Blood pH and COVID-19.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a worldwide war. Raising the blood pH might be a crucial strategy to chase COVID-19. The human blood is slightly alkaline, which is essential for cell metabolism, normal physiology, and balanced immunity since all of these biological processes are pH-dependent.

Essential Oils and COVID-19.

Herbal products are a major source of herbal medicines and other medicines. Essential oils have shown various pharmacological activities, such as antiviral activity, and therefore are proposed to have potential activity against SARS-CoV-2. Due to their lipophilicity, essential oils can easily penetrate the viral membrane and cause the viral membrane to rupture.

Fintiamin: A diketopiperazine from the marine sponge-derived fungus Eurotium sp.

The fungus Eurotium sp., derived from the marine sponge Ircinia variabilis, was found to produce a diketopiperazine-indole alkaloid that we named fintiamin (1). Structural elucidation of 1 was achieved by extensive spectroscopic analysis including nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry.

The Natural Polypeptides as Significant Elastase Inhibitors.

Human neutrophil elastase (HNE) is a major cause of the destruction of tissues in cases of several different chronic andinflammatory diseases. Overexpression of the elastase enzyme plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of various diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), acute respiratory distress syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, the rare disease cyclic hematopoiesis (or cyclic neutropenia), infections, sepsis, cystic fibrosis, myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury and asthma, inflammation, and atherosclerosis. Human neutrophil elastase is secreted by human neutrophils due to different stimuli.

Secondary metabolites from the marine-derived fungus .

Investigation of the marine-derived fungus led to the isolation of a new enantiomer of tricinonoic acid, namely (-)-tricinonoic acid (), and a new polyketide spartinol E (), together with three known compounds ().

Natural Phenolics as Inhibitors of the Human Neutrophil Elastase (HNE) Release: An Overview of Natural Anti-inflammatory Discoveries during Recent Years.

Serine protease, Human Neutrophil Elastase (HNE), has been shown to be useful in medical science, however, its over production and malfunctioning may produce devastating effects and cause serious damage to the host. Unfortunately, the present approved drug, sivelestat, only alleviates the symptoms of the diseases caused by malfunction of HNE but not the disease progression. Therefore, there is a crucial need to search potent and safer molecules as elastase inhibitors and to develop better anti-inflammatory drugs in future.

Metabolome based classification of artichoke leaf: A prospect for phyto-equivalency of its different leaf origins and commercial preparations.

The growing interest in assuring phytomedicines efficacy and moreover the increase in requirements for its safety drive the development of analytical methods for its quality control assurance. Herein, we present a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) fingerprinting approach of artichoke leaf material from different origins and in its commercial preparations. Under optimized conditions, we were able to simultaneously identify 23 metabolites including sugars, amino and organic acids, sesquiterpene lactones, flavones, cinnamates, inulin, fatty acids and nitrogenous bases.

Cynaropicrin: A Comprehensive Research Review and Therapeutic Potential As an Anti-Hepatitis C Virus Agent.

The different pharmacologic properties of plants-containing cynaropicrin, especially artichokes, have been known for many centuries. More recently, cynaropicrin exhibited a potential activity against all genotypes of hepatitis C virus (HCV). Cynaropicrin has also shown a wide range of other pharmacologic properties such as anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-trypanosomal, anti-malarial, antifeedant, antispasmodic, anti-photoaging, and anti-tumor action, as well as activation of bitter sensory receptors, and anti-inflammatory properties (e.

Metabolites profiling reveals for antimicrobial compositional differences and action mechanism in the toothbrushing stick "miswak" Salvadora persica.

Among many plant species suitable for preparing toothbrushing sticks, miswak (Salvadora persica, family Salvadoraceae) is found the most effective tool for oral hygiene. S. persica possesses antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal effects against oral microbes, mostly due to its benzyl isothiocyanate content.

Cytotoxic constituents of Alocasia macrorrhiza.

An indole alkaloid, 2-(5-hydroxy-1H-indol-3-yl)-2-oxo-acetic acid (1) isolated for the first time from nature, in addition to the nine known compounds 5-hydroxy-1H-indole-3-carboxylic acid methyl ester (2), alocasin B (3), hyrtiosin B (4), α-monopalmitin (5), 1-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(2S, 3R, 4E, 8Z)-2-[(2(R)-hydroctadecanoyl) amido]-4,8-octadecadiene-1,3-diol (6), 3-epi-betulinic acid (7), 3-epi-ursolic acid (8), β-sitosterol (9) and β-sitosterol 3-O-β-D-glucoside (10) were isolated from the rhizomes of Alocasia macrorrhiza (Araceae). Their structures were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic data. Of these compounds, 6 exhibited the strongest cytotoxicity against the four tested human cancer cell lines (IC50 of about 10 µM against Hep-2 larynx cancer cells).

The wild Egyptian artichoke as a promising functional food for the treatment of hepatitis C virus as revealed via UPLC-MS and clinical trials.

Infection by hepatitis C virus (HCV) and its subsequent complications are a major cause of mortality worldwide. The water extract of the wild Egyptian artichoke (WEA) (Cynara cardunculus L. var.

Unusual Nitrogenous Phenalenone Derivatives from the Marine-Derived Fungus Coniothyrium cereale.

The new phenalenone metabolites 1, 2, 4, and 6 were isolated from the marine-derived endophytic fungus Coniothyrium cereale, in addition to the ergostane-type sterol (3) and entatrovenetinone (5). Compounds 1 and 2 represent two unusual nitrogen-containing compounds, which are composed of a sterol portion condensed via two bonds to phenalenone derivatives. Compound 6, which contains unprecedented imine functionality between two carbonyl groups to form a oxepane -imine-dione ring, exhibited a moderate cytotoxicity against K562, U266, and SKM1 cancer cell lines.

Pan-genotypic Hepatitis C Virus Inhibition by Natural Products Derived from the Wild Egyptian Artichoke.

Unlabelled: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the leading cause of chronic liver diseases. Water extracts of the leaves of the wild Egyptian artichoke (WEA) [Cynara cardunculus L. var.

New bicyclo-spartinols from the marine-derived fungus Phaeosphaeria spartinae.

Investigation of the marine-derived fungus Phaeosphaeria spartinae, an endophyte of the marine alga Ceramium sp., led to the isolation of the unprecedented polyketides 1 and 2. The structures of these compounds were established from extensive spectroscopic analyses.

New pregnane glycoside derivative from Caralluma retrospiciens (Ehrenb).

Retrospinoside (1) is a new polyoxy pregnane glycoside which was isolated and characterised from the aerial parts of Caralluma retrospiciens (Ehrenb.) N. E.

Fungal phenalenones: chemistry, biology, biosynthesis and phylogeny.

Covering up to the end of August 2013. Phenalenones are members of a unique class of natural polyketides exhibiting diverse biological potential. This is a comprehensive review of 72 phenalenones with diverse structural features originating from fungal sources.

Caught between triterpene- and steroid-metabolism: 4α-carboxylic pregnane-derivative from the marine alga-derived fungus Phaeosphaeria spartinae.

Investigation of the fungus Phaeosphaeria spartinae, an endophyte of the marine red alga Ceramium sp., led to the isolation of spartopregnenolone (1), a metabolite whose structure includes features of triterpenes and steroids, i.e.

Identification of a Potent and Selective Cannabinoid CB1 Receptor Antagonist from Auxarthron reticulatum.

The fungus Auxarthron reticulatum derived from the marine sponge Ircinia variabilis produced the diketopiperazine alkaloid amauromine (1) and the quinolinone methyl-penicinoline (2). Compound 2 is identical to the reported methyl-marinamide, whose structure is herewith revised. In radioligand binding studies at human cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors recombinantly expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, amauromine (1) was found to exhibit high affinity and selectivity for the CB1 receptor (K i = 178 nM).

HLE-inhibitory alkaloids with a polyketide skeleton from the marine-derived fungus Coniothyrium cereale.

The marine endophytic fungus Coniothyrium cereale produces the structurally unusual polyketide-type alkaloids (-)-cereolactam (1) and (-)-cereoaldomine (3), incorporating a lactam and an imine functionality, respectively, as well as the related metabolite (-)-trypethelone (2). Compounds 1 and 3 showed selective inhibition of human leukocyte elastase with IC50 values of 9.28 and 3.

Antimicrobial phenalenone derivatives from the marine-derived fungus Coniothyrium cereale.

The marine-derived fungus Coniothyrium cereale was isolated from the green alga Enteromorpha sp. and found to produce the new phenalenone derivatives 1-7 as well as the known compounds lactone 8, (-) sclerodin (9), lamellicolic anhydride (10), (-) scleroderolide (11), and (-) sclerodione (12). The structures of these closely related compounds were established from extensive spectroscopic investigations on the basis of one and two dimensional NMR spectroscopic studies ((1)H, (13)C, COSY, NOESY, HSQC and HMBC) as well as mass spectrometric analysis (LC/MS, HREIMS and HRESIMS), UV and IR spectra.

Spartinoxide, a new enantiomer of A82775C with inhibitory activity toward HLE from the marine-derived Fungus Phaeosphaeria spartinae.

The fungus Phaeosphaeria spartinae is an endophyte of the marine alga Ceramium sp. Investigation of this marine-derived fungus led to the isolation of spartinoxide (1), which is the enantiomer of the known compound A82775C (2). Additionally, the known metabolites 4-hydroxy-3-prenyl-benzoic acid (4) and anofinic acid (5) were obtained.

New polyketides from the marine-derived fungus Phaeosphaeria spartinae.

The fungus Phaeosphaeria spartinae is an endophyte of the marine alga Ceramium sp. Investigation of this marine-derived fungus led to the isolation of the new natural products spartinol A (1), B (2), C (3) and D (4). The structures of these closely related compounds were established from extensive spectroscopic investigations.