Publications by authors named "Margarita Garcia de Bravo"

Linalool and 1,8-cineole are plant-derived isoprenoids with anticancer activities in lung cancer cells, nevertheless, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of action remain poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to determine the anticancer mechanisms of action of linalool and 1,8-cineole in lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells. Linalool (0-2.

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The development of simple, fast and reproducible techniques that provide information about the antioxidant activity (AA) of different compounds is essential to screen and discover new molecules with potential applications in the therapeutic, cosmetic, toxicological and food fields. Here, a novel and simple colorimetric method ("BCB assay") is proposed for measuring the AA of chemical compounds by protection of the reporter dye Brilliant Cresyl Blue (BCB) from loss of color due to oxidation by hypochlorite (a physiological oxidant). The decay in BCB blue color (λ = 634 nm) in the presence of hypochlorite occurred in only 5 min and was used to track the AA of different molecules.

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Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for most cases of lung cancer. The peel oil of mandarin Citrus reticulata Blanco cv. Dancy (MPO) is a natural source of essential oils and carotenoids.

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Aims: Linalool is a plant-derived monoterpene with anticancer activity, however its mechanisms of action remain poorly understood. The aim of this work was to elucidate the anticancer mechanisms of action of linalool in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) HepG2 cells.

Main Methods: Cell viability and proliferation were determined by WST-1 assay and BrdU incorporation, respectively.

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Neutral lipids-involved in many cellular processes-are stored as lipid droplets (LD), those mainly cytosolic (cLD) along with a small nuclear population (nLD). nLD could be involved in nuclear-lipid homeostasis serving as an endonuclear buffering system that would provide or incorporate lipids and proteins involved in signalling pathways as transcription factors and as enzymes of lipid metabolism and nuclear processes. Our aim was to determine if nLD constituted a dynamic domain.

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The essential oils (EOs) of Lippia alba, an herb extensively used as a folk medicine in Latin America, are today promoted as an effective means of eliminating problems caused by hyperlipemia. We hypothesized that L.alba EOs inhibited cholesterol and triacylglycerols synthesis and decreased the intracellular depots of those lipids (lipid droplets), mechanisms involving the induction of a hypolipidemic response.

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Background: Geraniol (G) is a natural isoprenoid present in the essential oils of several aromatic plants, with various biochemical and pharmacologic properties. Nevertheless, the mechanisms of action of G on cellular metabolism are largely unknown.

Hypothesis/purpose: We propose that G could be a potential agent for the treatment of hyperlipidemia that could contribute to the prevention of cardiovascular disease.

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Monoterpenes are naturally occurring plant hydrocarbons with multiple effects on the mevalonate pathway (MP), while statins competitively inhibit hydroxymethylglutarylcoenzyme-A reductase (HMGCR), the rate-limiting enzyme in the MP. Monoterpenes and statins proved capable of inhibiting both proliferation and cholesterogenesis. In the present study we assess the in vitro antiproliferative and anticholesterogenic effects of two monoterpenes: linalool and 1,8-cineole-either alone, in combination with each other, or combined individually with simvastatin-on liver-derived (HepG2) and extrahepatic (A549) cell lines.

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The effects of the essential oil of mandarin peel (Corrientes, Argentina) and limonene (its major component) were studied on two human tumour cell lines growth (lung adenocarcinoma A549 and hepatocarcinoma HepG2). The essential oil was obtained by cold press and its composition was investigated by gas chromatography (GC) and GC/mass spectrometry (MS) analysis. The antiproliferative effect was studied using an MTT assay.

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During adult life athymic (nude) male mice display not only a severe T-cell-related immunodeficiency but also endocrine imbalances and a moderate hyperglycemia. We studied the impact of congenital athymia on hepatic lipid composition and also assessed the ability of neonatal thymulin gene therapy to prevent the effects of athymia. We constructed a recombinant adenoviral vector, RAd-metFTS, expressing a synthetic DNA sequence encoding met-FTS, an analog of the thymic peptide facteur thymique sérique (FTS), whose Zn-bound biologically active form is known as thymulin.

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