The Mechanisms of Alpha-Amylase Inhibition by Flavan-3-Ols and the Possible Impacts of Drinking Green Tea on Starch Digestion.

Many studies have shown that flavan-3-ols inhibit mammalian alpha-amylases but the published IC50 and Ki values vary up to a thousand times. We therefore tested the effects of 6 pure flavan-3-ols-abundant in green tea-on the activity of pure porcine pancreatic alpha-amylase (PPA) under steady-state kinetic conditions. We used both amylose and maltopentaose as substrates, along with spectrophotometry and chromatography as analytical tools, respectively. A Docking approach was also used to probe the interaction between PPA and each flavan-3-ol. The results showed that the 6 flavan-3-ols inhibit amylose hydrolysis with Ki comprised between 7 and 34 µM, according to a mixed inhibition profile for gallocatechin gallate, and a competitive inhibition profile for the 5 other flavanols. Only the galloyl-containing flavan-3-ols inhibited the maltopentaose hydrolysis with a Ki of about 30 µM according to a noncompetitive profile. We conclude that dietary flavan-3-ols could inhibit starch digestion nonnegligibly. The results of the docking trials were concordant with the kinetic data and have noticeably revealed that the cis-flavan-3-ols epigallocatechin gallate and epicatechin gallate bind similarly to PPA, involving π-stacking with Trp59.

The rutin catabolic pathway with special emphasis on quercetinase.

The aim of this review is to give a general account on the oxidative microbial degradation of flavonols. Since now 50 years, various research groups have deciphered the way microorganisms aerobically deal with this important class of flavonoids. Flavonols such as rutin and quercetin are abundantly found in vegetal tissues and exudates, and it was thus patent that various microorganisms will bear the enzymatic machinery necessary to cope with these vegetal secondary metabolites. After initial studies focussed on the general metabolic capacity of various microorganisms towards flavonols, the so called rutin catabolic pathway was rapidly established in moulds. Enzymes of the path as well as substrates and products were known at the beginning of the seventies. Then during 30 years, only sporadic studies were focused on this pathway, before a new burst of interest at the beginning of the new century arose with structural, genomic and theoretical studies mainly conducted towards quercetinase. This is the goal of this work to relate this 50 years journey at the crossroads of microbiology, biochemistry, genetic and chemistry. Some mention of the potential usefulness of the enzymes of the path as well as micro-organisms bearing the whole rutin catabolic pathway is also discussed.

Alkylaminoquinolines inhibit the bacterial antibiotic efflux pump in multidrug-resistant clinical isolates.

Over the last decade, MDR (multidrug resistance) has increased worldwide in microbial pathogens by efflux mechanisms, leading to treatment failures in human infections. Several Gram-negative bacteria efflux pumps have been described. These proteinaceous channels are capable of expelling structurally different drugs across the envelope and conferring antibiotic resistance in various bacterial pathogens. Combating antibiotic resistance is an urgency and the blocking of efflux pumps is an attractive response to the emergence of MDR phenotypes in infectious bacteria. In the present study, various alkylaminoquinolines were tested as potential inhibitors of drug transporters. We showed that alkylaminoquinolines are capable of restoring susceptibilities to structurally unrelated antibiotics in clinical isolates of MDR Gram-negative bacteria. Antibiotic efflux studies indicated that 7-nitro-8-methyl-4-[2'-(piperidino)ethyl]aminoquinoline acts as an inhibitor of the AcrAB-TolC efflux pump and restores a high level of intracellular drug concentration. Inhibitory activity of this alkylaminoquinoline is observed on clinical isolates showing different resistance phenotypes.

Benzo[b]-1,8-naphthyridine derivatives: synthesis and reversal activity on multidrug resistance.

A series of benzo[b]-1,8-naphthyridine derivatives branched with various side-chains and substituents were prepared with the aim of being investigated as multidrug resistance (MDR) modulators. The syntheses were achieved from 2-halonicotinic acid and suitable aryl-amines according to a three-step procedure. All the derivatives were tested in vitro on mouse T-Lymphoma cell line L5178 transfected by MDR1 gene and the chemosensitizing properties of the compounds were compared to those of verapamil and propranolol, as well as to several other tricyclic derivatives like phenothiazines and acridines. Most of the compounds tested reversed the MDR of tumour cells more effectively than the reference drugs did and they showed more potent chemosensitizing activity than phenothiazine and acridine derivatives have.

Computer simulation of spermine-porin channel interactions.

Porin channels play a prominent role during fluoroquinolone uptake and spermine strongly alters the diffusion rate of norfloxacine. Consequently the interactions between spermine and bacterial porin were studied by computer simulation. The results indicate that various residues (E62, D 113, E 117,...) closely located in the internal eyelet region of the OmpF channel are potential binding sites. Among them, the D 113 residue, seems to play an important role in the association channel-spermine. This interaction introduces several changes in the internal morphology of the channel which are responsible for the inhibition of antibiotic uptake using the porin route.