Search

Goji berry (Lycium barbarum) is largely consumed in Asia as a supplement and functional food, being rapidly introduced worldwide. Its phytochemical constituents include polysaccharides, phenolics, flavonoids, lipids and carotenoids. The myriad of compounds also includes polyamines (spermidine), conjugated with caffeic and dihydrocaffeic acids, that are O-glycosylated. In the present investigation, an extensive chromatographic and spectrometric approach has been employed to characterize these molecules, allowing identification of novel isomers of glucosyl-caffeoylspermidine, including novel tetraglucosides. Besides of these novel structures, we described a novel class of glycosides present in L. barbarum, that contains the spermine as polyamine core, rather than spermidine. As in the caffeoylspermidines, in these novel caffeoylspermines, the glycosylation patterns yield several isomers, which makes their analysis a particularly challenging. The degrees of glycosylation, ranging from 1 to 4 glucose units, could not be explained the number of novel isomers, considering only monosaccharides attached to the caffeoyl moieties, as previously reported. Nevertheless, mass spectrometry and methylation analyses revealed that the glucosyl moieties can produce oligosaccharides chains, augmenting the number of isomers. Thus, considering the presence of novel glycan chains and novel polyamine core linked to caffeic and/or dihydrocaffeic acids, we found and characterized approximately one hundred different structures.

Liquidambar styraciflua L., ALTINGIACEAE, popularly known as sweet gum or alligator tree, is an aromatic tree with a natural distribution in North America and acclimated in Brazil. In traditional medicine, L. styraciflua L is used for the treatment of stomach disorders, wounds, and coughs. The present study was designed to investigate the biological potential and chemical profile of extracts obtained from aerial parts of L. styraciflua L. The chemical profile was established using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis and the extracts were tested for total phenolics, flavonoids, and tannins using spectrophotometric assays. The anti-inflammatory activity of L. styraciflua L was tested using an inhibition of hyaluronidase enzyme assay, and cytotoxic activities were tested by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2 yl)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The synergy between the plant extracts with ciprofloxacin and tetracycline was studied by the checkerboard assay method against eight bacterial strains.The phytochemical investigation showed that the leaves and stem are rich in phenolics compounds (1419.34-1614.02 mg GAE/g, 875.21-1557.57 mg GAE/g, respectively), mainly flavonoids and hydrolyzable tannins. The samples of the stem exhibited the best anti-inflammatory activity. The butanol fraction of the stem was better than the commercial propolis extract. The hydroalcoholic extract of the stem and the propolis did not exhibit significant differences (p 0.05) at any of the concentrations tested. A synergistic interaction was observed against the Gram-positive bacterial Enterococcus faecalis (hydroalcoholic extract of leaves and tetracycline) and Staphylococcus aureus (hydroalcoholic extract of stem and tetracycline). The IC50 values obtained for the extracts indicate the absence of toxicity and moderate cytotoxic for the hydroalcoholic extract of the stem. On the basis of our findings, L. styaciflua may be considered as a potential therapeutic source with high anti-inflammatory activity and synergistic interactions with antibiotics against bacteria.

The search for new bioactive molecules is a driving force for research pharmaceutical industries, especially those molecules obtained from fermentation. The molecules possessing angiogenic and anti-inflammatory attributes have attracted attention and are the focus of this study. Angiogenic activity from kefir polysaccharide extract, via chorioallantoic membrane assay, exhibited a pro-angiogenic effect compared with vascular endothelial factor (pro-angiogenic) and hydrocortisone (anti-angiogenic) activity as standards with an EC50 of 192ng/mL. In terms of anti-inflammatory activity determined via hyaluronidase enzyme assay, kefir polysaccharide extract inhibited the enzyme with a minimal activity of 2.08mg/mL and a maximum activity of 2.57mg/mL. For pharmaceutical purposes, kefir polysaccharide extract is considered to be safe because it does not inhibit VERO cells in cytotoxicity assays.

The essential oil of plants has potential biological activity and has attracted considerable interest in the pharmaceutical industry. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the chemical composition and the biological potential of L. styraciflua leaf essential oil. The essential oil composition was analyzed using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The main compounds were α-pinene (43.7%), β-pinene (10.7%), d-limonene (35.3%), and terpinen-4-ol (10.3%). The essential oil exhibited good anti-inflammatory activity in a concentration-dependent manner, evaluated using a hyaluronidase enzyme inhibition assay. Results showed also that there is a good synergistic effect with the combination of essencial oil and tetracycline by the checkboard method against most of test microorganisms. The best synergic effect was obtained against B. subtillis, with a fractional inhibitory concentration index of 0.06. A low cytotoxic profile in Vero cells was observed for the essential oil, with a positive selective index value against almost all bacterial strains, indicating potential selective activity. All essential oil concentrations were found to cause 100% mortality in house dust mites after 24 h of a direct contact assay, which was significantly higher than the synthetic acaricide, showing that the essential oil has a higher acaricidal activity. The chemical composition L. styraciflua leaf EO were identified and defined the main components as α-pinene (43.7%), d-limonene (35.3%), β-pinene (10.7%), and terpinen-4-ol (10.3%) e showed biological activity as good anti-inflammatory activity and synergistic interactions with tetracycline and ciprofloxacin against pathogenic bacteria.