Characterisation of an extract and fractions of Azadirachta indica flower on cholesterol lowering property and intestinal motility

Azadirachta indica has long been used in traditional medicine. This study focused on isolation and characterisation of active ingredients in the extract, its fractions (NF-EA, NF-AQ, NF-G) and its effect on the cholesterol absorption activity. The NF-EA fraction was identified by marker compounds by LC-ESI-QTOF/MS. Cholesterol absorption activity was performed by measuring the solubility and size of cholesterol micelles. The intestinal motility was also examined by isolated rat’s ileum to test the contraction. The extract and its fractions consist of flavonoids and phenolic compounds, like quercetin, kaempferol and myricetin. We found that A. indica extract and NF-EA increase cholesterol micelles size, while the extract, NF-AQ, myricetin and quercetin, reduced the solubility of cholesterol in micelles. The extract and quercetin inhibited the contraction induced by KCl up to 29 and 18%, respectively, and also decreased CaCl₂-induced contraction. This finding is in support to traditional uses of A. indica as cholesterol-lowering agents and regulator of gastrointestinal motility.     

以 β -环糊精修饰碳糊电极测定槲皮素

用β-环糊精（β-CD）制成修饰碳糊电极,循环伏安法研究槲皮素在 β-CD 修饰碳糊电极上的电化学行为。结果显示：当以 pH =5 的磷酸缓冲溶液（PBS）为底液,扫描速率为 80 mV/s 时,槲皮素在 β-CD 修饰电极上的电化学信号最大,当槲皮素浓度在 5. 0 ×10 7~ 1. 0 ×10 4mol. L 1范围内,槲皮素峰电流与其浓度呈良好的线性关系,其线性方程为 Ip（μA）=7. 809 + 2. 848 ×105c（mol. L 1）,相关系数为0.999 6,检出限为 6. 3 ×10 8mol. L 1。     

HPLC测定四季红药材中槲皮素的含量

用碳十八烷基硅烷键合硅胶色谱柱(5.0×200mm),甲醇-0.4%磷酸溶液(体积比为50∶50)为流动相,在紫外检测波长为360 nm的高效液相色谱仪上测定了四季红药材中槲皮素的含量。结果表明:槲皮素进样量在0.04~0.20μg范围内与色谱峰的峰面积呈良好的线性关系(r=0.999 8);四季红药材加标平均回收率为101.3%,RSD为2.5%(n=6);本法快速、简便,有良好的精密度和准确性,可用于四季红药材的质量控制。     

A new validated HPLC method for the determination of quercetin: Application to study pharmacokinetics in rats

A simple, accurate, and reproducible high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed and validated for the quantification of quercetin (QR) in rat plasma. The method involves a simple protein precipitation procedure to extract both QR and thymoquinone (TQ), the internal standard. The chromatographic analysis was achieved on a Shimadzu LC 20 A HPLC system equipped with a Supelcosil LC‐18 T C₁₈ column and an isocratic mobile phase consisting of 0.3% trichloroacetic acid in water and acetonitrile HPLC‐grade (50:50, v /v) run at a flow rate of 0.9 mL/min for 13 min. The UV detection wavelength was set at 254 nm. The method exhibited good linearity (R ² > 0.994) over the assayed concentration range (0.10–25 μg/mL) and demonstrated good intra‐day and inter‐day precision and accuracy (relative standard deviations and the deviation from predicted values were <20%). This method was also successfully applied for studying the pharmacokinetics of QR in rats following a single oral dose of QR to evaluate its pharmacokinetic parameters in rats.     

Antibacterial activity of native plants from Northwest Argentina against phytopathogenic bacteria

Abstract

Extracts from aerial parts of medicinal plants from northwest Argentina were screened for antibacterial activity against the phytopathogenic strains namely CECT 124 (Pseudomonas corrugata), CECT 126 (P. syringae pv. tomato), CECT 225 (Erwinia carotovora var. carotovora), CECT 472 (Agrobacterium tumefaciens) and CECT 792 (Xanthomonas campestres pv. vesicatoria). Leaves and stems of Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco, Schinus fasciculatus, S. gracilipes, Amphilophium cynanchoides and Tecoma stans were separately extracted with solvents of increasing polarity to obtain the dichloromethane (fCH₂Cl₂), ethyl acetate (fEtAc) and methanol extracts (fMeOH), respectively. Among the thirty extracts tested, only fEtAc from leaves and stems of S. fasciculatus reached the IC₅₀ against the five bacterial strains tested (IC₅₀?=?0.9?mg/ml). The fEtAc from the leaves contained kaempferol, quercetin and agathisflavone which had moderate to strong antibacterial activity. This extract and its identified flavonoids showed synergic (CECT 124,126 and 792) or additive effects (CECT 472 and 225) in mixtures with Kocide 3000.     

Coprinus comatus filtrate extract,a novel neuroprotective agent of natural origin

Abstract

In vitro acetylholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity of an autochthonous sample of the mushroom Coprinus comatus (encompassing fruiting body FB, mycelia M and filtrate F from the submerged cultivation) was the subject of this study. C. comatus F extract exhibited rather potent anti-AChE activity (73.0?±?1.5%) at in liquid conditions, comparable to those of the conventional drug donepezil (80.6?±?1.4%). Also, the same extract exhibited high anti-AChE activity (1?µg) in solid. While its FTIR spectrum indicated the presence of phenolic compounds, quercetin (28.1?µg g^?1 d.w.) was found to affect the observed bioactivity (59.8?±?0.9%). This is the first report of profound anti-AChE activity of any C. comatus extract, a medicinal mushroom that has been successfully cultivated in P.R. China, due to the demanding needs of food industry.     

Neuroprotective Effects of Quercetin in Pediatric Neurological Diseases

Oxidative stress is a crucial event underlying several pediatric neurological diseases, such as the central nervous system (CNS) tumors, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Neuroprotective therapy with natural compounds used as antioxidants has the potential to delay, ameliorate or prevent several pediatric neurological diseases. The present review provides an overview of the most recent research outcomes following quercetin treatment for CNS tumors, ASD and ADHD as well as describes the potential in vitro and in vivo ameliorative effect on oxidative stress of bioactive natural compounds, which seems like a promising future therapy for these diseases. The neuroprotective effects of quercetin against oxidative stress can also be applied in the management of several neurodegenerative disorders with effects such as anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-obesity and anti-microbial. Therefore, quercetin appears to be a suitable adjuvant for therapy against pediatric neurological diseases.     

槲皮素修饰碳糊电极吸附溶出伏安法测定血清中的铅

建立了用槲皮素修饰碳糊电极吸附溶出伏安法测定血清中的铅的方法.在浓度为0.10mol·/L的甲酸钠-盐酸缓冲溶液(pH=4.3)中,于-0.10V(vs.SCE)搅拌富集,再在-0.70V静止还原40s后,阳极化扫描.于-0.42V左右获得一灵敏的铅阳极溶出峰.在最佳条件下,富集不同的时间,其二阶导数峰电流与铅离子在1.0×10-8-8.0×10-7mol·/L和2.0×10-9-6.0×10-8mol·/L两个范围内呈线性关系,检出限为6.0×10-8mol·/L,同时对电极反应机理进行了讨论.     

Speciation Analysis of Osmium(VIII) and Osmium(IV) by UV‐VIS Spectrophotometry Using Quercetin as the Reagent

Abstract

The UV‐VIS spectrophotometric methods for the determination of Os(VIII) (as OsO₄) and Os(IV) (as OsCl₆ ^2? complex) in their mixtures were developed. Quercetin (Q), a flavonoid compound, was used as a chromogenic reagent. Both direct and derivative spectrophotometry can be employed for the determination of Os(VIII). The calculation of the first‐derivative spectrum of the examined mixture and the use of the signal at 285.1 nm allows reaching a better detection limit (0.01 µg mL^?1 Os) as compared with direct spectrophotometry (0.1 µg mL^?1 Os). Relative standard deviations of the results are in the range of 0.87%–4.65% and 0.45%–1.15% for direct and derivative mode, respectively. Selective redox reaction of OsO₄ with Q under the conditions used (0.05 M HCl, 1×10^?4 M Q, 15 min heating at 70°C) makes the basis of its determination in mixtures with the OsCl₆ ^2? complex. Quercetin does not react with the OsCl₆ ^2? complex. The signals of the OsCl₆ ^2? complex can be isolated from the examined mixtures by the calculation of the third‐order derivative spectra and the use of the values at 340.0 nm. The effectiveness of the reduction of OsO₄ in chloride solutions has been studied by the developed method.     

Investigation of Chemiluminescence Behavior of Flavonoids with Cerium (IV)‐Rhodamine B System

Abstract

The chemiluminescence (CL) behavior of five major flavonoid types in cerium (IV)‐rhodamine B system was investigated by flow‐injection. Strong CL was observed when cerium (IV) reacted with rhodamine B in sulfuric acid medium in the presence of flavonoids. This reaction system has been established as a simple, rapid, and highly sensitive flow injection CL analysis for quercetin and kaempferol, and their detection limit (3σ) was 2.7 and 0.22 nmol/L, respectively. The relative standard deviation (n=8) was 1.2% for 1.0 µmol/L quercetin and 1.9% for 0.5 µmol/L kaempferol. This method was successfully applied to the determination of quercetin in the hydrolysate of rutin and compared well with the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. From a comparison of several related flavonoids, it was concluded that only flavonoids that contain a free 3‐hydroxyl and 2, 3‐double bond in conjugation with 4‐oxo function could produce a relatively strong CL emission.