Lab Tests

Before Lab Testing Begins

Preparing natural products for lab testing is far from trivial.  In order to test natural compounds in cell culture, the compounds of interest must be able to go into solution in the cell culture medium, and remain soluble at physiological salinity and pH. For non-water soluble compounds, certain solvents may be useful, but many solvents are not applicable to biological assays.  Sometimes, an in vitro digest is performed before testing, to mimic some of the process a natural product goes through after being consumed.

A safe and optimal working dose range must be established in liquid formulation appropriate for cell work before products may be incorporated into cell culture.  It is crucial to ensure that the product is tested at a concentration that is high enough to show an effect, but low enough to avoid problems with culture pH, tonicity, and general cytotoxicity.  Interference from high salt concentrations or the formation of precipitates must be assessed and addressed.

Our laboratory facilities provide evaluation of:

• Cellular Function
  • Viability versus apoptosis
  • Mitochondrial function
• Immune Cell Status
  • Proliferation
  • Activation
  • Function
• Anti-bacterial effects:
  • Migration towards bacterial peptides
  • Phagocytosis
  • Reactive oxygen burst, ROS formation
• Anti-viral effects:
  • Natural Killer (NK) and NKT cell activation
  • Natural Killer (NK) cell activity
  • Secretion of anti-viral peptides
  • Cytokine regulation
• Regulation of Inflammation
  • Cellular expression of COX-2
  • Cellular production of prostaglandins, leukotrienes, cytokines
  • Cellular production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitric oxide (NO)
  • Reduced cellular recruitment to sites of inflammation
  • Reduced cellular recruitment to allergy-related peptides
• Antioxidant effects
  • Antioxidant capacity
  • Cellular antioxidant protection, using our patented CAP-e bioassay
  • Protection of cellular viability under free radical stress
  • Protection of mitochondrial function under oxidative stress
  • Reduction of free radical formation by inflammatory cells
• Clinical evaluation
  • Immune cell trafficking/surveillance
  • Stem cell mobilization
  • Platelet activation
  • Inflammation
  • Weight management
  • Vascular health
    • Fibrinolytic Testing
  • Luminex protein arrays
    • Cytokines
    • Regenerative growth factors
    • Cardiovascular markers
    • Metabolic hormones
    • 30-Plex panel example

Tests in alphabetical order

30-Plex panel example
Activation
Antioxidant capacity
Cardiovascular markers
CAP-e bioassay (cellular antioxidant protection)
Cellular production of prostaglandins, leukotrienes, cytokines
Cellular production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitric oxide (NO)
Cytokine regulation
Cytokines
Enzymatic inhibition (COX-2, Lipoxygenase)
Fibrinolytic Testing
Function
Immune cell trafficking/surveillance
Inflammation

Luminex protein arrays
Metabolic hormones
Migration towards bacterial peptides
Mitochondrial function
Natural Killer (NK) and NKT cell activation
Natural Killer (NK) cell activity
Phagocytosis
Platelet activation
Proliferation
Protection of cellular viability under free radical stress
Protection of mitochondrial function under oxidative stress
Reactive oxygen burst, ROS formation
Reduced cellular recruitment to allergy-related peptides
Reduced cellular recruitment to sites of inflammation
Reduction of free radical formation by inflammatory cells
Regenerative growth factors
Secretion of anti-vital peptides
Stem cell mobilization
Vascular health
Viability versus apoptosis
Weight management