Interactions between quercetin and warfarin for albumin binding: A new eye on food/drug interference.

The interaction between quercetin, a popular antioxidant flavonoid, and human serum albumin (HSA) is investigated and characterized by means of induced circular dichroism and saturation transfer difference NMR. These techiques demonstrate the reversible binding of quercetin to the carrier protein, which is responsible for its dissolution in aqueous medium. Competition experiments with two classical probes for HSA binding sites, namely Ibuprofen and Warfarin (a common anticoagulant coumarin), demonstrate that quercetin has a primary binding site located in the subdomain IIA, where coumarins are hosted. The affinity for this site is large and we found that quercetin may effectively displace warfarin from HSA. This may have relevant consequences in rationalizing the interferences of common dietary compounds and food supplements to anticoagulant treatments.

The solution structure of a lasalocid A metal complex in lipophilic solvents.

Lasalocid A (LasNa), a common antibiotic in veterinary medicine, is a polyetheral ionophore, disrupting cation equilibria through the cell wall. By means of circular dichroism (in the UV and in the near-IR), paramagnetic NMR, and with the aid of the program PERSEUS, we determined the solution geometry of the 1:1 Las-Yb3+ complex in CD3CN and CDCl3, following a protocol similar to the one successfully used for the anthracycline-metal adduct. The resulting structure is in full agreement with the expectation of the ligand wrapping around the cation in a horseshoe shape. The oxygen atoms participate in the coordination either through a direct, first sphere, or a longer range interaction.

Axial Ligand exchange in chiral macrocyclic ytterbium(III) complexes.

We investigate the role of axial ligands on the near-IR-optical and paramagnetic NMR spectra of the complex [YbL](+3) where L is the stereodefined enantiopure chiral macrocycle (L = hexaazapentacyclo[25.3.1.1(12,24).0(4,9).0(19,24)]dotriaconta-1(31),2,10,12,14,16(32),17,25,27,29-decaene). The conformation in solution of the lanthanide complex is characterized by analyzing the pseudocontact 1H NMR shifts and is consistent with X-ray data of single crystal of analogue systems. The macrocycle is confined within a thin equatorial disk, leaving the cation open to at least two axial sites, on the opposite hemispheres. We recorded, assigned, and analyzed the 1H NMR spectra of several species upon changing the anion in solution, calculating the magnetic susceptibility anisotropy tensor for each. Near-IR circular dichroism is used to investigate the solution equilibria involving the competing ligands and to derive a spectroscopic series for Yb.