Quaternary ammonium compounds in roots and leaves of Capparis spinosa L. from Saudi Arabia and Italy: investigation by HPLC-MS and 1H NMR.

Capparis spinosa L. is a perennial plant typical of the Mediterranean flora and a multipurpose plant used for curing various human ailments. Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs), as constituents of Capparaceae, play important roles in protecting against abiotic stress. Aim of this work was to determine QACs in root and leaves of caper from two proveniences. The presence of stachydrine, choline, glycine betaine and homo-stachydrine has been confirmed by high resolution MS, while 1H NMR was applied to quantify the main QACs in the aqueous extracts. Stachydrine was quantified at 20.2 mg/g and 32.3 mg/g on dry leaves from South of Italy and Saudi Arabia, respectively, while a minor content was in dry roots (from 10.4 to 12.5 mg/g). Choline was considerably lower both in leaves and roots (from 0.3 to 1.2 mg/g). To our knowledge, this is the first report on the determination of QACs both in root and leaves of C. spinosa.

Effects of a water extract of Lepidium meyenii root in different models of persistent pain in rats.

Lepidium meyenii (Walp.), commonly called maca, is an Andean crop belonging to the Brassicaceae family. Maca hypocotils are habitually consumed as customary food as well as traditional remedies for pathological conditions such as infertility. Moreover, the characterization of maca extracts revealed the presence of compounds that are able to modulate the nervous system. Aimed to evaluate the efficacy of L. meyenii in persistent pain, the present study analyzed the effects of a commercial root extract from maca in different animal models reproducing the most common causes of chronic painful pathologies. A qualitative characterization of this commercial extract by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry analyses allowed us to confirm the presence of some macamides known as bioactive constituents of this root and the absence of the main aromatic glucosinolates. The acute oral administration of maca extract is able to reduce mechanical hypersensitivity and postural unbalance induced by the intra-articular injection of monoiodoacetate and the chronic-constriction injury of the sciatic nerve. Furthermore, L. meyenii extract reverts pain threshold alterations evoked by oxaliplatin and paclitaxel. A good safety profile in mice and rats was shown. In conclusion, the present maca extract could be considered as a therapeutic opportunity to relieve articular and neuropathic pain.

An insight on the alkaloid content of Capparis spinosa L. root by HPLC-DAD-MS, MS/MS and (1)H qNMR.

The Capparis spinosa L. has a wide distribution in the Old World from South Europe, North and East Africa, Madagascar, Southwest and Central Asia to Australia and Oceania. The consolidated traditional use of C. spinosa root as remedy against different pains in human is well known since the antiquity. Various secondary metabolites have been found in caper plant, nevertheless, few studies have been focused to the analysis of root constituents. To date, several free and glycosilated spermidine alkaloids and a more polar alkaloid, the stachydrine, have been isolated from the root of C. spinosa. Aim of this work was to improve the knowledge on the alkaloid content of the root of a Syrian sample of C. spinosa by HPLC-DAD-MS(n) and to propose methods to quantify these molecules in different raw extracts. A decoction, an hydroalcoholic extraction and a fractionation process to selectively recover the spermidine alkaloids were applied. To our knowledge, this is the first HPLC-DAD-MS(n) profile that pointed out the co-presence of stachydrine, several isobaric forms of capparispine and/or capparisine in free and glycosylated forms and some isobars of isocodonocarpine or codonocarpine as monoglycosides in extracts of C. spinosa root. The determination by HPLC/DAD for the spermidine alkaloids expressed as p-OH-coumaric acid gave values up to 3.5mg/g dried root and the stachydrine evaluated by (1)H NMR was close to 12.5mg/g dried root. Overall, the total alkaloids were almost doubled in hydroalcoholic extract with respect to the decoction, and the stachydrine in the cortex was almost double than in the whole root.

Antibiotic delivery by liposomes from prokaryotic microorganisms: Similia cum similis works better.

To date the effectiveness of antibiotics is undermined by microbial resistance, threatening public health worldwide. Enhancing the efficacy of the current antibiotic arsenal is an alternative strategy. The administration of antimicrobials encapsulated in nanocarriers, such as liposomes, is considered a viable option, though with some drawbacks related to limited affinity between conventional liposomes and bacterial membranes. Here we propose a novel "top-down" procedure to prepare unconventional liposomes from the membranes of prokaryotes (PD-liposomes). These vectors, being obtained from bacteria with limited growth requirements, also represent low-cost systems for scalable biotechnology production. In depth physico-chemical characterization, carried out with dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS), indicated that PD-liposomes can be suitable for the employment as antibiotic vectors. Specifically, DLS showed that the mean diameter of loaded liposomes was ∼200-300nm, while SAXS showed that the structure was similar to conventional liposomes, thus allowing a direct comparison with more standard liposomal formulations. Compared to free penicillin G, PD-liposomes loaded with penicillin G showed minimal inhibitory concentrations against E. coli that were up to 16-times lower. Noteworthy, the extent of the bacterial growth inhibition was found to depend on the microorganisms from which liposomes were derived.

Vitamin D3 quantification in a cod liver oil-based supplement.

A reliable, accurate and reproducible method to quantify vitamin D3 (Vit. D3) in oily dietary supplements was developed after three Vit. D3 intoxications were diagnosed as reasonably resulting from a dietary administration of a cod liver oil based supplement. Liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry operating in atmospheric pressure chemical ionization conditions (LC-APCI) and by using a deuterium labelled internal standard resulted to be an effective technique to reach the analytical aim. Due to the complexity of the oily matrix, the new analytical approach required a solid phase extraction step prior to analysis. The amount of Vit. D3 declared on the label of the cod liver oil based supplement for each soft capsule is 1.5µg. Consequently, the method was developed to quantify Vit. D3 amounts in the range 1-5µg/mL. To improve reliability of obtained data, both MS and MS/MS acquisition methods were employed. The method was evaluated by measuring the characteristic parameters such as linearity, precision, accuracy and robustness and cross checked against a certified pharmaceutical preparation. The LC-APCI-MS and MS/MS methods were applied in order to assess the Vit. D3 content in the dietary supplements taken by the intoxicated patients, found about three order of magnitude higher than that declared. The Vit. D3 content of other batches of the same commercial product was found as declared.