Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory potential, and chemical characterization of the dichloromethane fraction of Solanum lycocarpum (Solanaceae) ripe fruits by LC-DAD-MS.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Solanum lycocarpum A. St. Hil. (Solanaceae) is a species from the Brazilian Cerrado, exhibiting several medicinal properties, being used by the population in the treatment of ulcers, bronchitis, asthma and hepatitis, which involve inflammatory processes. AIM OF THIS STUDY: This study aimed to chemically characterize the dichloromethane fraction (DCM), as well as verify its antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potential. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The DCM fraction was obtained by partitioning the ethanol extract. The chemical constituents of the DCM fraction were characterized by LC-DAD-MS. The DPPH and FRAP assays were used to evaluate the antioxidant potential. The carrageenan-induced paw edema model was used to assess the anti-inflammatory effects, and the inflammatory infiltrate was evaluated by qualitative and quantitative histological analyses. The antinociceptive action of the DCM fraction was evaluated by acetic acid-induced abdominal writhing test, formalin-induced nociception and hot-plate test. RESULTS: Steroidal alkaloids solasonine, solasodine and solamargine, as well as the alkaloid peiminine/imperialine and caffeoylquinic acids, were annotated in DCM fraction by LC-DAD-MS. The DCM fraction showed antioxidative action in the in vitro DPPH and FRAP tests, as well as an anti-inflammatory effect for the three evaluated doses of 30, 100 and 300 mg/kg in the fourth and sixth hours after the administration of carrageenan. The histological analyses evidenced considerably reduction in leukocyte migration and the number of polymorphonuclear leukocytes. The study also demonstrated antinociceptive activity for the DCM fraction, which reduced abdominal writhing at three concentrations evaluated, as well as a decrease in paw licking in the formalin-induced nociception test both in the neurogenic phase and the inflammatory phase, with greater effectiveness compared to the anti-inflammatory indomethacin. The DCM fraction also increased the latency time of the animals in the hot plate test 60 min after treatment, although it did not seem to involve the opioidergic system. CONCLUSION: This work evidenced that the dichloromethane fraction of S. lycocarpum fruit possesses antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory potential, which supports its use in folk medicine for management inflammatory conditions.

Recent Patents on the Industrial Application of Alpha-amylases.

BACKGROUND: Alpha-amylases are enzymes capable of degrading polysaccharides, such as starch and glycogen. Found in various organisms, such as fungi and bacteria, these enzymes have great biotechnological potential due to their insertion in several industrial sectors ranging from food to biofuels. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyze patents deposited in intellectual property databases on alpha-amylases in the fields of food, beverages, detergents, animal feeds, biofuels, pharmaceuticals and textiles, with the search period being 5 years. METHODS: This study targeted the use of alpha-amylases in various industrial sectors, so searches were carried out on the intellectual property database Espacenet website (European Patent Office - EPO) which contains more than 90 million patents deposited in its database. RESULTS: During the search for patents filed in the last 5 years, 186 were found related to the use of alpha-amylases. These were disturbed as follows: 84 (biofuel), 41 (drinks), 16 (pharmaceuticals), 15 (detergents), 11 (food), 10 (animal feed), 9 (textiles). From the total number of patents found, we selected 6 from each area, except pharmaceutical products, to discuss and provide information on the application of this enzyme. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that the sectors of beverages and animal feed have preferences for thermostable alpha-amylases while sectors such as food, biofuels and textiles only regarded the importance of enzymatic efficiency. The detergent sector presented the greatest use of alpha-amylases which had distinct biochemical characteristics as solvent resistance and thermostability. The pharmaceutical sector was the one that presented less patents related to the application of alpha amylases. In addition, this work showed that China is the country with the highest patent registration for the use of alpha-amylases in the analyzed period.

Bioconcentration and translocation of Cd and Hg in a tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) from cultivated soils in southeastern Brazil.

Food is the main source of toxic metals like mercury (Hg) and cadmium (Cd) to humans. This study evaluated the accumulation and translocation of Cd and Hg in a soil-plant system in four tomato plantations and assessed the risk associated with ingestion of these metals. Ten soil samples (rhizosphere) and 10 samples of plant tissues (leaf, ripe fruit, green fruit, and roots) were collected in each plantation. Spatial variation in Cd and Hg concentrations was negligible. The Cd level in rhizosphere was lower in comparison with that of plant tissues. Hg levels in rhizosphere were similar to roots and higher than the value observed in aerial parts of plants. The Cd bioconcentration factor was approximately five times higher compared to that of Hg. Approximately 93% and 48.6% of Cd and Hg accumulated in roots reached aerial parts, respectively. Our results indicate that tomato readily absorbs Cd accumulated in soil, translocating it to aerial parts. Comparatively, the absorption of Hg is not efficient. Levels of Cd in tomatoes were over 17 times higher than the maximum residual levels in 57.5% of ripe fruits and in 27.5% of green tomatoes.