Publications by authors named "Evelina Ferrer"

The redox imbalance, caused by depletion or generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), is a key mechanism by which metal complexes exert anticancer effects. Carbidopa has shown the ability to inhibit the MDA-MB-231 cell line, a highly aggressive triple-negative human breast adenocarcinoma, by inducing reductive stress. The metal complex of carbidopa with zinc (ZnCarbi) was designed to modify carbidopa's structure and exhibited increased cytotoxicity against MDA-MB-231 cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

L-Acetylcarnitine (ALC), a versatile compound, has demonstrated beneficial effects in depression, Alzheimer's disease, cognitive impairment, and other conditions. This study focuses on its antithyroid activity. The precursor molecule, L-carnitine, inhibited the uptake of triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), and it is possible that ALC may reduce the iodination process of T3 and T4.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: the antihypertensive drug α-methyldopa (MD) stands as one of the extensively used medications for managing hypertension during pregnancy. Zinc deprivation has been associated with many diseases. In this context, the synthesis of a Zn coordination complex [Zn(MD)(OH)(HO)]·HO (ZnMD) provide a promising alternative pathway to improve the biological properties of MD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The flavonoid naringenin and a family of naringenin derivative Cu(II) complexes having phenanthroline-based second ligands were selected to study alkaline phosphatase activation. This enzyme plays a critical role in tissue formation, increasing the inorganic phosphate formation, favoring mineralization, and being essential to producing bone mineralization. The effects of those compounds on the function and structure of the enzyme were evaluated by kinetic measurements, fluorescence, FTIR, and UV-Vis spectroscopies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study is based on the premise that the application of chemical synthesis strategies to structurally modify commercial drugs by complexation with biometals is a valid procedure to improve their biological effects. Our purpose is to synthesize a compound with greater efficacy than the original drug, able to enhance its antihypertensive and cardiac pharmacological activity. Herein, the structure of the coordination compound of Zn(II) and the antihypertensive drug olmesartan, [Zn(Olme)(HO)] (ZnOlme), is presented.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hypertension is the most common cause of left ventricular hypertrophy, contributing to heart failure progression. Candesartan (Cand) is an angiotensin receptor antagonist widely used for hypertension treatment. Structural modifications were previously performed by our group using Zinc (ZnCand) as a strategy for improving its pharmacological properties.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The development of new anticancer compounds is one of the challenges of bioinorganic and medicinal chemistry. Naringenin and its metal complexes have been recognized as promising inhibitors of cell proliferation, having enormous potential to act as an antioxidant and antitumorigenic agent. Lung cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed type of cancer.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We have previously synthesized and characterized the chrysin coordination complex with the oxidovanadium(IV) cation (VO(chrys)) and characterized in ethanolic solution and in solid state. Because suitable single crystals for X-ray diffraction determinations could not be obtained, in the present work, we elucidate the geometrical parameters of this complex by computational methodologies. The optimization and vibrational investigation were carried out both in ethanolic solution and in gas phase.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The pharmacological response and the therapeutic efficacy of a drug depends on the interactions with plasma proteins. The interaction of bovine serum albumin (BSA) with the metal complexes of antihypertensive drugs, Zn(II)/sartan complexes (candesartan, valsartan and losartan), was investigated using fluorescence quenching determinations at different temperatures. The binding studies of the compounds with BSA showed static quenching and moderate binding with calculated constants in the range of 10-10 M, indicating potent serum distribution via albumins.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most frequent type of lung cancer and more than 90 % of mortality is due to metastasis-related deaths. Flavonoids are considered nutraceuticals due to the variety of pharmacological properties. In this paper, we studied the effects of baicalin, silibinin, apigenin, luteolin, and its oxidovanadium(IV) cation complexes on the viability, adhesion to fibronectin, invasion, and migration on human lung cancer cell line A549.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Angiotensin II receptor blockers were designed as therapeutic agents to block the binding site of the angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AT1R). The structure of telmisartan was modified by coordination to the biometal Zn(II), resulting in the compound ZnTelm. Its antihypertensive activity and cellular mechanisms in comparison to telmisartan were studied.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

To improve the anticancer activity of telmisartan, its structure has been modified by Zn(II) complexation giving [Zn(Telm)(HO)]·2HO (ZnTelm). The cytotoxic effect was measured on the human lung cancer cells (A549) and on the lung fibroblast cells (MRC-5). The complex markedly improved anticancer activity (IC 75 μM) of telmisartan (IC 125 μM) or ZnSO (IC 225 μM) and did not show toxicity on non-cancer cells, inducing oxidative stress with cellular ROS generation and GSH/GSSG decrease.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We report the synthesis and biological evaluation of a ternary copper complex, [Cu(5HTP)(phen)(HO)](NO).2HO, with the antioxidant agent 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) and phenanthroline (phen, added to improve its lipophilicity and membrane transport). The crystal structure of the complex was determined by X-ray diffraction methods.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Magnesium is an essential element related with biochemistry of the brain and different types of depression have been associated with its deficiency.

Methods: The structure of a novel magnesium bis(DL-pyroglutamate) (Mg(DL-pGlu)) was elucidated by X-ray crystallography. Wistar rats were used in the in vivo experiments.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Peroxidovanadium(V) and oxidovanadium(IV) compounds have been tested as peroxidase-similar compounds. Their catalytic performance was tested on phenol red and pyrogallol substrates. Bromination kinetic studies revealed Michaelis-Menten behavior with respect to phenol red for both complexes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

5-Hydroxy-L-tryptophan (5-HTP) is a serotonin pathway metabolite of L-tryptophan in the brain. In the knowledge that the biological properties of some compounds can be modified upon metal complexation, a new solid metal complex, [Cu(5-hydroxytryptophan)].HO (Cu5HTP), has been synthesized and characterized to analyze the modification of some biological properties.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Copper complexes with transformed methimazole ligand have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, conductivity measurements, thermogravimetric analysis, EPR, FTIR and UV-Vis spectroscopies. Results support their stoichiometries and geometrical structures: [Cu(CHNS)Cl]·2HO(1), [Cu(CHNS)SOHO](2) and [Cu(CHNS)SO](3). ((CHN)S: bis(l-methylimidazol-2-yl)sulfide; (CHNS) = Bis[bis(l-methylimidazol-2-yl)disulfide]) Concurrently, the structurally distinct soluble species corresponding to complexes (1) and (2) were subsequently used in an in vitro investigation of their potential biological properties.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A new losartan [2-butyl-5-chloro-3-[[4-[2-(2H-tetrazol-5-yl)phenyl]phenyl]methyl]imidazol-4-yl]methanol zinc(II) complex [Zn(Los)Cl], was synthesized and characterized. The crystal structure was determined by x-ray diffraction methods. When aqueous solutions of the ligand and the metal were mixed, the known and more soluble powder [Zn(Los)].

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Coumarins (2H-chromen-2-one) are oxygen-containing heterocyclic compounds that belong to the benzopyranones family. In this work we have synthesized different coordination complexes with coumarin-3-carboxylic acid (HCCA), o-phenanthroline (phen) and zinc(II). In the reported [Zn(CCA)(HO)] complex, coumarin-3-carboxylate (CCA) is acting as a bidentate ligand while in the two prepared complexes, [Zn(phen)]CCA(NO) (obtained as a single crystal) and [Zn(CCA)phen].

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Azilsartan is the eighth approved member of angiotensin II receptor blockers for hypertension treatment. Considering that some drugs have additional effects when administered, we studied its effects and mechanisms of action on a human lung cancer cell line A549. We have also modified the structure of the drug by complexation with Zn(II) cation and assayed the anticancer effect.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Flavonoids are a large group of polyphenolic compounds ubiquitously present in plants. They are important components of human diet. They are recognized as potential drug candidates to be used in the treatment and prevention of a lot of pathological disorders, due to their protective effects.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In the current study the ability of copper complex to exert multiple biological activities is combined with the pharmacological action of sertraline (SerHCl, antidepressant drug). The hydrated and anhydrous forms of the tetrachlorocuprate(II) salts, namely (SerH)[CuCl]·½HO and (SerH)[CuCl], were synthesized and characterized by physicochemical methods. The crystal structures were determined by X-ray diffraction methods.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Based on the known antioxidant effect of flavonoids, baicalin (baic) found in roots of Scutellaria has been selected. Its coordination complex with the oxidovanadium(IV) cation, Na[VO(baic)].6HO (VO(baic)), was synthesized at pH9 in ethanol and characterized by physicochemical methods.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The anticancer and antimetastatic behavior of the flavonoid luteolin and its oxidovanadium(IV) complex [VO(lut)(HO)]Na·3HO (VOlut) has been investigated. Considering that the complex displayed strong anticancer activity on MDAMB231 human breast cancer cell line we herein determined through in vitro assays that the complex would probably reduce breast cancer cell metastasis in a higher extent than the natural antioxidant. In the CT26 colon cancer cell line a stronger anticancer effect has also been determined for the complex (IC 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The coordination compound of the antihypertensive ligand irbesartan (irb) with copper(II) (CuIrb) was synthesized and characterized by FTIR, FT-Raman, UV-visible, reflectance and EPR spectroscopies. Experimental evidence allowed the implementation of structural and vibrational studies by theoretical calculations made in the light of the density functional theory (DFT). This compound was designed to induce structural modifications on the ligand.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF