Screening of Spirulina Components for Anti-Parkinson's and Anti-Alzheimer's Activity by in Silico Methods and Docking Studies.

Spirulina platensis was first isolated from Lake Texcoco by Aztecs in the sixteenth century. In 2012, spirulina was considered to be safe dietary supplement by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Spirulina is a cyanophytic microalgae that is often considered as single cell protein. It contains many essential amino acids, proteins, fatty acids, antioxidant pigments, carotenoids, and cyanogenic pigments, that is, phycocyanobilins and phycocyanins (Eriksen, Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 80(1):1-4, 2008). Components of spirulina are investigated for many health benefits and for pharmaceutical uses (Karkos et al., Spirulina in clinical practice: evidence-based human applications). Spirulina has been found to have a role in growth, immunity (Wu et al., Arch Toxicol, 90(8):1817-40, 2016), antioxidant (Wu et al., Arch Toxicol, 90(8):1817-40, 2016), antiviral (Ayehunie et al., J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol, 18(1):7-12, 1998), antitoxicologic, anti-cancerogenic (Hirahashi et al., Int Immunopharmacol, 2(4):423-34, 2002), antidiabetic (Layam and Reddy, Diabetol Croat, 35(2):29-33, 2006), and neuroprotective properties. In this study, we focused on spirulina components in anti-Parkinson's and anti-Alzheimer's activity. Four potential targets, two for each activity, that is, structure of parkinE3 ligase (PDB ID:4I1H) and structure of BACE bound to 5-(3-(5-chloropyridin-3-yl)phenyl)-5-cyclopropyl-2-imino-3-methylimidazolidin-4one (PDBI D:4DJx) for anti-Parkinson's activity and structure of human MAO B in complex with selective inhibitor safinamide (PDB ID:2V5Z) and crystal structure of human BACE-1 in complex with CNP520(PDB ID:6EQM) for anti-Alzheimer's activity, have been selected. The in silico results and scoring of virtual screening, that is, molecular docking, were compared with commonly used marketed drugs such as levodopa for Parkinson's disease (PD) and rivastigmine (Rösler et al., BMJ, 318(7184):633-40, 1999) for Alzheimer's disease.

Phospholipid Fatty Acid Profile of Spirulina platensis.

Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis is used to measure the microbial biomass and the phospholipids present in the environmental samples. Microalgae spirulina is found to be a rich source of very-long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLCPUFAs) and has been used as a neutraceutical and regenerative medicine in the biotechnological industries as PUFAs are not synthesized in the human body due to the lack of enzymes for their bioconversion and must be supplied through the diet. Eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA) are the two most important long-chain omega-3 (ω-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids involved in the human physiology, and their precursors stearic acid (ω-9), linoleic acid (ω-6), and gamma linolenic acid (ω-6) were found to be in higher concentrations in Spirulina platensis. GC or GC-MS is used to analyze the presence of PLFA in the sample. The PLFA analysis was carried to detect the presence of polyunsaturated fatty acids in the Spirulina platensis which are the essential components in the diet of humans. The analysis involves overnight drying of the sample and followed by Bligh-Dyer lipid extraction. The obtained extract is dried and dissolved in chloroform and loaded onto a 96-well solid phase extraction plate. The eluted phospholipids are dried and transesterified. The resulting fatty acid methyl esters are analyzed by GC and quantified relative to an internal standard.

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Substituted Thiophene Derivatives.

A novel series of pyrazolines were synthesized by cycloaddition of various chalcones (prepared by a Claisen-Schmidt condensation of 3-acetyl-2,5-dimethyl thiophene and various aromatic aldehydes) with the phenyl hydrazines in the presence of pyridine and subjected to molecular property prediction by Molinspiration, MolSoft, and Osiris software. The structures of new compounds were established by 1HNMR, IR, and mass spectral data. Most of the synthesized compounds (1A-E) were found to be in conformity with Lipinski's "rule of five" and other parameters, for their screening for antimicrobial and antifungal activity as oral active leads/drugs. The newly synthesized compounds were evaluated for antibacterial and antifungal activities. Some of the final synthesized compounds have been exhibited promising antibacterial activity and antifungal activity.

Impurity Profiling and Identification of 2,6-Diisopropylphenol by HPLC Method and Raman Spectroscopy Method.

Identification of 2,6-diisopropylphenol by Raman spectroscopy using the TruScan Raman spectrum is validated by specificity test and robustness. HPLC assay method is developed to detect the 2,6-diisopropylphenol and its impurities A = determination of 2,6-diisopropylphenol; its main impurities related compound A = 2,6-diisopropylphenyl isopropyl ether, related compound B = 2,6-diisopropylquinone, and related compound C = 3,3'-5,5'-tetraisopropyl diphenol; and unknown impurities done by HPLC method. Related compound A and C determination has been developed by normal phase HPLC; good resolution peak shapes have resulted from the peak results. The limit of impurities A and C is reported to be 0.05% and 0.03%, and the limit of impurity B is also detected by using the same above procedure, but the column has been changed for the maximum wavelength detection and better elution from the peak results. The reported impurity level was 0.02%, the unknown impurity limit was 0.0149%, and the total impurity level of 2,6-diisopropylphenol was reported to be 0.06% which are in the threshold limit level. It specifies that the drug is safe and efficient without any toxicity.

Design, Characterization, and Docking Studies of Some Novel Isatin Derivatives for Anticonvulsant and Antidepressant Activity.

Isatin (indoline-2,3-dione) derivatives are derived from plant origin indole derivatives by the Sandmeyer method and characterized by IR, NMR, and mass spectrometric method. Molinspiration is used to calculate the molecular properties of all the synthesized compounds and to generate bioactivity scores (GPCR ligand, ion channel inhibitor, kinase inhibitor, nuclear receptor ligand, protease inhibitor, enzyme inhibitor) of the series of compounds. ADME predicted parameters are lipophilicity, P-gp substrate, GI absorption, bioavailability, lead-likeness, and blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability by boiled egg model. Molecular docking is performed for the synthesized compounds they compared with the standard drugs.