Publications by authors named "Luc Pieters"

Walp. (Brassicaceae), also known as Maca or Peruvian ginseng, is a common ingredient in food supplements with many claimed health benefits, such as improved endurance, increased energy level, and enhanced sexual properties. Due to potential toxicity of its chemicals, including alkaloids, some regulatory authorities, e.

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Background: Nature has perennially served as an infinite reservoir of diverse chemicals with numerous applications benefiting humankind. In recent years, due to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a surge in studies on repurposing natural products as anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents, including plant-derived substances. Among all types of natural products, alkaloids remain one of the most important groups with various known medicinal values.

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Global aflatoxin contamination of agricultural commodities is of the most concern in food safety and quality. This study investigated the hepatoprotective effect of 80% methanolic leaf extract of Annona senegalensis against aflatoxin B1 (AFB1)-induced toxicity in rats. A.

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Kalaharia uncinata (Schinz) Moldenke, is a tropical erect bushy shrub or subshrub of the Lamiaceae family. It is an endemic plant species of Southern Africa, widely used in the pharmacopoeia against upper respiratory tract infections. A previously conducted ethnobotanical survey revealed that it is believed to contain bioactive substances.

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The investigation of natural alternatives to conventional fungicides is of imminent need. (Britton & P. Wilson) Bisse is a Cuban endemic plant species belonging to the Myrtaceae family.

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Objective: The paper reports an attempt to develop and validate a HILIC UPLC/ QTof MS method for quantifying N-ε-carboxymethyl-L-lysine (CML) , testing N-ε- carboxy[D]methyl-L-lysine (d-CML), and N-ε-carboxy[4,4,5,5-D]methyl-L-lysine (d-CML) as internal standards.

Methods: During the method development, several challenging questions occurred that hindered the successful completion of the method. The study emphasizes the impact of issues, generally overlooked in the development of similar analytical protocols.

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The Amaryllidaceae species are well-known as a rich source of bioactive compounds in nature. Although has been studied for decades, its polar components were rarely explored. The current phytochemical investigation of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids from led to the identification of three previously undescribed compounds: -demethyl-norlycoramine (), (-)-2--pseudolycorine () and (+)-2--pseudolycorine (), together with eight known compounds: 6α-hydroxyhippeastidine (), 6β-hydroxyhippeastidine (), lycorine (), 2--lycorine (), zephyranthine (), ungeremine (), pancratistatin () and 9--demethyl-7--methyllycorenine ().

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Aubl. is traditionally used in Cuba as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antilithiatic and diuretic remedy. Here we studied the pharmacognostic parameters of the leaves of , the preliminary phytochemical composition, diuretic activity and acute oral toxicity of the aqueous extracts from the leaves of plants collected in the vegetative (VE) and flowering (FE) stages.

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Saponin-rich sea cucumber extracts have shown antidiabetic effects in a few reports. Although the triterpene glycosides of sea cucumbers are commonly isolated from their Cuvierian tubules, these are absent in Jaeger. Therefore, this study intended to investigate the saponin profile in the body wall of , as well as to assess the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of the extracts.

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Structural elucidation has always been challenging, and misassignment remains a stringent issue in the field of natural products. The growing interest in discovering unknown, complex natural structures accompanies the increasing awareness concerning misassignments in the community. The combination of various spectroscopic methods with molecular modeling has gained popularity in recent years.

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Hanseniaspora opuntiae is a commonly found yeast species in naturally fermenting cocoa pulp-bean mass, which needed in-depth investigation. The present study aimed at examining effects of the cocoa isolate H. opuntiae IMDO 040108 as part of three different starter culture mixtures compared with spontaneous fermentation, regarding microbial community, substrate consumption, and metabolite production dynamics, including volatile organic compound (VOC) and phytochemical compositions, as well as compositions of the cocoa beans after fermentation, cocoa liquors, and chocolates.

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Oxidative stress is an important component of many diseases including cancer, along with inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes. Natural antioxidants have emerged as promising substances to protect the human body against reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. The present study evaluates the inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.

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Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a global health concern that is associated with several micro- and macrovascular complications. We evaluated several important medicinal plant constituents, including polyphenols and flavonoids, for α-glucosidase inhibition, AGEs' inhibitory activities using oxidative and no-oxidative assays, the inhibition of protein cross link formation, 15-lipoxydenase inhibition and molecular docking. The molecular docking studies showed high binding energies of flavonoids for transcriptional regulars 1IK3, 3TOP and 4F5S.

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Background: Isocyanates are well-known occupational allergens, but can also be present in medical devices.

Objectives: To highlight that contact sensitization to isocyanates might contribute to allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) from polyurethane (PU)-containing diabetes devices and wound dressings.

Patients And Methods: Nineteen patients with suspected ACD from diabetes devices and/or wound dressings were patch tested to an isocyanate series.

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Hydroxytyrosol (HTyr) and tyrosol (Tyr) are the most well studied phenolic alcohols of olive oil and olive products demonstrating numerous and significant beneficial health effects. However, their activity in the human organism as food bioactives is strongly associated with their bioavailability and metabolism, while manifested through their metabolites. Nevertheless, there are limited studies investigating their biotransformation and mainly catabolism by gut microflora under a holistic interpretation close to the human organism.

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Aflatoxins are potent hepatotoxic and carcinogenic secondary metabolites produced by toxigenic fungi. The present study investigated the protective effect of methanolic leaf extracts of Monanthotaxis caffra (MLEMC) against aflatoxin B1-induced toxicity in male Sprague-Dawley rats. The rats were randomly divided into 6 groups of 8 animals each.

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Croton linearis is a shrub that grows in Caribbean regions, which is rich in metabolites such as alkaloids. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the antiplasmodial effect of alkaloids from this species. Three isoquinoline alkaloids, i.

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Alkalization is a process to improve color, dispersibility and flavor of cocoa powder but is likely to have a negative effect on the phytochemicals. Hereto, the impact of alkalization degree (none, medium and high) on the potential mood-enhancing compounds corresponding to the four levels of the mood pyramid model (flavanols, methylxanthines, biogenic amines and orosensory properties) was investigated. The phytochemical content, analyzed via UPLC-HRMS, showed reduction of specific potential mood-enhancing compounds upon alkalization, implying a decrease in bitterness and astringency.

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Article Synopsis
  • Schltr. (Lamiaceae) is a medicinal plant in Cuba, known for treating sleep disorders but has been traditionally used worldwide for its antimicrobial properties.
  • The study analyzed seasonal collections of Cuban cultivars, examining their chemical composition and biological activity, revealing similarities among extracts but no significant antimicrobial effects or cytotoxicity.
  • Notably, the Cuban cultivars lacked glandular trichomes and essential oils, which may contribute to their limited use as antimicrobial agents.
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More than 450 million people worldwide are suffering from diabetes and this number is expected to increase. In developing countries, such as Tanzania, the number of patients suffering from diabetes and associated diseases is increasing as well. Up to 80% of the Tanzanian people rely on traditional medicines for their health care services.

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The pervasiveness of oral bacterial infections in diabetic patients is a serious health concern that may produce severe complications. We investigated 26 Ayurvedic medicinal plants traditionally used for treatment of the oral bacterial infections with the aim to look for new promising drug leads that can be further employed for herbal formulation design. The plants were grouped into three categories based on traditional usage.

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Nauclea pobeguinii is traditionally used for treatment of malaria. Previous studies on the plant extract and strictosamide, the putative active constituent, showed a profound in vivo activity of the extract but no in vitro activity of strictosamide. This might indicate that one or more compounds present in the extract, most likely alkaloids, act as prodrugs undergoing biotransformation after oral administration resulting in the active compounds.

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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Herniaria hirsuta is traditionally used in Moroccan folk medicine for treatment of urinary stones and as a diuretic. It is rich in saponins, which are known to be deglycosylated in the colon, whereafter aglycones such as medicagenic acid are absorbed and further metabolized in the liver.

Aim Of The Study: A sample of hepatic metabolites of medicagenic acid, with medicagenic acid glucuronide as the most abundant one, was evaluated for in vitro activity against urinary stones.

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Background: Besides being a potential component of (some species of) colophonium, D-limonene is also used as a tackifier in the production of adhesives. Hydroperoxides of limonene are well-known skin sensitizers.

Objectives: To show that D-limonene may be present in colophonium-containing but also colophonium-free ("hypoallergenic") adhesives, and that patients suffering from allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) from both types of adhesives might display positive patch test reactions to limonene hydroperoxides in this regard.

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