Himalayan Nettle Girardinia diversifolia as a Candidate Ingredient for Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical Applications-Phytochemical Analysis and In Vitro Bioassays.

Girardinia diversifolia, also known as Himalayan nettle, is a perennial herb used in Nepal to make fiber as well as in traditional medicine for the treatment of several diseases. To date, phytochemical studies and biological assays on this plant are scarce. Thus, in the present work, the G. diversifolia extracts have been evaluated for their potential pharmaceutical, cosmetic and nutraceutical uses. For this purpose, detailed phytochemical analyses were performed, evidencing the presence of phytosterols, fatty acids, carotenoids, polyphenols and saponins. The most abundant secondary metabolites were ß- and γ-sitosterol (11 and 9% dw, respectively), and trans syringin (0.5 mg/g) was the most abundant phenolic. Fatty acids with an abundant portion of unsaturated derivatives (linoleic and linolenic acid at 22.0 and 9.7 mg/g respectively), vitamin C (2.9 mg/g) and vitamin B2 (0.12 mg/g) were also present. The antioxidant activity was moderate while a significant ability to inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrilcholinesterase (BuChE), tyrosinase, α-amylase and α-glucosidase was observed. A cytotoxic effect was observed on human ovarian, pancreatic and hepatic cancer cell lines. The effect in hepatocarcinoma cells was associated to a downregulation of the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), a pivotal regulator of cellular cholesterol homeostasis. These data show the potential usefulness of this species for possible applications in pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and cosmetics.

A dynamic metabolic flux analysis of ABE (acetone-butanol-ethanol) fermentation by Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824, with riboflavin as a by-product.

The present study reveals that supplementing sodium acetate (NaAc) strongly stimulates riboflavin production in acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation by Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 with xylose as carbon source. Riboflavin production increased from undetectable concentrations to ∼0.2 g L-1 (0.53 mM) when supplementing 60 mM NaAc. Of interest, solvents production and biomass yield were also promoted with fivefold acetone, 2.6-fold butanol, and 2.4-fold biomass adding NaAc. A kinetic metabolic model, developed to simulate ABE biosystem, with riboflavin production, revealed from a dynamic metabolic flux analysis (dMFA) simultaneous increase of riboflavin (ribA) and GTP (precursor of riboflavin) (PurM) synthesis flux rates under NaAc supplementation. The model includes 23 fluxes, 24 metabolites, and 72 kinetic parameters. It also suggested that NaAc condition has first stimulated the accumulation of intracellular metabolite intermediates during the acidogenic phase, which have then fed the solventogenic phase leading to increased ABE production. In addition, NaAc resulted in higher intracellular levels of NADH during the whole culture. Moreover, lower GTP-to-adenosine phosphates (ATP, ADP, AMP) ratio under NaAc supplemented condition suggests that GTP may have a minor role in the cell energetic metabolism compared to its contribution to riboflavin synthesis.

Separation and preconcentration of riboflavin from human plasma using polythionine coated magnetite/hydroxyapatite nanocomposite prior to analysis by surfactant-enhanced fluorimetry.

The exploration of novel adsorption properties of conductive polymers based on hybridization with biocompatible nanomaterials receives an increasing interest. In this regard, hydroxyapatite (HA) bioceramic is of critical importance mainly owing to its facile synthesis, high surface area, economic and low toxicity in biological environments. In this work, we first prepared and characterized a magnetite/hydroxyapatite (Fe3O4/HA) nanocomposite using the bio-waste chicken eggshell via an attractive green way that involved low cost and irrespective of toxicity. Then, polythionine as a novel class of conductive polymers was in situ coated on the synthesized magnetic bioceramic for the separation and preconcentration of riboflavin (vitamin B2) in human plasma before its fluorimetric determination. Considering the putative role of riboflavin in protecting against cancer and cardiovascular diseases, it is essential to evaluate this vitamin in biological fluids. The described method possesses a linear range of 0.75-262.5µgL-1 (R2=0.9985) and a detection limit of 0.20µgL-1 (signal-to-noise ratio of 3). The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for single-sorbent repeatability and sorbent-to-sorbent reproducibility were less than 4.0% and 7.6% (n=5), respectively. The respective enrichment factor and extraction recovery of the method found to be 35.7 and 98.4%. The analytical performance of method for riboflavin was characterized by good consistency of the results with those obtained by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) conventional method (p-value of <0.05). The optimized protocol intended for control determinations of riboflavin in human subjects and is addressed to clinical laboratories.

Refinement of adsorptive coatings for fluorescent riboflavin-receptor-targeted iron oxide nanoparticles.

Flavin mononucleotide (FMN) is a riboflavin derivative that can be exploited to target the riboflavin transporters (RFTs) and the riboflavin carrier protein (RCP) in cells with high metabolic activity. In this study we present the synthesis of different FMN-coated ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (USPIOs) and their efficiency as targeting contrast agents. Since FMN alone cannot stabilize the nanoparticles, we used adenosine phosphates--AMP, ADP and ATP--as spacers to obtain colloidally stable nanoparticles. Nucleotides with di- and triphosphate groups were intended to increase the USPIO charge and thus improve zeta potential and stability. However, all nanoparticles formed negatively charged clusters with similar properties in terms of zeta potential (-28 ± 2 mV), relaxivity (228-259 mM(-1) s(-1) at 3 T) and hydrodynamic radius (53-85 nm). Molecules with a higher number of phosphate groups, such as ADP and ATP, have a higher adsorption affinity towards iron oxide, which, instead of providing more charge, led to partial desorption and replacement of FMN. Hence, we obtained USPIOs carrying different amounts of targeting agent, which significantly influenced the nanoparticles' uptake. The nanoparticles' uptake by different cancer cells and HUVECs was evaluated photometrically and with MR relaxometry, showing that the cellular uptake of the USPIOs increases with the FMN amount on their surface. Thus, for USPIOs targeted with riboflavin derivatives the use of spacers with increasing numbers of phosphate groups does not improve either zeta potential or the particles' stability, but rather detaches the targeting moieties from their surface, leading to lower cellular uptake.

Molecular recognition using corona phase complexes made of synthetic polymers adsorbed on carbon nanotubes.

Understanding molecular recognition is of fundamental importance in applications such as therapeutics, chemical catalysis and sensor design. The most common recognition motifs involve biological macromolecules such as antibodies and aptamers. The key to biorecognition consists of a unique three-dimensional structure formed by a folded and constrained bioheteropolymer that creates a binding pocket, or an interface, able to recognize a specific molecule. Here, we show that synthetic heteropolymers, once constrained onto a single-walled carbon nanotube by chemical adsorption, also form a new corona phase that exhibits highly selective recognition for specific molecules. To prove the generality of this phenomenon, we report three examples of heteropolymer-nanotube recognition complexes for riboflavin, L-thyroxine and oestradiol. In each case, the recognition was predicted using a two-dimensional thermodynamic model of surface interactions in which the dissociation constants can be tuned by perturbing the chemical structure of the heteropolymer. Moreover, these complexes can be used as new types of spatiotemporal sensors based on modulation of the carbon nanotube photoemission in the near-infrared, as we show by tracking riboflavin diffusion in murine macrophages.

Identification and analysis of the constituents in an aqueous extract of Tricholoma matsutake by HPLC coupled with diode array detection/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

The main constituents in an aqueous extract of Tricholoma matsutake (Tm) were identified by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection and electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD/TOF-MS) and ion trap mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD/Trap-MSn). The main factors in the extraction process which affect the yields of nutrients were optimized by single-factor experiments and orthogonal experiment design. In total, 12 constituents were identified from the aqueous extract of Tm, including tyrosine, cytidine, uridine, eritadenine, phenylalanine, nicotinamide, inosine, guanosine, tryptophan, adenosine, 5'-deoxy-5'-methylthioadenosine and riboflavin. The optimized extraction conditions were: the ratio of water to sample was 10 : 1 (v/w), Tm was extracted by ultrasonic-assisted extraction for 10 min, followed by water bath heating at 60 °C for 1 h. Among these extraction factors, the heating temperature is significant based on analysis of variance (ANOVA). The yields of nutrients were affected dramatically at high temperature leading to the loss of nutrients, especially for nucleosides and some amino acids.

Isolation and characterization of an Ashbya gossypii mutant for improved riboflavin production

The use of the filamentous fungus, Ashbya gossypii, to improve riboflavin production at an industrial scale is described in this paper. A riboflavin overproducing strain was isolated by ultraviolet irradiation. Ten minutes after spore suspensions of A. gossypii were irradiated by ultraviolet light, a survival rate of 5.5% spores was observed, with 10% of the surviving spores giving rise to riboflavin-overproducing mutants. At this time point, a stable mutant of the wild strain was isolated. Riboflavin production of the mutant was two fold higher than that of the wild strain in flask culture. When the mutant was growing on the optimized medium, maximum riboflavin production could reach 6.38 g/l. It has even greater promise to increase its riboflavin production through dynamic analysis of its growth phase parameters, and riboflavin production could reach 8.12 g/l with pH was adjusted to the range of 6.0-7.0 using KH2PO4 in the later growth phase. This mutant has the potential to be used for industrial scale riboflavin production.

In vitro evaluation of new biocompatible coatings for solid-phase microextraction: implications for drug analysis and in vivo sampling applications.

A new line of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coatings suitable for use with liquid chromatography applications was recently developed to address the limitations of the currently available coatings. The proposed coatings were immobilized on the metal fiber core and consisted of a mixture of proprietary biocompatible binder and various types of coated silica (octadecyl, polar embedded and cyano) particles. The aim of this research was to perform in vitro assessment of these new SPME fibers in order to evaluate their suitability for drug analysis and in vivo SPME applications. The main parameters examined were extraction efficiency, solvent resistance, preconditioning, dependence of extraction kinetics on coating thickness, carryover, linear range and inter-fiber reproducibility. The performance of the proposed coatings was compared against commercial Carbowax-TPR (CW-TPR) coating, when applicable. The fibers were evaluated for the extraction of drugs of different classes (carbamazepine, propranolol, pseudoephedrine, ranitidine and diazepam) from plasma and urine. The analyses were performed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The results show that the fibers perform very well for the extraction of biological fluids with no sample pre-treatment required and can also be used for in vivo sampling applications of flowing blood. A coating thickness of 45 microm was found to be a good compromise between extraction capacity and extraction kinetics. Due to the high extraction efficiency of these coatings, pre-equilibrium SPME with very short extraction times (2 min) can be employed to increase sample throughput. Inter-fiber reproducibility was < or = 11% R.S.D. (n=10) for model drugs examined in plasma, which is a significant improvement over polypyrrole coatings reported in literature, and permits single fiber use for in vivo applications.

New antioxidant protein in seaweed (Porphyra yezoensis Ueda).

Gel filtration was used to partially purify the antioxidizing component of a crude extracted solution of seaweed (Porphyra yezoensis Ueda), and its properties were studied. The antioxidizing effect did not decrease after dialysis or heating. The finding of no change after dialysis suggested that the compound was of high molecular weight, estimated at 52.2 kDa by gel filtration chromatography. The antioxidizing effect decreased with irradiation, accompanied by a parallel decrease in the riboflavin content. The antioxidizing component of this 52.2-kDa fraction may be a protein-bound riboflavin. The structural of protein-bound riboflavin in seaweed was analyzed with hydrogen-1 nuclear magnetic resonance, and the results suggested that the 52.2-kDa fraction was riboflavin. We found an antioxidizing component in seaweed (P. yezoensis Ueda). This antioxidizing component is estimated at 52.2 kDa and may be a protein-bound riboflavin.

Myeloma with xanthoderma due to an IgG lambdamonoclonal anti-flavin antibody.

When yellow skin and yellow hair developed in an elderly patient with multiple myeloma, we ruled out the usual causes of such pigmentation but identified a monoclonal IgGlambda (lgGGar) with anti-flavin antibody activity. Purified IgGGar was bright yellow, and the acid-dissociated chromophore was identified as riboflavin by chromatography and absorption spectroscopy. Native IgGGar contained 1.45 moles of flavin per mole of IgG, and increased to 2 moles with addition of riboflavin to saturation. The flavin was localized to the Fab fragment and was bound to IgGGar with high affinity. IgGGar showed strongest affinities for riboflavin, flavin mononucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide, and lower affinities for dinitrophenyl derivatives and naphthoquinone. The demonstration of hapten bound to the circulating monoclonal immunoglobulin in this case suggests the possibility of bound but colorless haptens on other myeloma proteins as well as on normal immunoglobulins.