Monitoring the Reaction of the Body State to Antibiotic Treatment against Helicobacter pylori via Infrared Spectroscopy: A Case Study

The current understanding of deviations of human microbiota caused by antibiotic treatment is poor. In an attempt to improve it, a proof-of-principle spectroscopic study of the breath of one volunteer affected by a course of antibiotics for Helicobacter pylori eradication was performed. Fourier transform spectroscopy enabled searching for the absorption spectral structures sensitive to the treatment in the entire mid-infrared region. Two spectral ranges were found where the corresponding structures strongly correlated with the beginning and end of the treatment. The structures were identified as methyl ester of butyric acid and ethyl ester of pyruvic acid. Both acids generated by bacteria in the gut are involved in fundamental processes of human metabolism. Being confirmed by other studies, measurement of the methyl butyrate deviation could be a promising way for monitoring acute gastritis and anti-Helicobacter pylori antibiotic treatment.     

The Effects of Food on Cannabidiol Bioaccessibility

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a hydrophobic non-psychoactive compound with therapeutic characteristics. Animal and human studies have shown its poor oral bioavailability in vivo, and the impact of consuming lipid-soluble CBD with and without food on gut bioaccessibility has not been explored. The purpose of this research was to study the bioaccessibility of CBD after a three-phase upper digestion experiment with and without food, and to test lipase activity with different substrate concentrations. Our results showed that lipase enzyme activity and fatty acid absorption increased in the presence of bile salts, which may also contribute to an increase in CBD bioaccessibility. The food matrix used was a mixture of olive oil and baby food. Overall, the fed-state digestion revealed significantly higher micellarization efficiency for CBD (14.15 ± 0.6% for 10 mg and 22.67 ± 2.1% for 100 mg CBD ingested) than the fasted state digestion of CBD (0.65 ± 0.7% for 10 mg and 0.14 ± 0.1% for 100 mg CBD ingested). The increase in bioaccessibility of CBD with food could be explained by the fact that micelle formation from hydrolyzed lipids aid in bioaccessibility of hydrophobic molecules. In conclusion, the bioaccessibility of CBD depends on the food matrix and the presence of lipase and bile salts.     

Classical Food Quality Attributes and the Metabolic Profile of Cambuci,a Native Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest Fruit

The cambuci is a native Brazilian fruit from the Atlantic Forest biome. A soft and astringent pulp, a green color, and a sweet aroma are its main characteristics. Classical food quality attributes (fresh fruit mass, fruit height, diameters, total soluble solid, titratable acidity, and ratio) and the metabolic profile from ten accessions from three different locations were analyzed herein by analytical methods (refractometry and neutralization titration) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Concerning sugar content, sucrose was the predominant compound, with glucose and fructose alternating in second, depending on the accession. Citric acid was the most relevant acid, followed by shikimic and quinic acids in quite variable amounts. These three main acids vary in amounts for each accession. Ascorbic acid content emerges as an important quality attribute and makes this fruit nutritionally attractive, due to values comparable to those contained in citric fruits. The main amino acids identified in cambuci were glutamic acid individually or in comprising the tripeptide glutathione (glutamic acid, cysteine, glycine). The quality diversity of the evaluated accessions suggests the potentiality of cambuci use in future breeding programs.     

Microorganisms as a Potential Source of Molecules to Control Trypanosomatid Diseases

Trypanosomatids are the causative agents of leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis, which affect about 20 million people in the world’s poorest countries, leading to 95,000 deaths per year. They are often associated with malnutrition, weak immune systems, low quality housing, and population migration. They are generally recognized as neglected tropical diseases. New drugs against these parasitic protozoa are urgently needed to counteract drug resistance, toxicity, and the high cost of commercially available drugs. Microbial bioprospecting for new molecules may play a crucial role in developing a new generation of antiparasitic drugs. This article reviews the current state of the available literature on chemically defined metabolites of microbial origin that have demonstrated antitrypanosomatid activity. In this review, bacterial and fungal metabolites are presented; they originate from a range of microorganisms, including cyanobacteria, heterotrophic bacteria, and filamentous fungi. We hope to provide a useful overview for future research to identify hits that may become the lead compounds needed to accelerate the discovery of new drugs against trypanosomatids.     

Methylation of Cyanidin-3-O-Glucoside with Dimethyl Carbonate

The approach presented in this study is the first for the hemisynthesis of methylated anthocyanins. It was possible to obtain cyanidin-3-O-glucoside derivatives with different degrees of methylation. Cautious identification of 4′-, 5-, and 7-OH monomethylated derivatives was also accomplished. The methylation agent used was the “green chemical” dimethyl carbonate (DMC), which is characterized by low human and ecological toxicity. The influence of the temperature, reaction time, and amount of the required diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-en (DBU) catalyst on the formation of the products was examined. Compared to conventional synthesis methods for methylated flavonoids using DMC and DBU, the conditions identified in this study result in a reduction of reaction time, and an important side reaction, so-called carboxymethylation, was minimized by using higher amounts of catalyst.     

Species Diversity and Secondary Metabolites of Sarcophyton-Associated Marine Fungi

Soft corals are widely distributed across the globe, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, with Sarcophyton being one of the most abundant genera. To date, there have been 50 species of identified Sarcophyton. These soft corals host a diverse range of marine fungi, which produce chemically diverse, bioactive secondary metabolites as part of their symbiotic nature with the soft coral hosts. The most prolific groups of compounds are terpenoids and indole alkaloids. Annually, there are more bio-active compounds being isolated and characterised. Thus, the importance of the metabolite compilation is very much important for future reference. This paper compiles the diversity of Sarcophyton species and metabolites produced by their associated marine fungi, as well as the bioactivity of these identified compounds. A total of 88 metabolites of structural diversity are highlighted, indicating the huge potential these symbiotic relationships hold for future research.     

基于非靶向代谢组学的茄梨和红茄梨成熟期果皮代谢产物的差异分析

为了探究西洋梨品种茄梨及其红色芽变红茄梨成熟期果皮代谢产物差异,采用超高效液相色谱-质谱联用技术,对茄梨和红茄梨成熟期果皮进行非靶向代谢组学研究。通过主成分分析和正交偏最小二乘判别分析,构建了多变量统计分析模型,结合模型和变量重要性投影与最大差异倍数值,基于精确质量数、二级碎片以及同位素分布,使用PMDB(Plant Metabolome Database)数据库进行定性,筛选并鉴定出茄梨和红茄梨果皮中显著性变化(P<0.05, VIP(variable importance in project)≥1)的差异代谢物有83种,主要包括酚酸类、黄酮类和氨基酸类物质,涉及类黄酮代谢、氨基酸代谢、苯丙烷类代谢等代谢途径,其中53种物质含量上调,30种物质表达下调。通过KEGG(Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes)数据库进一步对差异代谢物质进行通路富集分析,差异代谢物主要分布在20条代谢途径中,P<0.05的代谢途径有6条,分别是类黄酮生物合成、黄酮和黄酮醇生物合成、苯丙烷生物合成、丁酸酯代谢、苯丙氨酸代谢、酪氨酸代谢。这些差异代谢物的变化可能是导致茄梨和红茄梨果皮色泽不同的原因。该研究从植物代谢组学角度初步揭示了茄梨和红茄梨成熟期果皮的代谢产物差异性。     

Structural elucidation of new urinary tamoxifen metabolites by liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

In this study, tamoxifen metabolic profiles were investigated carefully. Tamoxifen was administered to two healthy male volunteers and one female patient suffering from breast cancer. Urinary extracts were analyzed by liquid chromatography quadruple time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry using full scan and targeted MS/MS techniques with accurate mass measurement. Chromatographic peaks for potential metabolites were selected by using the theoretical [M + H]⁺ as precursor ion in full‐scan experiment and m/z 72, 58 or 44 as characteristic product ions for N,N‐dimethyl, N‐desmethyl and N,N‐didesmethyl metabolites in targeted MS/MS experiment, respectively. Tamoxifen and 37 metabolites were detected in extraction study samples. Chemical structures of seven unreported metabolites were elucidated particularly on the basis of fragmentation patterns observed for these metabolites. Several metabolic pathways containing mono‐ and di‐hydroxylation, methoxylation, N‐desmethylation, N,N‐didesmethylation, oxidation and combinations were suggested. All the metabolites were detected in the urine samples up to 1 week. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

HPLC–MS/MS法测定南美白对虾苗中硝基呋喃类代谢物残留

研究了南美白对虾苗中4种硝基呋喃代谢物呋喃唑酮代谢物(AOZ)、呋喃它酮代谢物(AMOZ)、呋喃妥因代谢物(AHD)、呋喃西林代谢物(SEM)的高效液相色谱–串联质谱(HPLC–MS/MS)测定方法。以水解衍生并添加4种同位素内标的方法对样品进行处理,补偿了衍生化效率,提高了定量的准确性。实验结果表明,AOZ,AMOZ的检出限为0.10μg/kg,SEM,AHD的检出限为0.25μg/kg;AOZ,AMOZ的定量下限为0.40μg/kg,SEM,AHD的定量下限为0.50μg/kg。方法加标回收率在88.2%~97.6%之间,相对标准偏差在4.6%~8.1%(n=6)之间。该法检测灵敏度高,测量结果的精密度和准确度满足药物残留检测要求。     

Secure and Sustainable Sourcing of Plant Tissues for the Exhaustive Exploration of Their Chemodiversity

The main challenge of plant chemical diversity exploration is how to develop tools to study exhaustively plant tissues. Their sustainable sourcing is a limitation as bioguided strategies and dereplication need quite large amounts of plant material. We examine if alternative solutions could overcome these difficulties by obtaining a secure, sustainable, and scalable source of tissues able to biosynthesize an array of metabolites. As this approach would be as independent of the botanical origin as possible, we chose eight plant species from different families. We applied a four steps culture establishment procedure, monitoring targeted compounds through mass spectrometry-based analytical methods. We also characterized the capacities of leaf explants in culture to produce diverse secondary metabolites. In vitro cultures were successfully established for six species with leaf explants still producing a diversity of compounds after the culture establishment procedure. Furthermore, explants from leaves of axenic plantlets were also analyzed. The detection of marker compounds was confirmed after six days in culture for all tested species. Our results show that the first stage of this approach aiming at easing exploration of plant chemodiversity was completed, and leaf tissues could offer an interesting alternative providing a constant source of natural compounds.