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1.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38997599

ABSTRACT

Sodium chloride (NaCl) can cause oxidative stress in plants, which represents a potential obstacle to the development of monocultures worldwide. Onion (Allium cepa L.) is a famous vegetable consumed and used in world cuisine. In the present study, we analyzed the influence of soil physicochemical profile and the remedial capacity of linalool on seed emergence, roots, and leaf growth in onions subjected to salt stress, as well as its in vivo and in vitro antioxidant potential, Fe2+chelating activity, and reducing power of Fe3+. The outcome of the soil analysis established the following order of abundance: sulfur (S) > calcium (Ca) > potassium (K) > magnesium (Mg) > sodium (Na). NaCl (150 mM) significantly reduced the emergence speed index (ESI), leaf and root length, while increasing the peroxidation content. The length of leaves and roots significantly increased after treatment with linalool (300 and 500 µg/mL). Our data showed negative correlations between seed emergence and K+ concentration, which was reversed after treatments. Linalool (500 µg/mL) significantly reduced oxidative stress, but increased Fe2+ concentration and did not show potential to reduce Fe3+. The in vivo antioxidant effect of linalool is thought to primarily result from an enzymatic activation process. This mechanism underscores its potential as a therapeutic agent for oxidative stress-related conditions. Further investigation into this process could unveil new avenues for antioxidant therapy.

4.
Exp Parasitol ; 261: 108754, 2024 Jun.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38636935

ABSTRACT

The apicomplexa Toxoplasma gondii is capable of actively proliferating in numerous types of nucleated cells, and therefore has a high potential for dissemination and resistance. Thus, the present work aimed to correlate the inoculum concentrations and amount of post-infection parasites with porcine hematological parameters (including biochemistry) through in vitro culture. Porcine blood was incubated with different concentrations of parasites (1.2 × 107, 6/3/1.5 × 106 cells/mL), then the concentrations of red blood cells (RBC) and their morphology, total and differential leukocytes, and free peptides were evaluated. In addition, eight different blood samples analyzed before inoculation, where subsequent multivariate analysis was applied to correlate different variables with trophozoite concentration. The results showed no significant variation (p < 0.05) in the relative levels of free peptides, or the relative percentage of RBC at all the parasite concentrations tested. However, the normalized percentages of leukocytes and neutrophils showed a significant reduction, while those of lymphocytes, eosinophils and monocytes showed the opposite behavior. Semi-automatic processing of images exhibited significant microcytosis and hypochromia. The multivariate analysis revealed a positive correlation between the amount number of protozoa (AP) and the variables: "Red cells" and "Neutrophils", an indifference between the AP and the content of free peptides, and the concentration of monocytes in the samples; and a negative correlation for AP and the percentages of lymphocytes and eosinophils. Our results suggest that specific changes in hematological parameters may be associated with different degrees of parasitemia, demanding a thorough diagnostic process and adequate treatment.


Subject(s)
Erythrocytes , Swine Diseases , Toxoplasma , Toxoplasmosis, Animal , Animals , Toxoplasma/immunology , Toxoplasma/physiology , Swine , Toxoplasmosis, Animal/parasitology , Toxoplasmosis, Animal/blood , Erythrocytes/parasitology , Swine Diseases/parasitology , Swine Diseases/blood , Multivariate Analysis , Leukocyte Count , Leukocytes/parasitology , Erythrocyte Count/veterinary , Neutrophils , Parasitemia/parasitology , Parasitemia/blood
5.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38261226

ABSTRACT

Abiotic stresses including sodium chloride (NaCl) are known to negatively affect plant physiology and seed germination by inducing a delay in establishing seedling emergence. The monoterpene carvacrol is the major component of several aromatic plants and seems to interfere with germination and seedling growth. In this study, we investigated whether treatment with carvacrol attenuates the effects of NaCl on the germination and development of Allium cepa, where biochemical parameters were also analyzed. The results showed that the Emergency Speed Index (ESI) was near to 2.0 in the control group. The groups NaCl, carvacrol alone, and in co-treatment with NaCl exhibited an ESI below 0.8, being significantly smaller when compared to the control. NaCl + carvacrol significantly inhibited seed emergence in relation to the NaCl group. Only the content of malondialdehyde was significantly altered by NaCl.

6.
Diabetes Metab Syndr ; 17(4): 102760, 2023 Apr.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37084485

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In the present study the research output of the South Asian region (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, and Bhutan) in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism (EDM) is highlighted. It was compared with five scientifically advanced countries i.e. USA, UK, Italy, Japan and China. METHODS: On September 13, 2022, the data was retrieved from the Scopus database. The analysis focused on the number of publications, total citations (TC), citations per paper (CPP), field-weighted citations impact (FWCI), and degree of international collaboration. RESULTS: In South Asia, India produced the highest number of publications (n = 7048), followed by Pakistan (n = 799), Bangladesh (n = 345), Sri Lanka (n = 256), Nepal (n = 144), Maldives (n = 12) and Bhutan (n = 4). The highest CPP (n = 19.4) and FWCI (n = 1.18) was recorded for Sri Lanka. Furthermore, USA (n = 64022), China (n = 23991), UK (n = 21449), Italy (n = 18884), and Japan (n = 12875), published the highest number of documents with the highest citations and FWCI in the world. It was noted that India published the highest number of documents (n = 47.28%) in the quartiles (Q) 6 and Q7. Pakistan produced the highest number of documents (n = 64.22%) in the top 50% of journals (Q1 to Q5). South Asian countries produced 8332 publications, with 130382 TC, 15.6 CPP and 1.06 FWCI. Importantly 46.50% of documents from South Asian countries were published in Q6 and Q7 journals. In contrast USA, UK, Italy, Japan and China published 77% documents in top 50% journals. CONCLUSIONS: Although the South Asian research publications have increased yearly (from 2012 to 2021), but approximately 50% of the South Asian output were in the lower quartile journals. Consequently, significant measures are needed to improve the quantity and quality of EDM research produced in South Asian coutries.


Subject(s)
Bibliometrics , Diabetes Mellitus , Humans , Asia, Southern , Developed Countries , India , Diabetes Mellitus/epidemiology
7.
Nitric Oxide ; 124: 74-87, 2022 Jul 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35644419

ABSTRACT

Based on the Scopus record, Nitric Oxide journal (NOJ) has completed 25 years of publications. On March 8, 2022, the publication data was retrieved from the Scopus database and analyzed on VOSviewer and R-Studio (Bibliometrix R package/Biblioshiny). NOJ has published 1928 research documents majorly comprising of articles (1611/83.56%) and reviews (210/10.89%). The total citations and h-index were 56291 & 97, respectively. The per year (from 1997 to 2022) publications and citations are presented in this study. We tried to highlight some of the influential researchers, institutes, and countries. In all publications, 7450 authors have contributed with a collaboration index of 0.241. For all authors, we provided descriptive details about their total number of publications (NoP), total citations (TC), h-index, g-index, m-index, citations per paper (CPP), citation per year (CPY), HG Sqrt and Q2Index. Based on each indicator, we highlighted the top five scientists. The research publications (over time) of the top ten authors are also described. Furthermore, the collaboration network of authors is graphically presented. We also provided descriptive details about the most productive institutes. The highest number of documents are published by the University of Sao Paolo (n = 78), Brazil, while in-country sections, USA has the highest number of publications (n = 553) with 21739 citations and 69 h-index. In the same vein, for each era (five years) details about the top five countries are provided. In all publications (n = 1794), 34 European, 3 North American, 13 Asian, 10 South American, 5 Middle East, 8 African and 2 Asia Pacific countries have contributed. Numerical details about the collaboration links of all countries and the per-era contributions of the top ten countries are also provided. Based on the co-words analysis the per era research focus is graphically presented. Descriptive details about the major trends in publication in each era are also provided. We also manually analyzed 160 words that appeared more than thirty thousand (n = 30,000) times and tried to provide a broader overview of research publications. Based on Scopus record, the NOJ ranking is yearly improving and presently (2021-2022) it holds 14th and 17th positions in clinical biochemistry and physiology. The success could be attributed to all researchers, institutes, editors-in-chief, reviewers, editorial board & entire management.

8.
Molecules ; 27(7)2022 Mar 27.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35408565

ABSTRACT

Weeds are an important source of natural products; with promising biological activity. This study investigated the anti-kinetoplastida potential (in vitro) to evaluate the cytotoxicity (in vitro) and antioxidant capacity of the essential oil of Rhaphiodon echinus (EORe), which is an infesting plant species. The essential oil was analyzed by GC/MS. The antioxidant capacity was evaluated by reduction of the DPPH radical and Fe3+ ion. The clone Trypanosoma cruzi CL-B5 was used to search for anti-epimastigote activity. Antileishmanial activity was determined using promastigotes of Leishmania braziliensis (MHOM/CW/88/UA301). NCTC 929 fibroblasts were used for the cytotoxicity test. The results showed that the main constituent of the essential oil was γ-elemene. No relevant effect was observed concerning the ability to reduce the DPPH radical; only at the concentration of 480 µg/mL did the essential oil demonstrate a high reduction of Fe3+ power. The oil was active against L. brasiliensis promastigotes; but not against the epimastigote form of T. cruzi. Cytotoxicity for mammalian cells was low at the active concentration capable of killing more than 70% of promastigote forms. The results revealed that the essential oil of R. echinus showed activity against L. brasiliensis; positioning itself as a promising agent for antileishmanial therapies.


Subject(s)
Antiprotozoal Agents , Chagas Disease , Lamiaceae , Leishmaniasis, Mucocutaneous , Oils, Volatile , Trypanosoma cruzi , Animals , Antioxidants/pharmacology , Antiprotozoal Agents/pharmacology , Chagas Disease/drug therapy , Mammals , Oils, Volatile/pharmacology
9.
Antioxidants (Basel) ; 11(2)2022 Feb 18.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35204302

ABSTRACT

Thiazolidine compounds NJ20 {(E)-2-(2-(5-bromo-2-methoxybenzylidene)hydrazinyl)-4-(4-nitrophenyl)thiazole} and NW05 [(2-(benzo (d) (1,3) dioxol-4-ylmethylene)-N-(4-bromophenyl)-thiosemicarbazone] potentiated the effect of norfloxacin in resistant bacteria; however, there are no reports on their effects on Nauphoeta cinerea in the literature. The objective of this work was to evaluate the behavioral effects and oxidative markers of NW05 and NJ20 in lobster cockroach N. cinerea. To evaluate the behavioral study, a video tracking software was used to evaluate the locomotor points and the exploratory profile of cockroaches in the horizontal and vertical regions of a new environment. The total concentration of thiol and reduced glutathione (GSH), substances reactive to thiobarbituric acid (TBARS), free iron (II) content and mitochondrial viability were determined. The antioxidant potential was evaluated by the DPPH method. Both substances induced changes in the behavior of cockroaches, showing a significant reduction in the total distance covered and in the speed. In the cell viability test (MTT), there was a significant reduction for NJ20 (1 mM). NJ20 caused a significant increase in total levels of thiol and non-protein thiol (NPSH), although it also slightly increased the content of malondialdehyde (MDA). Both compounds (NW05 and NJ20) caused a significant reduction in the content of free iron at a concentration of 10 mM. In conclusion, the compound NJ20 caused moderate neurotoxicity (1 mM), but had good antioxidant action, while NW05 did not show toxicity or significant antioxidant activity in the model organism tested. It is desirable to carry out complementary tests related to the antioxidant prospection of these same compounds, evaluating them at different concentrations.

10.
Chem Biol Interact ; 351: 109677, 2022 Jan 05.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34634269

ABSTRACT

Methylglyoxal (MG) is a reactive metabolite derived from different physiological pathways. Its production can be harmful to cells via glycation reactions of lipids, DNA, and proteins. But, the effects of MG on mitochondrial functioning and bioenergetic responses are still elusive. Then, the effects of MG on key parameters of mitochondrial functionality were examined here. Isolated rat liver mitochondria were exposed to 0.1-10 mM of MG to determine its toxicity in the mitochondrial viability, membrane potential (Δψm), swelling and the superoxide (O2•-) production. Besides, mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation parameters were analyzed by high-resolution respiratory (HRR) assay. In this set of experiments, routine state, PM state (pyruvate/malate), oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS), LEAK respiration, electron transport system (ETS) and oxygen residual (ROX) states were evaluated. HRR showed that PM state, OXPHOS CI-Linked, LEAK respiration, ETS CI/CII-Linked and ETS CII-Linked/ROX were significantly inhibited by MG exposure. MG also inhibited the complex II activity, and decreased Δψm and the viability of mitochondria. Taken together, our data indicates that MG is an inductor of mitochondrial dysfunctions and impairs important steps of respiratory chain, effects that can alter bioenergetics responses.


Subject(s)
Enzyme Inhibitors/toxicity , Mitochondria/drug effects , Oxidative Phosphorylation/drug effects , Pyruvaldehyde/toxicity , Animals , Electron Transport Complex I/antagonists & inhibitors , Electron Transport Complex II/antagonists & inhibitors , Male , Membrane Potential, Mitochondrial/drug effects , Rats, Wistar
11.
Drug Chem Toxicol ; 45(4): 1687-1697, 2022 Jul.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33334193

ABSTRACT

The Triplaris gardneriana Wedd. seeds extract has great therapeutic potential due to numerous biological activities such as antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, which are associated with phenolic content. Although this herbal preparation has shown many benefits, recently their toxicity profile has begun to be explored. In this present study, the toxic effects of T. gardneriana seeds ethanolic extract (EETg) on biological systems of different taxonomical groups and levels of complexity (from cell culture to lower vertebrates) were assessed, through a variety of viability and toxicological assays. It was found that EETg did not impair the Saccharomyces cerevisiae growth at the highest tested concentration (200 µg/mL), and no toxicant evidence was observed in Aedes aegypti larvae or in Drosophila melanogaster adult stage. Contrarily, the extract reduced the viability of undifferentiated Caco-2 cells (250 µg/mL, 40% of viable cells), but did not affect differentiated ones. The embryotoxicity in Danio rerio model showed a LC50 of 7.41 mg/L (95% confidence interval, 4.78 - 11.49 mg/L). EETg did not show signs of toxicity in the majority of the models used, but lethality and malformations in zebrafish embryos occurred. Further analyses are needed to better understand the selective toxicity mechanism of EETg on zebrafish, as well as whether the toxic effects happen in higher vertebrates.


Subject(s)
Polygonaceae , Zebrafish , Animals , Caco-2 Cells , Drosophila melanogaster , Embryo, Nonmammalian , Ethanol , Humans , Larva , Plant Extracts/toxicity , Seeds/toxicity
12.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34182094

ABSTRACT

Mercury chloride (HgCl2) acts as a bioaccumulator capable of causing numerous neurological and physiological changes in organisms in a negative way. However, rutin has been considered a very effective antioxidant compound in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, as it can neutralize radicals capable of damaging neuronal cells. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate rutin as a neoprotective agent against the damage induced by HgCl2 in Drosophila melanogaster. The exposure of the flies to the agents was carried out in triplicate, and about 150 adult flies were evaluated. To assess the antioxidant action of rutin, MTT, phenanthroline, nitric oxide, total thiols and NPSH tests were carried out in the following concentrations: Control (1500 µL of distilled water), 1 mg/g of HgCl2, 0.5 mg/g of Rutin + HgCl2, 1 mg/g of Rutin + HgCl2, 2 mg/g of Rutin + HgCl2. The locomotion test was verified by negative geotaxis, the result of which showed that flies exposed to HgCl2 had difficulties in flight. The group treated with HgCl2 alone had a high mortality rate, while in combination with different concentrations of rutin, it heard a moderate reduction in the number of deaths, as well as in the negative geotaxis data in which the rutin had a positive effect. An increase in iron (II) levels was observed at the highest concentrations of rutin, while at low concentrations, rutin significantly decreased nitric oxide levels. The HgCl2 + R group (2 mg/g) showed a significant increase in the total thiols content, while for the NPSH all rutin concentrations showed a significant increase in the levels of non-protein thiols. Our results demonstrate that mercury chloride can cause oxidative stress in D. melanogaster. However, the results suggest that rutin has antioxidant and protective effects against the damage caused by HgCl2.


Subject(s)
Drosophila melanogaster/drug effects , Mercuric Chloride/toxicity , Neuroprotective Agents/pharmacology , Rutin/pharmacology , Animals , Antioxidants/pharmacology , Drosophila melanogaster/physiology , Iron/metabolism , Mitochondria/drug effects , Mitochondria/metabolism , Mortality , Motor Activity/drug effects , Motor Activity/physiology , Nitric Oxide/metabolism , Sulfhydryl Compounds/metabolism
14.
CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets ; 20(7): 574-593, 2021.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33602110

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The objective of the present review is to perform the 1st bibliometric analysis of sleep disorders research. METHODS: The data was retrieved from Scopus in July 2020 for detailed analysis. RESULTS: The 1st precise document about the sleep disorder was published in 1945. Till 15th July 2020, a total of 69657 documents were found in the Scopus database. Approximately eighty-two percent (57013/81.87%) of documents are published in the last twenty years (from 2001-2020). We calculated the per-year Growth Rate (GR) of publications (from 2000-onwards). The highest number of documents are published in 2019 (4337/7.90% of 57013) followed by 2018 (4249/7.74% of 57013) and 2017 (3974/7.24% of 57013). The productivity index (PI) for 1950-1960 and 2011-2020 era was found to be 100.21. We also provided the details of the top 50 countries with the maximum number of publications (from 1945 to July 2020). The top three (3) countries are the USA, with 24262 publications (34.83%), followed by UK (5566/8.0%) and Germany (4791/6.87%). We also performed the co-words analysis. Total 956643 (0.95 million) keywords were retrieved from 69657 published documents. After a critical analysis, we categorized them into different groups to show the trend in various domains. In the next phase of the study, only those documents were analyzed, which contained the phrase "sleep disorder" in the titles of the publications. Total 3626 documents were found. We calculated the per-year growth rate (GR). The continental distribution, the list of top twenty authors, sources/journals, departments or institutes, countries and research documents with highest citations are provided. By VOS viewer analysis, 6752, 36511 and 11473 terms in titles of the manuscripts, abstracts, and keywords were recorded, respectively. This may help in describing the overall trend in these publications. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides a detailed list of top authors, departments, countries, sources, and top 20 most cited documents. The co-words analysis may help in describing the trends in the field of sleep disorders.


Subject(s)
Bibliometrics , Sleep Wake Disorders , Databases, Factual , Humans
15.
Curr Drug Metab ; 21(9): 685-703, 2020.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32851957

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Scopus is regularly covering Current Drug Metabolism from 2000 onwards. OBJECTIVE: The major objective is to perform the 1st bibliometric analysis of Current Drug Metabolism (CDM). METHODS: The data was retrieved from Scopus in April-May 2020 for detail analysis. RESULTS: The total number of publications was found to be 1551, with 955 reviews (61.57%) and 466 articles (30.05%). From 2000 onwards, we calculated the relative growth rate and doubling time. Based on the number of publications, total 4418 authors, 3235 institutions and 83 countries were directly involved in all publications. M.A. Kamal is the highly productive scientist with fifty-three (53 or 3.73%) publications, King Abdulaziz University is the top university with the highest number of publications (58 or 4.13%) and the USA is the top-ranked country with 365 publications (25.96%). We also provided the h-index, total citations (TC), h-index without self-citations (WSC) and total WSC of the top ten authors, universities and countries. In citations analysis, Prof. Zhou S.F. was the top scientist with the highest (1594) number of citations. In institutional category Department of Drug Metabolism, Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, United States, is the top ranked institutes with 654 total citations. While, United States is the top-ranked country with 18409 total citations. In co-words analysis, 3387, 30564 and 17333 terms in titles of the manuscripts, abstracts and keywords were recorded, respectively. This indicated that CDM principally focused on understanding drug development ranging from its efficacy to delivery, metabolism, distribution, safety and mechanism of actions. Similarly, various specific drugs were thoroughly discussed in publications. Various enzymatic, genetics, proteins and cancer-related aspects were also described. For data presentations, we used VOSviewer graphical maps. CONCLUSION: The data confirm that CDM showed continuous growth in the number of publications and citations. However significant measures are needed to make overall progress and improve the rankings in relevant categories.


Subject(s)
Periodicals as Topic/history , Bibliometrics , History, 21st Century , Pharmaceutical Preparations/metabolism
16.
Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis ; 1866(10): 165880, 2020 10 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32592936

ABSTRACT

Research performed using model organisms such as mice and the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster has significantly enhanced our knowledge about cancer biology and the fundamental processes of cancer. This is because the major biological properties and genes associated with cancer including signaling pathways, oncogenes, tumor suppressors, and other regulators of cell growth and proliferation are evolutionary conserved. This review provides bibliometric analysis of research productivity, and performance of authors, institutions, countries, and journals associated with personalized animal cancer models, focussing on the role of Drosophila in cancer research, thus highlighting emerging trends in the field. A total of 1469 and 2672 original articles and reviews for Drosophila cancer model and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) respectively, were retrieved from the Scopus database and the most cited papers were thoroughly analyzed. Our analysis indicates a steadily increasing productivity of the animal models and especially of mouse models in cancer research. In addition to the many different systems that address almost all aspects of tumor research in humanized animal models, a trend towards using tailored screening platforms with Drosophila models in particular will become widespread in the future. Having Drosophila models that recapitulate major genetic aspects of a given tumor will enable the development and validation of novel therapeutic strategies for specific cancers, and provide a platform for screening small molecule inhibitors and other anti-tumor compounds. The combination of Drosophila cancer models and mouse PDX models particularly is highly promising and should be one of the major research strategies the future.


Subject(s)
Bibliometrics , Disease Models, Animal , Neoplasms/therapy , Oncogenes/genetics , Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays , Animals , Animals, Genetically Modified , Combined Modality Therapy/methods , Drosophila , Humans , Mice , Neoplasms/genetics , Neoplasms/pathology
17.
Chem Biol Interact ; 327: 109177, 2020 Aug 25.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32533983

ABSTRACT

Since its inception in 1969, Chemico-Biological Interactions (CBI) has persistently published high quality research articles. As part of the journal's golden anniversary (50 years), we performed an electronic search on Scopus to get all publications details. Based on citescore, ranking & percentile, CBI holds 21st position in the top 113 relevant journals (in 2018). CBI also completed publications of 8005 manuscripts in March 2020. The highest documents were articles (6972/87.09%) followed by conference papers (588/7.34%) and reviews (252/3.14%). The maximum number of publications (385) was recorded in 2019, followed by 366 (in 2010) and 336 in 2016. Furthermore, details of the top 50 countries, top 50 authors and top 20 institutes with total publications, h-index, total citations and without selfcitations (WSC) are provided. USA (2371), China (786) and United Kingdom (658) are the top three countries, O'Brien, P.J (48), Maser, E. (45) and Lockridge, O. (35) are the top three authors and Karolinska Institutet (144), Stockholm University (102) & Ministry of Education China (94) are the top three institutes involved in research publications. More than eighty-four thousand (84,000) key words were amassed from scopus and after critical analysis we proposed a common sequence and connectivity. The top 200 articles, 200 reviews and 200 conference papers were analyzed by Vosviewer for various parameters. While, the top three (3) research articles and reviews are briefly described. The bibliometric analyses confirm a noteworthy growth of CBI in research publications and scientometric performance.


Subject(s)
Bibliometrics , Serial Publications/trends , Toxicology/trends , Academies and Institutes/statistics & numerical data , Authorship , Biomedical Research/statistics & numerical data , Government Agencies/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Review Literature as Topic , Universities/statistics & numerical data
18.
Drug Dev Ind Pharm ; 46(6): 1026-1033, 2020 Jun.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32393135

ABSTRACT

Objective: Considering the limited number of studies that analyze the behavior of plant preparations in human body, this study aimed to characterize the phenolic compounds from Triplaris gardneriana extract (EETg) in terms of antioxidant and metabolic aspects, integrating in vitro, in silico and in vivo strategies.Methods: EETg was analyzed in relation to polyphenols release from the plant matrix under in vitro digestion, as well as the pharmacokinetic prediction of their major compounds by in silico simulation and understanding of its in vivo antioxidant effect in an alternative animal model.Results: About 35.22% of polyphenols from EETg proved to be accessible after enzymatic hydrolysis. A kinetics study showed that 40% of the total content of these phytochemicals was released from the extract accompanied by increased antioxidant capacity after 180 min of gastrointestinal simulation. A computational approach revealed that 7 out of 9 major phenolic compounds of EETg showed good pharmacokinetic parameters such as intestinal absorption and bioavailability score. In addition, the extract showed a protective effect on copper-induced oxidative stress in Drosophila melanogaster, evidenced by the restoration of basal levels of thiol and malondialdehyde contents. These biochemical observations were supported by the examination of histological features of D. melanogaster brain.Conclusion: It was demonstrated that the oral administration of EETg would provide phenolic compounds partially absorbable by the human gut and capable of providing health benefits associated with the inhibition of oxidative stress. Additionally, the results highlight the need to implement new approaches for the rational development of plant-based medicines.


Subject(s)
Drosophila melanogaster , Polygonaceae , Polyphenols/metabolism , Animals , Antioxidants , Oxidative Stress , Plant Extracts , Polyphenols/chemistry , Seeds/chemistry
19.
Antibiotics (Basel) ; 9(2)2020 Jan 27.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32012710

ABSTRACT

The emergence of fungal resistance to commercial drugs has been a major problem for the WHO. In this context, research with natural products is promising in the discovery of new active substances. Thus, this work evaluated the antifungal effect of a medicinal plant (i.e., Mesosphaerum suaveolens) against strains of the genus Candida, tested the combined effect with the drug fluconazole, and, finally, determined the phenolic constituents present in the species. Initially, aqueous extracts of leaves (AELMs) and aerial parts (AEAPMs) of the species were prepared. For microbiological assays, the minimum fungicidal concentration was determined by broth microdilution, and the combined effect of fluconazole extracts were verified by sub-inhibitory microdilution concentrations (CFM/8) followed by spectrophotometric readings which were used to determine the IC50. HPLC detected the presence of flavonoids and phenolic acids, detecting eight compounds present in the samples of which caffeic acid and quercetin were major components. The AELMs modulated fluconazole activity since it decreased fluconazole's IC50 from 7.8 µg/mL to an IC50 of 4.7 µg/mL (CA LM 77) and from 28.8 µg/mL to 18.26 µg/mL (CA INCQS 40006) for the C. albicans strains. The AEAPMs were able to potentiate the effect of fluconazole more effectively than the AELMs. Such an effect was significant for the 16 µg/mL concentration for CA LM 77 and 32 µg/mL for CA INCQS 40006. The AEAPMs as well as the AELMs presented clinically relevant activities for C. tropicalis strains. For the C. tropicalis LM 23 strain, the AEPMs obtained an IC50 of 25 µg/mL and the AELMs an IC50 of 359.9 µg/mL.

20.
J Food Biochem ; 43(1): e12489, 2019 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31353483

ABSTRACT

Numerous biological activities have been reported for peptides or peptide-rich fractions from hydrolyzed food proteins. Some of the properties of peptides include antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammation, antihypertensive, and immune system modulation. To evaluate the efficacy of peptides in vivo, foods have been used as carrier vehicles. However, there are many molecules in foods that can react or interact with peptides, thereby reducing the bioavailability or bioactivity of these peptides. The Schiff base reactions of peptides with reducing sugars are well established. Peptides can also react with oxidized lipids or reactive oxygen species. Secondary metabolites such as quinones in foods, can react as well with amine or thiol groups of peptides. All these reactions affect the concentration of peptides. This review summarizes and discusses some of the implication of those reactions on the availability of bioactive peptides within the food matrix. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Bioactive peptides possess specific effects on foods like preventing oxidative rancidity. In human, they may lower blood pressure or reduce inflammation. The knowledge on the type of reactions these peptides may encountered when foods are used as transport vehicles is essential. This will prevent variability in intake and ensure proper dosage and reproducible results.


Subject(s)
Dietary Proteins/chemistry , Peptides/metabolism , Biological Availability , Dietary Proteins/metabolism , Food Handling , Humans , Hydroxyl Radical/metabolism , Lipids/chemistry , Peptides/pharmacokinetics , Proteolysis , Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism , Schiff Bases/chemistry , Sugars/metabolism
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