Understanding the Seasonal Effect of Metabolite Production in Terminalia catappa L. Leaves through a Concatenated MS- and NMR-Based Metabolomics Approach.

Terminalia catappa L. (Combretaceae) is a medicinal plant that is part of the Brazilian biodiversity; this plant is popularly used for the treatment of a wide range of diseases. To better understand the chemical composition of T. catappa in different seasons, we conducted a thorough study using LC-MS and NMR data analysis techniques. The study helped obtain a chemical profile of the plant ethanolic extracts in different seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn, and winter). The dereplication of LC-HRMS data allowed the annotation of 90 compounds in the extracts of T. catappa (hydrolyzable tannins, ellagic acid derivatives, and glycosylated flavonoids). Triterpenes and C-glycosyl flavones were the compounds that significantly contributed to differences observed between T. catappa plant samples harvested in autumn/winter and spring, respectively. The variations observed in the compound composition of the plant leaves may be related to processes induced by environmental stress and leaf development. Data fusion applied in the metabolomic profiling study allowed us to identify metabolites with greater confidence, and provided a better understanding regarding the production of specialized metabolites in T. catappa leaves under different environmental conditions, which may be useful to establish appropriate quality criteria for the standardization of this medicinal plant.

Peanut skin polyphenols inhibit toxicity induced by advanced glycation end-products in RAW264.7 macrophages.

This is the first work to use a polyphenolic fraction derived from peanut skin to attenuate the toxicity induced by advanced glycation-end products (AGEs) in RAW264.7 macrophages. The RAW264.7 cells were stimulated by AGEs using the bovine serum albumin-fructose (BSA-FRU), bovine serum albumin-methylglyoxal (BSA-MGO) and arginine-methylglyoxal (ARG-MGO) models. The AGEs increased considerably the levels of reactive oxygen species and the gene expression of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and nitric oxide. Twenty-eight polyphenols, including catechin, phenolic acids, and resveratrol were annotated in peanut skin extract (PSE) with the use of ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF/MSE) and to the UNIFI Scientific Information System. The administration of PSE at 100 and 150 µg/mL significantly inhibited oxidative stress, by suppressing the production of reactive oxygen species up to 70% and reducing the production of nitric oxide, IL-6 and TNF-α up to 1.7-, 10- and 107-fold, respectively.

Rapid qualitative profiling of metabolites present in Fusarium solani, a rhizospheric fungus derived from Senna spectabilis, using GC/MS and UPLC-QTOF/MSE techniques assisted by UNIFI information system.

Fungi are an important source of natural products found in a variety of plant species. A wide range of methods for the detection of metabolites present in fungi have been reported in the literature. The search for methodologies that allow the rapid detection of compounds present in crude extracts is crucial to enable the metabolite annotation doing a qualitative analysis of the complex matrix. Mass spectrometry is an important ally when it comes to in silico detection of previously reported metabolites. In this work, the ethyl acetate extract of Fusarium solani was analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS) after derivatization process. The ethyl acetate extract was also investigated by liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry assisted by the UNIFI software system. A library containing previously reported metabolites from the Fusarium genus was added to the UNIFI platform. Simultaneously, the extract was analyzed through anticholinesterase and antifungal assays. The analysis of the derivatized extract by GC/MS led to the putative identification of five metabolites, and the investigation using Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography - Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF) analysis in data-independent acquisition mode (mass spectrometry) led to the annotation of 15 compounds present in the built-in Fusarium library added to the UNIFI system. The Fusarium solani extract showed potential anticholinesterase and in vitro antifungal activity supported by the detection of bioactive metabolites.