Fractionation of dicarboxylic acids produced by Rhizopus oryzae using reactive extraction.

Fumaric, malic, and succinic acids have been selectively separated from their mixture obtained by Rhizopus oryzae fermentation using reactive extraction with Amberlite LA-2 dissolved in three solvents with different dielectric constants (n-heptane, n-butyl acetate, and dichloromethane). This technique allows recovering preferentially fumaric acid from the mixture, the raffinate containing only malic and succinic acids. The extractant concentration and organic phase polarity control the efficiency and selectivity of acids extraction. The increase of aqueous phase viscosity reduces the extraction yield for all studied acids, but exhibits a positively effect on separation selectivity. By using Amberlite LA-2 concentration equal to that stoichiometrically required for interfacial reaction with fumaric acid and mixing intensity which does not allow higher diffusion rates for larger molecules (malic and succinic acids), the maximum value of fumaric acid extraction rate exceeds 90%, while the selectivity factor value becomes 20. Regardless of the extraction system, the complete separation of fumaric acid from their mixture is possible by multi-stage extraction process, adjusting the extractant concentration in each stage. At higher values of aqueous phase viscosity, more extraction stages are required, while the increase of solvent polarity reduce the required number of stages for total recovery of fumaric acid.

Measurement of bempedoic acid and its keto metabolite in human plasma and urine using solid phase extraction and electrospray LC-MS/MS.

Bempedoic acid, a new therapeutic for treatment of hypercholesterolemia, inhibits hepatic ATP-citrate lyase in the cholesterol synthesis pathway after its conjugation with coenzyme A. Sensitive and selective methods were required to study the pharmacokinetic behavior of bempedoic acid and its active 8-keto metabolite in clinical studies. A mixed mode anion exchange extraction on 96-well plates was developed to favor high, selective recoveries of these dicarboxylic acids from urine or plasma. Adsorptive losses in urine led to inaccurate measurements unless samples were acidified and diluted with isopropanol prior to any specimen transfers. Tandem mass spectrometry with negative ion electrospray ionization permitted lower limits of measurement of 20 and 10 ng/mL for the drug and metabolite in either matrix. The methods were validated to current regulatory standards and have been the basis for pharmacokinetic measurements in 26 clinical studies involving over 15,000 samples.

Non-invasive urinary metabolomics reveals metabolic profiling of polycystic ovary syndrome and its subtypes.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogeneous endocrine disorder, which affects 4-10 % women of reproductive age. Though accumulating scientific evidence, its pathogenesis remains unclear. In the current study, metabolic profiling as well as diagnostic biomarkers for different phenotypes of PCOS was investigated using non-invasive urinary GCMS based metabolomics. A total of 371 subjects were recruited for the study. They constituted the following groups: healthy women, those with hyperandrogenism (HA), women with insulin-resistance (IR) in PCOS. Two cross-comparisons with PCOS were performed to characterize metabolic disturbances. A total of 23 differential metabolites were found. The altered metabolic pathways included glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, pentose and glucuronate interconversions, and citrate cycle and butanoate metabolism. For differential diagnosis, a panel consisting of 9 biomarkers was found from the comparison of PCOS from healthy subjects. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) was 0.8461 in the discovery phase. Predictive value of 89.17 % was found in the validation set. Besides, a panel of 8 biomarkers was discovered from PCOS with HA vs IR. The AUC for 8-biomarker panel was 0.8363, and a panel of clinical markers (homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance and free androgen index) had 0.8327 in AUC. While these metabolites combined with clinical markers reached 0.9065 in AUC from the discovery phase, and 93.18 % in predictive value from the validation set. The result showed that differences of small-molecule metabolites in urine may reflect underlying pathogenesis of PCOS and serve as biomarkers for complementary diagnosis of the different phenotypes of PCOS.

Simultaneous determination of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and diisononylcyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate and their monoester metabolites in four labile blood products by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is a common plasticizer that is largely used for PVC blood bags. The migration of DEHP from medical devices into labile blood products (LBP) is a well-known situation. While DEHP has beneficial effects on the storage of red blood cells, it can have toxicological impact due to its potential reprotoxic effects (classified group 1B). Since July 1st, 2015, the French law prohibits the use of tubing made in DEHP-plasticized PVC in paediatric, neonatal and maternity wards. This provision, which could extend in several years more widely to medical devices used for drugs infusion, dialysis, feeding and blood bags, has led manufacturers to replace DEHP to alternative plasticizers such as diisononylcyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate (DINCH). In this paper, a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LCMS/MS) method has been developed and validated for the determination of DEHP, DINCH and their corresponding monoester metabolites (MEHP and MINCH) in four labile blood products (LBP): whole blood (WB), red cells concentrate (RCC), plasma and platelet concentrate (PC). Due to strong contamination of blank LBP by DEHP because of its ubiquitous presence in working environment and despite the attention paid to avoid contamination of solvents and glassware, a trap chromatographic column was implemented between the solvent mixing chamber and the injector of the LC system. This set-up permitted to discriminate DEHP present in the sample to DEHP brought by the environmental contamination. In the optimized conditions, all compounds were separated in less than 10 min. The analytes were extracted from LBP samples using a liquid-liquid extraction. After optimization, recoveries were ranged from 47 to 96 %, depending on the analytes and the nature of LBP. Except for DEHP which exhibited RSD values of intermediate precision higher than 20 % at a concentration of 25 nM, all the precision results (repeatability and intermediate precision) were lower than 16 % and trueness values ranged from -16.2-19.8%. Using the validated method, the leachability of DEHP and DINCH from corresponding PVC-blood bags was investigated and the concentrations of their corresponding metabolites, MEHP and MINCH, were determined in whole blood, red cells concentrate, plasma and platelet concentrate.

Inhibitory Effects of Phenylpropanoid Derivatives from Oenanthe javanica on Antigen-Stimulated Degranulation in RBL-2H3 Cells.

Two diacyldaucic acids (1 and 2), an α,ß-unsaturated γ-lactone-type lignan (3) and its derivatives (4-6), and 12 known compounds were isolated from a traditional East Asian vegetable, Oenanthe javanica. The absolute configuration of 1 was validated by obtaining (+)-osbeckic acid through acid hydrolysis. The absolute configurations of 3-5 were determined by comparing their experimental and computed ECD data. The conclusion was supported by applying the phenylglycine methyl ester method to 3. Compound 6 was obtained as an interconverting mixture of isomers in a 3:1 trans- cis ratio. Several water-soluble components (1, 3, and 6) showed concentration-dependent inhibitory effects on antigen-stimulated degranulation in RBL-2H3 cells without producing any direct cytotoxicity against RBL-2H3 or HeLa cells.

Cyanobacterial bioactive compound EMTAHDCA recovers splenomegaly, affects protein profile of E. coli and spleen of lymphoma bearing mice.

The antibacterial and anticancerous properties of EMTAHDCA have already been reported in our previous study. However, mode of action of EMTAHDCA is still elusive. The present study was aimed to investigate the molecular targets in Escherichia coli and spleen of lymphoma-bearing mice in response to cyanocompound 9-ethyliminomethyl-12 (morpholin-4-ylmethoxy)-5, 8, 13, 16-tetraaza -hexacene-2, 3- dicarboxylic acid (EMTAHDCA) isolated from fresh water cyanobacterium Nostoc sp. MGL001. Differential expressions of proteins were observed in both E. coli and spleen of lymphoma-bearing mice after EMTAHDCA treatment. In continuation of our previous study, the present study revealed that the antibacterial agent, EMTAHDCA causes the drastic reduction in synthesis of proteins related to replication, transcription, translation and transportation in E. coli. Probably the direct or indirect interaction of this compound with these important metabolic processes led to the reduction in growth and cell death. Furthermore, the anticancerous property of the compound EMTAHDCA reflected as down regulation in proteins of cell cycle, cellular metabolism, signalling, transcription and transport together with up regulation of apoptosis, DNA damage and immunoprotection related proteins in spleen of lymphoma-bearing mice. In this study the EMTAHDCA induced modulations in expression of proteins of key metabolic pathways in E. coli and spleen cells of lymphoma bearing mice helped in understanding the mechanism underlying the antibacterial and anti-cancerous property.

Selective Separation of Isomeric Dicarboxylic Acid by the Preferable Crystallization of Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Simple and effective separation of isomeric organic molecules is an important but challenging task. Herein, we successfully developed a selective crystallization strategy to separate the mixtures of isomeric dicarboxylic acids (DCAs) for the first time. The target DCAs could be preferably combined with crystallization inducer of Zr4+ ions to form a pre-designed metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) crystal structure whereas the entry of non-target isomeric DACs into the MOFs lattice could be exclusively inhibited. Several isomeric pairs were exemplified to verify the extensibility and validity of the developed strategy.

Removal of tridecane dicarboxylic acid in water by nanoscale Fe0/Cu0 bimetallic composites.

In this study, nanoscale zerovalent Fe0/Cu0 bimetallic composites were synthesized by liquid-phase reduction of Fe(II)/Cu(II) and applied for decomposition of tridecane dicarboxylic acid (DC13). The removal performance of Fe0/Cu0 bimetallic composites for DC13 in terms of Fe/Cu ratios, addition amount, reaction time and initial pH were studied. The as-prepared nanoscale composites were characterized by a transmission electron micrographs (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), BET surface area, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP). Finally, the degradation mechanisms of DC13 utilizing the Fe0/Cu0 nanocomposites were investigated by using mass spectrumetry (MS). The results indicated that the Fe0/Cu0 bimetallic composites exerted a remarkable removal capacity for DC13 through the multiple reactions, e.g., coagulation, adsorption and •OH reduction in the Fe0/Cu0 system. XPS indicated that the Fe0/Cu0 reduction reaction of hydroxyl radicals (•OH) system played a significant role in degradation of DC13 and the LC-MS result suggested that DC13 was degraded into inorganic small molecules by •OH radicals generated from the corrosion of Fe0. The experimental results indicated that the nanoscale Fe0/Cu0 could be used as a potential material to remove DC13 because of its remarkable degradability.

Universal response quantification approach using a Corona Charged Aerosol Detector (CAD) - Application on linear and cyclic oligomers extractable from polycondensate plastics polyesters, polyamides and polyarylsulfones.

In terms of risk assessment especially for known and unknown substances migrating from food contact materials, quantification without corresponding reference substances currently poses a challenge. In the present study, the opportunity of a universal response quantification approach was evaluated by using a corona charged aerosol detector (CAD) for liquid chromatography combined with inverse gradient compensation. Characteristics of CAD detection in dependence of substance properties were analyzed with 46 randomly chosen reference substances. An almost equal CAD response (±20%) was achieved for non-volatile substances with a molecular weight of minimum 400 g/mol and a vapor pressure of maximum 10-8 Torr. We empirically defined an analytical parameter, Q50/35, the quotient of CAD peak areas at CAD evaporator temperatures of 50 °C and 35 °C, to predict the adequacy of the CAD universal response approach for quantification of known and unknown analyte substances. Exemplarily, we applied the CAD universal quantification approach for the determination of extractable oligomers below 1000 g/mol from a variety of food contact polycondensate plastic materials (e.g. polyesters like polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, Tritan copolyester, polyamides 6, 6.6 and 6 T/6I and polyarylsulfones polyphenylsulfone and polyethersulfone). Quantitative results for in total 44 oligomers out of 11 materials were compared with established material-specific quantification methods using extracted oligomer mixtures as well as individual oligomers isolated from the mixtures. CAD-based quantification results were generally in accordance to published quantification approaches for polyamide oligomers and oligomers from polyarylsulfones. For oligomers extracted and isolated from polyester materials a slight underestimation was determined by CAD universal response approach. In terms of detection limits and accuracy, the universal CAD approach exhibits no advantages compared to established UV-methods, to date.

Early Neolithic wine of Georgia in the South Caucasus.

Chemical analyses of ancient organic compounds absorbed into the pottery fabrics from sites in Georgia in the South Caucasus region, dating to the early Neolithic period (ca. 6,000-5,000 BC), provide the earliest biomolecular archaeological evidence for grape wine and viniculture from the Near East, at ca. 6,000-5,800 BC. The chemical findings are corroborated by climatic and environmental reconstruction, together with archaeobotanical evidence, including grape pollen, starch, and epidermal remains associated with a jar of similar type and date. The very large-capacity jars, some of the earliest pottery made in the Near East, probably served as combination fermentation, aging, and serving vessels. They are the most numerous pottery type at many sites comprising the so-called "Shulaveri-Shomutepe Culture" of the Neolithic period, which extends into western Azerbaijan and northern Armenia. The discovery of early sixth millennium BC grape wine in this region is crucial to the later history of wine in Europe and the rest of the world.

Simple dialkyl pyrazole-3,5-dicarboxylates show in vitro and in vivo activity against disease-causing trypanosomatids.

The synthesis and antiprotozoal activity of some simple dialkyl pyrazole-3,5-dicarboxylates (compounds 2-6) and their sodium salts (pyrazolates) (compounds 7-9) against Trypanosoma cruzi, Leishmania infantum and Leishmania braziliensis are reported. In most cases the studied compounds showed, especially against the clinically significant amastigote forms, in vitro activities higher than those of the reference drugs (benznidazole for T. cruzi and glucantime for Leishmania spp.); furthermore, the low non-specific cytotoxicities against Vero cells and macrophages shown by these compounds led to good selectivity indexes, which are 8-72 times higher for T. cruzi amastigotes and 15-113 times higher for Leishmania spp. amastigotes than those of the respective reference drugs. The high efficiency of diethyl ester 3 and its sodium salt 8 against the mentioned protozoa was confirmed by further in vitro assays on infection rates and by an additional in vivo study in a murine model of acute and chronic Chagas disease. The inhibitory capacity of compounds 3 and 8 on the essential iron superoxide dismutase of the aforementioned parasites may be related to the observed anti-trypanosomatid activity. The low acute toxicity of compounds 3 and 8 in mice is also reported in this article.

The structure of tagetitoxin.

Based on detailed analysis of newly acquired NMR data, we show that the previously revised structure of tagetitoxin is incorrect. A new structure of tagetitoxin is proposed which is consistent with the NMR and MS data.

Chemical Characterization and Botanical Origin of French Ambers.

The molecular composition of 10 Cretaceous and one Eocene ambers from France was analyzed by infrared spectroscopy, solid-state (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and thermochemolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The terpenoids identified in the samples were used as biomarkers for the botanical origin of the resins. The Cretaceous samples, comprising the so-called Alpine, Anjou, Charentese, Provence, Pyrenean, and Vendean ambers, ranged from the Albian-Cenomanian transition to the early Santonian (100 to 85 Ma) and correspond to class Ib resins typical of conifers. The extinct conifer family Cheirolepidiaceae was proposed as the plant source of Pyrenean and brown Charentese ambers. Araucariaceae or Cheirolepidiaceae were the plant sources of the Cenomanian Alpine, Anjou, and yellow Charentese ambers. The Santonian ambers of Provence and Vendée were found to derive from the Cupressaceae. The Eocene Oise amber (ca. 53 Ma) is a class Ic resin typical of angiosperms and was produced by a Fabaceae. The evolution of resin sources from the early Cretaceous to the Eocene periods is discussed. Finally, a possible fingerprint hitherto unveiled is proposed for cheirolepidiaceous resins, defined by the simultaneous presence of phenolic diterpenoids, labdanoic acids, callitrisate structures, and their respective derivatives.

Root-Derived Short-Chain Suberin Diacids from Rice and Rape Seed in a Paddy Soil under Rice Cultivar Treatments.

Suberin-derived substituted fatty acids have been shown to be potential biomarkers for plant-derived carbon (C) in soils across ecosystems. Analyzing root derived suberin compounds bound in soil could help to understand the root input into a soil organic carbon pool. In this study, bound lipids were extracted and identified in root and topsoil samples. Short-chain suberin diacids were quantified under rice (Oryza sativa L.) and rape (Brassica campestris) rotations with different cultivar combinations in a Chinese rice paddy. After removal of free lipids with sequential extraction, the residual bound lipids were obtained with saponification and derivatization before analysis using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Diacids C16 and C18 in bound lipids were detected both in rice and rape root samples, while diacids C20 and C22 were detected only in rape root samples. Accordingly, diacids were quantified in both rhizosphere and bulk soil (0-15 cm). The amount of total root-derived diacids in bulk soil varied in a range of 5.6-9.6 mg/kg across growth stages and crop seasons. After one year-round rice-rape rotation, root-derived suberin diacids were maintained at a level of 7-9 mg/kg in bulk soil; this was higher under a super rice cultivar LY than under a hybrid cultivar IIY. While concentrations of the analyzed diacids were generally higher in rhizosphere than in bulk soil, the total diacid (DA) concentration was higher at the time of rape harvest than at rice harvest, suggesting that rape roots made a major contribution to the preservation of diacids in the paddy. Moreover, the net change in the concentration and the ratios of C16:0 DA to C18:1 DA, and of C16:0 DA to C18:0 DA, over a whole growing season, were greater under LY than under IIY, though there was no difference between cultivars within a single growth stage. Overall, total concentration of root-derived suberin diacids was found to be positively correlated to soil organic carbon concentration both for bulk soil and rhizosphere. However, the turnover and preservation of the root suberin biomolecules with soil property and field conditions deserve further field studies.

A simple method for resolution of endo-/exo-monoesters of trans-norborn-5-ene-2,3-dicarboxylic acids into their enantiomers.

Separation of optical isomers obtainable from trans-norborn-5-ene-2,3-dicarboxylic acid methyl and tert-butyl monoesters was performed by crystallization of the respective salts prepared with (R)- and (S)-1-phenylethylamine. Starting from racemic endo-monomethyl ester of trans-norborn-5-ene-2,3-dicarboxylic acid, prepared by partial hydrolysis of the cyclopentadiene-dimethyl fumarate adduct, the corresponding (2R,3R)-endo-monoester was isolated in 97% enantiomeric excess (ee) yield after seven repeated crystallizations from tetrachloromethane. Starting from exo-mono-tert-butyl ester of the same acid, prepared by alcoholysis of the cyclopentadiene-maleic anhydride adduct followed by isomerization, (2R,3R)-exo-monoester was isolated in >98% ee yield after four repeated crystallizations from ethanol. Crystallization of the acids from the mother liquor containing (S)-1-phenylethylamine yielded products with inverse stereochemical configuration.

Lignan dicarboxylates and terpenoids from the flower buds of Cananga odorata and their inhibitory effects on melanogenesis.

The methanolic extract from the flower buds of Cananga odorata showed an inhibitory effect on melanogenesis in theophylline-stimulated murine B16 melanoma 4A5 cells. From the methanolic extract, two new lignan dicarboxylates, canangalignans I and II, three new terpenoids, canangaterpenes I, II, and III, and eight known compounds were isolated. The structures of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of chemical/physicochemical evidence. Several mono- and sesquiterpene analogues significantly inhibited melanogenesis. In particular, canangaterpene I and (3R,3aR,8aS)-3-isopropyl-8a-methyl-8-oxo-1,2,3,3a,6,7,8,8a-octahydroazulene-5-carbaldehyde exhibited a potent inhibitory effect on melanogenesis [inhibition (%): 34.7±4.2 (p<0.01), 45.5±5.7 (p<0.01) at 1 µM, respectively] without inducing cytotoxicity. Moreover, the biological effect of these compounds was much stronger than that of the reference compound, arbutin. Thus, these isolated terpenoid derivatives may be promising therapeutic agents for the treatment of several skin disorders.

Metabolic signature of electrosurgical liver dissection.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: High frequency electrosurgery has a key role in the broadening application of liver surgery. Its molecular signature, i.e. the metabolites evolving from electrocauterization which may inhibit hepatic wound healing, have not been systematically studied. METHODS: Human liver samples were thus obtained during surgery before and after electrosurgical dissection and subjected to a two-stage metabolomic screening experiment (discovery sample: N = 18, replication sample: N = 20) using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. RESULTS: In a set of 208 chemically defined metabolites, electrosurgical dissection lead to a distinct metabolic signature resulting in a separation in the first two dimensions of a principal components analysis. Six metabolites including glycolic acid, azelaic acid, 2-n-pentylfuran, dihydroactinidiolide, 2-butenal and n-pentanal were consistently increased after electrosurgery meeting the discovery (p<2.0 × 10(-4)) and the replication thresholds (p<3.5 × 10(-3)). Azelaic acid, a lipid peroxidation product from the fragmentation of abundant sn-2 linoleoyl residues, was most abundant and increased 8.1-fold after electrosurgical liver dissection (preplication = 1.6 × 10(-4)). The corresponding phospholipid hexadecyl azelaoyl glycerophosphocholine inhibited wound healing and tissue remodelling in scratch- and proliferation assays of hepatic stellate cells and cholangiocytes, and caused apoptosis dose-dependently in vitro, which may explain in part the tissue damage due to electrosurgery. CONCLUSION: Hepatic electrosurgery generates a metabolic signature with characteristic lipid peroxidation products. Among these, azelaic acid shows a dose-dependent toxicity in liver cells and inhibits wound healing. These observations potentially pave the way for pharmacological intervention prior liver surgery to modify the metabolic response and prevent postoperative complications.

Diacidene, a polyene dicarboxylic acid from a Micromonospora isolate from the German Wadden Sea.

Micromonospora sp. strain DB620 was isolated from a Wadden Sea sediment sample collected near Büsum (Germany) and is closely related (99% 16S-rRNA gene sequence similarity) to Micromonospora coxensis strain MTCC8093. It produced a new polyene dicarboxylic acid named diacidene (1) and in addition a derivative of chorismic acid, the known 3-[(1-carboxyvinyl)oxy]benzoic acid. The structure elucidation of 1 was achieved by applying different 1D and 2D NMR techniques as well as mass spectrometry and UV spectroscopy.

Alkadienyl and alkenyl itaconic acids (ceriporic acids G and H) from the selective white-rot fungus Ceriporiopsis subvermispora: a new class of metabolites initiating ligninolytic lipid peroxidation.

New ceriporic acids-alkadienyl and alkenyl itaconic acids having a bis-allyl (3-[(Z,Z)-hexadec-7,10-dienyl]-itaconic acid; ceriporic acid G) and a monoene (3-[(Z)-octadec-9-enyl]-itaconic acid; ceriporic acid H) structure in their side chains-were isolated from the cultures of the selective lignin-degrading fungus Ceriporiopsis subvermispora. The new metabolites ceriporic acid G and H were synthesized by a cross-aldol condensation and a Grignard substitution reaction, respectively. Ceriporic acid G triggered the manganese peroxidase (MnP)-catalyzed lipid peroxidation and decomposed a recalcitrant non-phenolic lignin substructure model compound. Except for simple fatty acids, this is the first report of a fungal metabolite that induced ligninolytic lipid peroxidation.