, and evaluation challenges. This study presents a comprehensive systematic review of machine translation for low-resource languages, focusing on advances in neural machine translation (NMT) and large language models (LLMs) between 2017 and 2025. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, 63 studies were selected from the 1696 articles in the Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases. The review identifies five dominant methodological approaches: data augmentation, back-translation, transfer learning, pre-training, and parameter-efficient fine-tuning. The findings reveal that model performance is highly dependent on resource availability: transformer-based NMT excels in moderate data settings, while LLMs demonstrate promising zero-shot and few-shot capabilities in extremely low-resource scenarios. Hybrid NMT–LLM approaches emerge as a particularly effective paradigm. The study also highlights critical challenges, including the absence of standardised benchmarks, over-reliance on inadequate evaluation metrics such as Bilingual Evaluation Understudy (BLEU), limited human evaluation, and significant geographic and linguistic underrepresentation. Additionally, ethical concerns related to bias, cultural representation, and community engagement are increasingly relevant. The findings contribute to advancing inclusive and equitable AI-driven language technologies. Full article

Background: Early pressure injury detection is essential in acute care, yet diagnostic inequities persist for individuals with dark skin tones. Traditional visual assessment relies on colour changes that may not be visible in richly pigmented skin, contributing to delayed diagnosis and poorer outcomes. Objective: Our aim was to identify and map strategies reported in the literature for assessing skin and underlying tissue to support early pressure injury detection in adults with dark skin tones in acute care settings. Methods: A scoping review was conducted following Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and reported according to PRISMA-ScR. Searches were performed in CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar (April 2025; updated February 2026). Primary research published in English since 2017 was eligible. After screening and data extraction, descriptive thematic analysis was applied to identify recurrent strategies reported in the literature for assessment of skin and underlying tissues for detection of pressure injury. No appraisal of the included sources was conducted. Results: Ten studies met the inclusion criteria. Strategies identified for detecting pressure injuries were mainly for implementation across diverse skin tones, but all included aspects of dark-skin-tone participants. These approaches are clustered into four categories: thermographic imaging, subepidermal moisture sensors, image processing and colorimetry, and enhanced assessment and lighting techniques. The evidence highlights the growing value of objective, technology-supported methods for improving detection in people with dark skin tones. Routine bedside visual and tactile assessment was notably underrepresented, indicating a clear evidence gap. Overall, the review emphasises the need to integrate objective technologies into everyday practice to support more equitable pressure injury detection. Conclusions: This scoping review highlighted that evidence for routine visual and tactile assessment in dark skin tones remains limited. Technology-supported assessment approaches show promise for improving diagnostic equity in pressure injury detection. Identification of strategies used to perform skin assessment for pressure injury identification is critical to the wellbeing of persons with dark skin tones. This review demonstrates that while emerging technologies offer promising ways to improve pressure injury detection across diverse skin tones, evidence supporting everyday bedside visual and tactile assessment for individuals with dark skin tones remains notably limited. Strengthening this evidence base and integrating objective technologies into routine care are essential steps toward more accurate and equitable pressure injury detection. Full article

Background: Obesity is a heterogeneous condition with variable cardiometabolic risk (CMR). The concept of metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) challenges the traditional paradigm that excess adiposity is invariably associated with metabolic dysfunction. However, its clinical validity remains controversial. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, primarily covering studies published between 2020 and 2025, with landmark earlier studies included when relevant. Results: Traditional definitions of MHO rely predominantly on metabolic parameters and fail to capture residual cardiovascular risk (CVR). Individuals with obesity frequently exhibit discordance between low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and atherogenic particle burden, reflected by elevated apolipoprotein B and remnant lipoproteins. Visceral adiposity and reduced skeletal muscle mass further contribute to metabolic dysfunction. Cardiorespiratory fitness emerges as a major determinant of cardiometabolic resilience, independently associated with reduced mortality. Conclusions: Current evidence suggests that although some individuals may maintain metabolic health over extended periods, MHO frequently represents a dynamic phenotype that may progress toward metabolic dysfunction over time. An integrated approach incorporating lipid burden, body composition, and functional capacity enables more accurate CVR stratification and supports phenotype-based personalized strategies. Full article

Background/Objectives: Aluminium is a widespread environmental element and food contaminant to which the general population is continuously exposed, primarily through diet and drinking water. Although gastrointestinal absorption is generally low, bioavailability varies according to chemical form, food matrix, and interactions with dietary components. Prolonged exposure can nevertheless result in gradual tissue accumulation. This review summarises current evidence on dietary aluminium exposure, factors influencing its bioavailability, toxicokinetics, biological effects, gut microbiota interactions, and population-level health risk. Methods: A comprehensive narrative literature review was conducted using publications retrieved from PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Original research articles, review papers, and reports issued by international organisations were critically evaluated with particular emphasis on dietary sources, drinking water, food additives, food contact materials, gastrointestinal absorption, toxicokinetics, biological mechanisms, gut microbiota, and health risk assessment. Results: Food represents the principal source of aluminium exposure in the general population, while drinking water usually contributes a smaller but continuous fraction of total oral intake. Dietary exposure varies substantially between populations and is influenced by food composition, processing practices, the use of aluminium-containing additives, and migration from food contact materials. Aluminium bioavailability is modified by chemical speciation and dietary constituents, including citrate, phosphates, silicates, phytates, polyphenols, and essential minerals. Despite limited absorption, prolonged exposure can lead to gradual aluminium accumulation, particularly in bone tissue and the central nervous system. Proposed biological mechanisms include oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, disruption of mineral homeostasis, and inflammatory signalling. Emerging evidence also indicates that aluminium may alter the gut microbiota, impair intestinal barrier integrity, and influence the gut–brain axis. Population exposure assessments show considerable regional variation, with some groups approaching or exceeding established tolerable weekly intake values. Conclusions: Dietary aluminium exposure represents a relevant issue in nutritional toxicology and food safety. Although current evidence does not establish that typical dietary exposure directly causes chronic disease, long-term exposure, differences in bioavailability, and the possibility of elevated intake in selected population groups justify continued monitoring and further prospective human studies. Future research should integrate dietary intake, aluminium speciation, nutritional status, biomarkers of internal exposure, and long-term health outcomes to improve risk assessment and support effective exposure-reduction strategies. Full article

Cardiovascular ultrasound is a cornerstone of noninvasive cardiac and vascular assessment, yet conventional interpretation remains operator-dependent, variable, and limited in sensitivity for subclinical disease. Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly machine learning (ML), deep learning (DL), and, most recently, vision–language and foundation models, offers tools to automate, standardize, and extend ultrasound analysis. This narrative review examines the role of AI-enhanced cardiovascular ultrasound in the transition from descriptive imaging toward predictive and personalized medicine. We conducted a structured literature search of PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar (January 2016–May 2026), combining Medical Subject Headings and free-text terms related to AI and cardiovascular ultrasound. Original studies, meta-analyses, reviews, consensus documents, and seminal works were considered. AI now spans the entire echocardiographic workflow, acquisition guidance, view classification, segmentation (Dice ≈ 0.92–0.94 on public datasets), and automated quantification of ejection fraction and global longitudinal strain, achieving expert-level accuracy and improved reproducibility. Across clinical domains, AI supports ischemia detection on stress echocardiography, heart-failure phenogrouping, Doppler-independent aortic stenosis detection, and carotid plaque characterization for stroke-risk stratification. Emerging vision–language and multitask foundation models (e.g., EchoCLIP, EchoPrime, and PanEcho) point toward general-purpose interpretation, and a growing number of tools (Caption Guidance, Us2.ai, and Ultromics EchoGo) have obtained FDA clearance and/or CE marking. Increasingly, AI-derived imaging biomarkers feed multimodal models that enable individualized risk prediction and therapy selection. AI-enhanced cardiovascular ultrasound is poised to become a central tool of precision cardiology. Realizing its potential will require prospective multicenter validation, cross-vendor standardization, attention to generalizability, interpretability, and reproducibility, and evolving regulatory and ethical frameworks. Full article

Bone loss represents a significant clinical burden that has driven the development of improved orthopedic graft substitutes. Although current grafting options, including autografts, allografts, and xenografts, have demonstrated considerable therapeutic potential, their widespread application is constrained by limitations such as donor scarcity, limited availability, and associated clinical risks. Consequently, biologically derived materials, including avian eggshells and marine bivalve shells, have emerged as promising alternative sources to produce bone precursor materials and next-generation bone graft substitutes. This review summarizes recent advances in avian eggshell- and marine shell-derived calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) materials for bone regeneration and examines their preclinical evaluation in diverse animal models, including critical-size defects in calvarial, femoral, radial and mandibular bone. Relevant studies published over the past ten years were systematically analyzed, focusing on natural calcium carbonate systems derived from avian eggshell and marine shells, including oyster, mussel, clam, scallop, cockle, and sea urchins. A structured literature search was conducted using PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar to identify studies published between 2015 and 2025 investigating eggshell- and aquatic-derived biomaterials for bone repair and regeneration. Eligible studies were screened, and data were comparatively analyzed with respect to biomaterial source, scaffold fabrication, physicochemical characteristics, mechanical performance, biocompatibility, osteogenic potential, and the use of preclinical animal studies. Eggshell-derived biomaterials currently show the strongest translational evidence, while aquatic shell-derived biomaterials remain promising but underexplored for bone regeneration. Furthermore, this review critically examines the scientific, manufacturing, and regulatory challenges that must be addressed before clinical implementation. Full article

The equine gastrointestinal microbiome plays an essential role in digestion, energy metabolism, immune regulation, and maintenance of intestinal homeostasis. Increasing evidence suggests that microbial-derived metabolites provide a functional link between diet, the microbiome, and host physiology. This narrative review summarizes current knowledge on how dietary factors, including structural carbohydrates, non-structural carbohydrates, protein, and lipids, influence microbial function and metabolite production in horses. Relevant publications available up to June 2026 were identified through searches of PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar and were narratively synthesized according to dietary factors, microbial metabolites, associated diseases, and nutritional interventions. Emphasis is placed on major microbial metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids, endotoxins, bile acid derivatives, tryptophan metabolites, and nitrogenous fermentation products, and their potential roles in health and disease. Current evidence supports a central role for the nutrition–microbiota–metabolite axis in gastrointestinal disorders such as colic, colitis, equine gastric ulcer syndrome, and carbohydrate-associated laminitis, whereas its involvement in equine metabolic syndrome and the gut–lung axis remains less well defined. The review also discusses microbiome-targeted nutritional interventions and emerging multi-omics approaches that are improving our understanding of microbial function. Collectively, these findings highlight the potential of microbiome-informed nutritional strategies to support equine health, welfare, disease prevention, and athletic performance. Full article

Background/Objectives: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age, characterised by hyperandrogenism, ovulatory dysfunction, and metabolic disturbances. Semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA), has emerged as a promising therapeutic option for weight management and metabolic optimisation in PCOS. This scoping review evaluates the efficacy and safety of semaglutide in women with PCOS, with pre-specified primary outcomes (weight loss, metabolic parameters) and secondary outcomes (menstrual cyclicity, hormonal regulation, ovarian function, safety). Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted across four electronic databases (SciSpace Deep Search, SciSpace Full Text, Google Scholar, and PubMed) from inception through July 2026. Studies were included if they evaluated semaglutide in women with confirmed PCOS and reported outcomes related to weight loss, hormonal regulation, metabolic parameters, ovarian function, or safety. Two independent reviewers screened 356 unique records; 28 reports were assessed for eligibility, of which full-text access was confirmed for 5, and the remaining 23 were assessed using published abstracts or conference summaries. Two additional records were subsequently excluded due to unverifiable source identification, yielding a final corpus of 25 studies. The review adhered to the PRISMA-ScR reporting guidelines. Results: Twenty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. Semaglutide produced clinically relevant weight reduction (mean 7.6–11.5 kg over 3–6 months; ≥5% weight loss in approximately 80% of patients in responsive cohorts) with concurrent improvements in fasting insulin and HOMA-IR, based predominantly on observational and small-sample study designs. Improvements in menstrual regularity were reported by several studies; however, these data derive largely from conference abstracts or small pilot studies and should be interpreted cautiously. Gastrointestinal adverse events were the most frequent side effects, generally mild-to-moderate and transient. Important safety considerations include gallbladder disease, pancreatitis, and the risk of inadvertent pregnancy exposure following the potential restoration of ovulatory function; semaglutide must be discontinued before planned conception. Conclusions: Based on preliminary evidence from heterogeneous and predominantly low-quality studies, semaglutide shows potentially beneficial effects on weight, metabolic health, and menstrual regularity in women with PCOS. Confirmatory data on ovulation rates, reproductive outcomes, and long-term safety from large-scale RCTs with standardised endpoints are needed before definitive clinical recommendations can be made. Full article

Tagetes erecta L. is an important industrial source of lutein and other phytochemicals with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and glucose- and lipid-metabolizing potential. This review analyzes its phytochemical composition, biological mechanisms, potential applications in the prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases, and emerging uses of nanotechnology to enhance biomass and secondary metabolite production. A structured search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar using terms related to T. erecta, carotenoids, flavonoids, metabolic health, nanoparticles, nanoelicitation, and agro-industrial valorization. The evidence indicates that lutein, zeaxanthin, quercetagetin derivatives, patuletin, quercetin, and phenolic acids can modulate oxidative stress, inflammatory signaling, carbohydrate-digesting enzymes, lipid accumulation, and cell protection. Furthermore, the flowers, leaves, and extraction residues can be used as reducing and stabilizing matrices for the sustainable synthesis of functional nanomaterials. Nanoelicitors, nanofertilizers, and nanoencapsulated systems could stimulate the methylerythritol phosphate pathway, chromoplast differentiation, and the expression of genes related to carotenoid biosynthesis. Taken together, T. erecta represents a promising platform for the development of nutraceuticals, nanobiotechnology, and circular bioeconomy applications; however, phytochemical standardization, clinical validation, mechanistic studies supported by omics sciences, and pilot-scale evaluations are still required. Full article