Anti-inflammatory activities of Coleus forsteri (formerly Plectranthus forsteri) extracts on human macrophages and chemical characterization.

Introduction: Formerly named Plectranthus forsteri, Coleus forsteri (Benth.) A.J.Paton, 2019 is a Lamiaceae traditionally used to treat flu-like symptoms and shock-related ecchymosis, especially in the Pacific region. Few studies investigated chemical composition and anti-inflammatory potential of this plant. Method: Herein, we investigated anti-inflammatory potential of C. forsteri ethanolic (ePE) and cyclohexane (cPE) plant extract on LPS-induced human macrophages models and quantified cytokines and quinolinic acid (QUIN) as inflammatory markers. Results: Our results show that extract of ePE and cPE significantly inhibit inflammatory cytokine IL-6 and TNF-α induced by LPS on PMA-derived THP-1 macrophages. QUIN production is also diminished under ePE and cPE treatment in activated human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs). Seven abietane diterpenes were characterized from C. forsteri cPE including coleon U (1), coleon U-quinone (2), 8α,9α-epoxycoleon U-quinone (3), horminone or 7α-hydroxyroyleanone (4), 6ß,7α-dihydroxyroyleanone (5), 7α-acetoxy-6ß-hydroxyroyleanone (6) and 7α-formyloxy-6ß-hydroxyroyleanone (7). Discussion: We discussed potential contributions of these molecules from C. forsteri extracts for their anti-inflammatory activities.

Chemodiversity of Calophyllum inophyllum L. oil bioactive components related to their specific geographical distribution in the South Pacific region.

BACKGROUND: Different parts of the tree Calophyllum inophyllum L. (nuts, leaves, roots, bark, fruits, nut oil and resin) are used as traditional medicines and cosmetics in most of the Pacific Islands. The oil efficiency as a natural cure and in traditional cosmetics has been largely described throughout the South Pacific, which led us to investigate C. inophyllum's chemical and genetic diversity. A correlative study of the nut resin and leaf DNA from three distinct archipelagos in the South Pacific was carried out in order to identify diversity patterns in C. inophyllum across the South Pacific. METHODS: Calophyllum inophyllum plants were sampled from French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Fiji. We extracted tamanu oil (nut oil) resin for chemo-diversity studies and sampled leaf tissues for genetic studies. We applied an analysis method designed for small quantities (at a microscale level), and used High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) to establish the chemo-diversity of tamanu oil resin. In-house standards were co-eluted for qualitative determination. Genetic diversity was assessed using chloroplast barcoding markers (the Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (accD) gene and the psaA-ycf3 intergenic spacer region). RESULTS: Our HPLC analysis revealed 11 previously known tamanu oil constituents, with variability among plant samples. We also isolated and characterized two new neoflavonoids from tamanu oil resin namely, tamanolide E1 and E2 which are diastereoisomers. Although genetic analysis revealed low genetic variation, our multivariate analysis (PCA) of the tamanu oil resin chemical profiles revealed differentiation among geographic regions. CONCLUSION: We showed here that chromatographic analysis using formalized in-house standards of oil resin compounds for co-elution studies against oil resin samples could identify patterns of variation among samples of C. inophyllum, and discriminate samples from different geographical origins.

Indole alkaloids from the Marquesan plant Rauvolfia nukuhivensis and their effects on ion channels.

In addition to the already reported nukuhivensiums 1 and 2, 11 indole alkaloids were isolated from the bark of the plant Rauvolfia nukuhivensis, growing in the Marquesas archipelago. The known sandwicine (3), isosandwicine (4), spegatrine (8), lochneram (9), flavopereirine (13) have been found in this plant together with the norsandwicine (5), isonorsandwicine (6), Nb-methylisosandwicine (7), 10-methoxypanarine (10), nortueiaoine (11), tueiaoine (12). The structure elucidation was performed on the basis of a deep exploration of the NMR and HRESIMS data as well as comparison with literature data for similar compounds. Norsandwicine, 10-methoxypanarine, tueiaoine, and more importantly nukuhivensiums, were shown to significantly induce a reduction of IKr amplitude (HERG current). Molecular modelling through docking was performed in order to illustrate this result.

Acids and alkali resistant sticky superhydrophobic surfaces by one-pot electropolymerization of perfluoroalkyl alkyl pyrrole.

Over the past few years, electropolymerization of semifluorinated monomers like thiophene or pyrrole has been used as a gentle and effective method to generate, in one step, stable superhydrophobic surfaces. The synthetic route mostly involves the coupling reaction between a carboxylic acid and an alcohol, using a carboxy group-activated reagent and a catalyst. As a consequence, the electroformed surfaces present high liquid repellency due to the concomitant effect of roughness and low surface energy. Nevertheless, the ester connector can be cleaved under acidic and basic conditions, preventing its use under a range of environmental conditions. To overcome this drawback, a new perfluoroalkyl alkyl pyrrole has been synthesized, the fluorinated segment being connected to the electropolymerizable part via an alkyl chain, and electropolymerized, leading to surfaces that exhibit a static contact angle with water superior to 150 degrees and no sliding angle, over a wide pH range and with a long lifetime. This represents the first example of a pure conducting polymer surface with sticky superhydrophobicity not only in pure water but also in corrosive solutions such as acids and bases, giving rise to new prospects in practical applications.

Electrodeposited polymer films with both superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity.

Electrodeposited films of poly(ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) present a rough morphology and are wettable by water and oil. The covalent binding of low free energy fluorinated chains on the monomer before polymerization lowers the surface energy of the electroformed polymers sufficiently to give rise to superhydrophobic behaviour while conserving superoleophilicity. It holds the promise of an interesting candidate for the separation of water and oil.

Synthesis and properties of perfluorinated conjugated polymers based on polyethylenedioxythiophene, polypyrrole, and polyfluorene. Toward surfaces with special wettabilities.

The electrochemical deposition of organic materials is a convenient and straightforward method that affords rough films in mild conditions. The presence of fluorinated chains covalently attached on the polymer backbone allows the control of the second criterion which plays a role on the wetting properties of the surface, that is, the chemical composition. By modification of the nature of the polymer, films with different surface energies were obtained. Thus, original semifluorinated polypyrrole (PPy- RF n ), polyfluorene (PFl- RF n ), and polyethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT- RF n ) have been chemically and electrochemically synthesized and characterized. On one hand, the chemical polymerization affords highly fluorinated soluble polymers. Soluble PFl- RF n exhibits blue fluorescence in solution while soluble PEDOT- RF n presents optical properties similar to those of PEDOT. Consequently, they represent interesting candidates for optical devices (OLEDs for PFl- RF n , electrochromic materials for PEDOT- RF n ). On the other hand, surface properties have been investigated on the electroformed polymers by goniometry and microscopy. Fluorinated surfaces of electrodeposited polypyrrole, like polythiophene, give birth to high hydrophobic and oleophobic surfaces, while the use of polyethylenedioxythiophene as the polymer increases sufficiently the surface energy to get combined superhydrophobicity and superoleophilicity. The influence of the chemical composition is discussed through the comparison of the wetting properties of polyethylenedioxythiophene and semifluorinated polythiophene and polyethylenedioxythiophene.

Stable superhydrophobic and lipophobic conjugated polymers films.

With a view to developing repellent materials combining both low surface energy and rough structure, original semi-fluorinated polythiophenes have been chemically and electrochemically synthesized and characterized by cyclic voltammetry, GPC, and UV-visible measurements. Polymer films have been deposited onto different substrates by drop casting a soluble polymer fraction on glass plate or by electrodeposition on ITO plate. Surface properties and particularly water and oil repellencies have been investigated by goniometry and correlated with the surface morphology and structure observed by SEM. The incorporation of fluorocarbon chains in the rigid polythiophene backbone yields very low surface free energy materials. Moreover, the way of deposition has a huge influence on the quality and performance of the film surface properties. Electroformed polymers, due to rough surfaces, exhibit great super-hydrophobic and lipophobic properties together with exceptional time stability.