Synthesis,antimicrobial activity,and structure–activity relationships of eugenol,menthol, and genistein esters

This study concentrates on the extraction of eugenol, menthol, and genistein, and the synthesis, antimicrobial activity, and structure-activity relationships of their ester derivatives. The esters were tested for antimicrobial activity against several bacteria and yeast, and the correlation between biological properties and various physicochemical properties was examined. The ester derivatives gave intense emissions upon irradiation by UV light and have photoluminescence quantum yields of 39, 35, and 36% and long excited-state lifetimes of 3.62, 3.23, and 3.40 ns, respectively. These esters may be used in herbal medicinal therapy, and additionally as a base for the development of new drugs for phytomedicine.     

Eupatorium capillifolium essential oil: chemical composition, antifungal activity, and insecticidal activity

Natural plant extracts often contain compounds that are useful in pest management applications. The essential oil of Eupatorium capillifolium (dog-fennel) was investigated for antifungal and insecticidal activities. Essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation of aerial parts was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The major components were determined to be thymol methyl ether (=methyl thymol) (36.3%), 2,5-dimethoxy-p-cymene (20.8%) and myrcene (15.7%). Antifungal activity of the essential oil was weak against the plant pathogens Colletotrichum acutatum, C. fragariae, and C. gloeosporioides in direct bioautography assay. The E. capillifolium oil showed promising repellent activity against the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti, whereas the oil exhibited moderate activity against the mosquito's first instar larvae in a high throughput bioassay. Topical applications of the oil showed no activity against the blood-feeding female adults of A. aegypti. Eupatorium capillifolium essential oil showed a linear dose response between adult lace bug (Stephanitis pyrioides) mortality and increasing oil concentration in an adulticidal activity bioassay. The dog-fennel oil was more potent than the conventional insecticide malathion. In conclusion, these combined results showed Eupatorium capillifolium oil is a promising novel source of a biological insecticide with multiple modes of action.     

Ruellia prostrata Poir. activity evaluated by phytoconstituents,antioxidant, anti-inflammatory,antibacterial activity,and in silico molecular functions

Ruellia prostrata Poir. has been used historically as an anti-cancer, wound healing agent and to treat gonorrhea. We aimed to determine the phytochemicals present in ethyl acetate extract of R. prostrata Poir. (EAERP). We sought to determine the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial activities in vitro, and toxicity properties in vivo. We also analyzed the Prediction of Activity Spectra for Substances (PASS), physicochemical, ADMET, and drug-likeness properties of phytochemicals in EAERP. To determine phytoconstituents, preliminary phytochemical screening and GC–MS were performed, while FT-IR was used to identify functional groups. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using a DPPH scavenging assay, whereas BSA denaturation and RBC hemolysis inhibition were used to assess anti-inflammatory activity. An agar-well-diffusion assay was performed to estimate the antibacterial activity. Brine shrimp lethality bioassay and oral delivery of EAERP of single-dose were performed to determine cytotoxicity and acute toxicity, respectively. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of phenols, triterpenoids, saponins, steroids, amino acids, and fat and fixed oils. FT-IR analysis of EAERP showed the presence of many functional groups: alcohols/phenols, carboxylic acids, aldehydes, alkanes, esters, amines, amides, aromatic hydrocarbons, sulfoxides, and alkyl halides. GC–MS revealed the presence of 39 phytoconstituents including steroids, consistent with compounds and functional groups found in preliminary screening and FT-IR. EAERP showed dose-dependent antioxidant activity with an IC₅₀ value of 21.402 µg/mL and anti-inflammatory activity with an IC₅₀ value of 20.564 µg/mL in RBC hemolysis inhibition and 21.115 µg/mL in BSA denaturation assays. EAERP also exhibited dose-related antibacterial activity. EAERP exerted cytotoxicity with an LC₅₀ value of 17.619 μg/mL and acute toxicity with an LD₅₀ value of 4095.328 mg/kg without any adverse effects. The PASS server also predicted that the phytoconstituents of EAERP have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial activities with probable activity (Pa) ranging from 0.310 to 0.717. Analysis of physicochemical, ADMET, and drug-likeness properties revealed the drug-able efficacy and safety of most compounds. The findings of this study indicated that R. prostrata Poir. contains phytoconstituents with potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial activities. Taken together, our measurements suggest that R. prostrata Poir. is a prime candidate for further exploration as a potential therapeutic agent.     

Pyranonaphthoquinones--isolation, biological activity and synthesis

A review of the isolation, biological activity and synthesis of pyranonaphthoquinones and closely related compounds is provided.     

北虫草多糖的理化特征及抗氧化和免疫活性研究

采取超高压提取,DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow和Sephadex G-100柱层析分离纯化得到虫草多糖(CMP),通过高效凝胶色谱(HPGPC)、气相色谱(GC)和傅里叶红外光谱(FT-IR)对其理化特征进行了表征,并对CMP抗氧化及免疫调节活性进行了测定.结果显示CMP是纯度较高杂多糖,由鼠李糖、甘露糖、葡萄糖和半乳糖4个单糖组成,结果表明超高压是一种高效的菌多糖提取技术,提取得到的CMP可以探索作为天然的抗氧化和免疫调节剂应用于功能食品和药品.     

Determination of xylanase,beta-glucanase,and cellulase activity

A simple, robust and highly reproducible method for the determination of xylanase, beta-glucanase, and cellulase in commercial feed enzyme preparations is described. The method is based on measurement of reducing moieties released by the enzymes from arabinoxylan, beta-glucan, or carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and is independent of enzyme standards.     

Cryochemical modification,activity, and toxicity of dioxidine

Dioxidine nanoparticles are prepared via cryochemical modification of the pharmacopoeial dioxidine substance. The form of the cryomodified dioxidine is characterized by data from ¹H NMR spectroscopy; X-ray diffraction analysis; such thermal analytical methods as TG and DSC; low-temperature argon adsorption; and transmission electron microscopy. It is shown that the cryomodified samples are synthesized in the form of dioxidine nanocrystals 50–300 nm in size, with a crystal structure differing from that of the initial pharmacopoeial substance. The prepared cryomodified dioxidine nanoparticles inhibit the growth of E. coli 52, S. aureus 144, M. cyaneum 98, and B. cereus 9 better than the initial pharmacopoeial substance, and have comparable chronic toxicity.     

Structure, activity, synthesis and biosynthesis of aryl-C-glycosides

The focus of this review is to highlight the structure, bioactivity and biosynthesis of naturally occurring aryl-C-glycosides. General synthetic methods and their relevance to proposed biochemical mechanisms for the aryl-C-glycoside bond formation are also presented.     

Thienopyrimidines: synthesis, properties, and biological activity

Data on the methods for the synthesis of isomeric thienopyrimidine derivatives, their chemical transformations, and biological activities are systematized and analyzed. Emphasis is given to studies published over the last 10—15 years.     

Thienopyridines: synthesis, properties, and biological activity

The current state and prospects of development of the chemistry of isomeric thienopyridines (synthesis, chemical transformations, and biological activities) are analyzed. Particular attention is given to studies published in the last 10–15 years. Dedicated to Academician V. I. Minkin on the occasion of his 70th birthday. __________ Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 847–885, April, 2005.     

Novel pyrazole fused heterocyclic ligands: Synthesis,characterization, DNA binding/cleavage activity and anti-BVDV activity

A series of novel pyrazole fused heterocyclic derivatives were synthesized via a two-step procedure or a one-pot two step method,and their catalytic DNA cleavage abilities and anti-BVDV activities were also evaluated.The results obtained indicated that compounds 3b-3c could catalyze the cleavage of supercoiled DNA(pUC 19 plasmid DNA) to nicked DNA under physiological conditions with high yields via a hydroiytic mechanism.The studies on anti-viral activities against bovine viral diarrhea virus(BVDV) demonstrated that some of the pyrazole derivatives showed pronounced anti-BVDV activity with interesting EC_(50) values and no significant cytotoxicity.Among them,compound 31 showed the highest antiviral activity(EC_(50) = 0.12 μmoI/L) and was 10 fold more than that of the positive control ribavirin(EC_(50)= 1.3 μmol/L),which provided a potential candidate for the development of anti-BVDV agents.     

Warfarin: history, tautomerism and activity

The anticoagulant drug warfarin, normally administered as the racemate, can exist in solution in potentially as many as 40 topologically distinct tautomeric forms. Only 11 of these forms for each enantiomer can be distinguished by selected computational software commonly used to estimate octanol–water partition coefficients and/or ionization constants. The history of studies on warfarin tautomerism is reviewed, along with the implications of tautomerism to its biological properties (activity, protein binding and metabolism) and chemical properties (log P, log D, pK _a). Experimental approaches to assessing warfarin tautomerism and computational results for different tautomeric forms are presented.     

Lightweight,flexible, nanorod electrode with high electrocatalytic activity

We report on a dropcasting method to fabricate lightweight and mechanically flexible electrodes from gold nanorods. The nanorod electrodes possess extremely high electroactive areas, which lead to greatly enhanced electrocatalysis towards oxygen reduction reaction and methanol oxidation reaction when compared to conventional gold disk electrodes.     

Benzofuroxans: their synthesis,properties, and biological activity

The review provides a brief historical background for the establishment of structure of benzofuroxanes. Methods for their synthesis are summarized, and the chemical properties are described, which are splitted into two parts: reactions proceeding with a ring opening of the heterocycle, and those occuring with a participation of the isocyclic moiety. The biological activity of various representatives belonging to the benzofuroxan series is covered in details.

     

Anti-hydroxyl radical activity,redox potential and anti-AChE activity of Amanita strobiliformis polysaccharide extract

This study outlines antioxidant and anti-AChE activities of the polysaccharide (PSH) extract from the mushroom species Amanita strobiliformis. Both the presence of α and ß glucans within the aforementioned extract was recorded. PSH extract displayed a profound scavenging activity of OH radicals (IC₅₀ value, 11.86 ± 0.59 μg/mL) and high potential for reduction of Fe³⁺ ions (174.11 ± 8.70 mg eq. AA/g d.w.) being almost 48- and 5-fold more effective than mannitol and butylated hydroxytoluene used as a positive control, respectively. Compared with galanthamine (0.001 μg), the same extract exhibited a moderate anti-AChE activity (10 μg) in solid. Since purified PSH extract exhibited higher bioactivity (IC₅₀ value 7.27 ± 0.31 μg/mL, 197.68 ± 9.47 mg eq. AA/g d.w. and 0.1 μg, respectively), it can be predominantly ascribed to the polysaccharide compounds. A. strobiliformis PSH extract may be considered as a promising resource of potent bioactive polysaccharides of natural origin successfully addressing both oxidative stress and lack of acetylcholine.