Publications by authors named "Henrique Barros de Lima"

Kefiran is a polysaccharide present in kefir grains that have been widely explored due to its potential health benefits. The objective of this work was to characterize and quantify the components present in the ethanolic extract of milk kefir grains; to study its pharmacokinetic and toxicological properties in silico and evaluate the acute toxicity of the kefiran in zebrafish. The prediction of pharmacokinetic properties was performed by QikProp software.

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Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition and the most common type of dementia among the elderly. The enzymes acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) have a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of this disease.

Objective: This study aimed to select medicinal plant-derived molecules with reported inhibition of AChE and design optimized molecules that could inhibit not only AChE, but also NOS, potentially increasing its efficacy against AD.

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Article Synopsis
  • Gomes, a Brazilian tree, has potential health benefits, particularly as a hypoglycemic and weight-loss agent, prompting research on its effects in a diabetes model using zebrafish.
  • The study utilized various analytical techniques to evaluate an aqueous extract from H. speciosa latex and tested its effects on blood glucose levels in diabetic zebrafish, comparing it to the control drug metformin while assessing toxicity risks.
  • The findings indicate that the extract significantly reduced high blood sugar levels without major adverse effects, and computational analysis suggested a possible beneficial interaction between the extract's compounds and carbohydrate metabolism enzymes.
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The new Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of a serious infection in the respiratory tract called COVID-19. Structures of the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 (M), responsible for the replication of the virus, have been solved and quickly made available, thus allowing the design of compounds that could interact with this protease and thus to prevent the progression of the disease by avoiding the viral peptide to be cleaved, so that smaller viral proteins can be released into the host's plasma. These structural data are extremely important for in silico design and development of compounds as well, being possible to quick and effectively identify potential inhibitors addressed to such enzyme's structure.

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