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Sea urchins ( Tripneustes gratilla ) are among the most highly prized seafood products in Vietnam because of their nutritional value and medicinal properties. In this research, lipid classes and the phospholipid (PL) molecular species compositions from the body and eggs of T. gratilla collected in Hon Tam, Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa, Vietnam, were investigated. Hydrocarbon and wax (HW), triacylglycerol (TG), mono- and diacylglycerol (MDAG), free fatty acid (FFA), sterol (ST), polar lipid (PoL), and monoalkyl-diacylglycerol are the major lipid classes. In PL, five main glycerophospholipid classes have been identified, in which 137 PL molecular species were detected in the body and eggs of T. gratilla , including 20 inositol glycerophospholipids (PI), 11 serine glycerophospholipids (PS), 22 ethanolamine glycerophospholipids (PE), 11 phosphatidic acids (PA), and 73 choline glycerophospholipids (PC). PI 18:0/20:4, PS 20:1/20:1, PE 18:1e/20:4, PA 20:1/20:1, and PC 18:0e/20:4 are the most abundant species with the highest content values of 38.65-48.19%, 42.48-44.41%, 41.21-40.03%, 52.42-52.60%, and 7.77-7.18% in each class of the body-eggs, respectively. Interestingly, PL molecules predominant in the body sample were also found in the egg sample. The molecular species with the highest content account for more than 40% of the total species in each molecular class. However, in the PC class containing 73 molecular species, the highest content species amounted to only 7.77%. For both the body and egg TL samples of the sea urchin T. gratilla , a substantial portion of C20:4n polyunsaturated fatty acid was found in PI, PE, and PC, but C16, C18, C20, and C22 saturated fatty acids were reported at low levels. The most dominant polyunsaturated fatty acid in PI, PE, and PC was tetracosapolyenoic C20, while unsaturated fatty acid C20:1 was the most dominant in PS and PA. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the chemical properties of TL and phospholipid molecular species of the PoL of Vietnamese sea urchin ( T. gratilla ) have been studied.

Essential oils are promising as environmentally friendly and safe sources of pesticides for human use. Furthermore, they are also of interest as aromatherapeutic agents in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, and inhibition of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) has been evaluated as an important mechanism. The essential oils of some species in the genera Callicarpa , Premna , Vitex and Karomia of the family Lamiaceae were evaluated for inhibition of electric eel AChE using the Ellman method. The essential oils of Callicarpa candicans showed promising activity, with IC 50 values between 45.67 and 58.38 μg/mL. The essential oils of Callicarpa sinuata, Callicarpa petelotii, Callicarpa nudiflora, Callicarpa erioclona and Vitex ajugifolia showed good activity with IC 50 values between 28.71 and 54.69 μg/mL. The essential oils Vitex trifolia subsp. trifolia and Callicarpa rubella showed modest activity, with IC 50 values of 81.34 and 89.38, respectively. trans -Carveol showed an IC 50 value of 102.88 µg/mL. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation were performed on the major components of the studied essential oils to investigate the possible mechanisms of action of potential inhibitors. The results obtained suggest that these essential oils may be used to control mosquito vectors that transmit pathogenic viruses or to support the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.