Pharmacological potential of 4-dimethylamino chalcone against acute and neuropathic pain in mice.

Objectives: This work investigated the acute antinociceptive effect of a synthetic chalcone, 4-dimethylamino chalcone (DMAC), as well as its effects on vincristine-induced peripheral neuropathy (VIPN) in mice.

Methods: The inhibitory activity of myeloperoxidase was assessed by measuring HOCl formation. Formalin and hot plate tests were used to study the acute antinociceptive effect of DMAC.

Lipase-catalysed esters synthesis of cafestol and kahweol.

Cafestol and kahweol (C&K), two coffee diterpene alcohols with structural similarity which exhibit anticarcinogenic effects, were isolated from green coffee Arabica beans, followed by their lipase-catalysed esterification and purification by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The isolation and enzymatic synthesis parameters of C&K esters were studied, with the latter optimised by a Central Composite Design; both procedures were monitored by gas chromatography. Scale up and improved isolation conditions resulted in 1.

Functionalization of 2H-1,2,3-Triazole C-Nucleoside Template via N(2) Selective Arylation.

C-Nucleosides are an underexplored and important class of nucleosides with antiviral and anticancer activity. In addition, triazole heterocycles are well employed as a strategy to modify nucleobase in nucleoside analogues, although rare examples were described for triazoyl C-nucleosides. N(2)-Aryl-1,2,3-triazole C-nucleoside compounds that could be obtained by selective 1,2,3-triazole heterocycle N(2) arylation in 1-β-d-ribofuranosyl-2H-1,2,3-triazole substrate were designed in this study.

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens TSBSO 3.8, a biosurfactant-producing strain with biotechnological potential for microbial enhanced oil recovery.

A screening for biosurfactant-producing bacteria was conducted with 217 strains that were isolated from environmental samples contaminated with crude oil and/or petroleum derivatives. Although 19 promising biosurfactant producers were detected, strain TSBSO 3.8, which was identified by molecular methods as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, drew attention for its production of a high-activity compound that presented an emulsification activity of 63% and considerably decreased surface (28.

Hydroxylation of 1,8-cineole by Mucor ramannianus and Aspergillus niger.

The monoterpenoid 1,8-cineole is obtained from the leaves of Eucalyptus globulus and it has important biological activities. It is a cheap natural substrate because it is a by-product of the Eucalyptus cultivation for wood and pulp production. In this study, it was evaluated the potential of three filamentous fungi in the biotransformation of 1,8-cineole.

Antimycobacterial and anti-inflammatory activities of substituted chalcones focusing on an anti-tuberculosis dual treatment approach.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a serious public health problem aggravated by the emergence of M. tuberculosis (Mtb) strains resistant to multiple drugs (MDR). Delay in TB treatment, common in the MDR-TB cases, can lead to deleterious life-threatening inflammation in susceptible hyper-reactive individuals, encouraging the discovery of new anti-Mtb drugs and the use of adjunctive therapy based on anti-inflammatory interventions.

New approaches on the analyses of thermolabile coffee diterpenes by gas chromatography and its relationship with cup quality.

A new gas chromatography method using pulsed split injector (PS-GC) was validated to quantify thermolabile diterpenes cafestol, kahweol and isokahweol in methanolysed Arabica coffee oils. Linearity was 0.99 from 8 to 69mgmL(-1), recovery ranged from 99% to 101% and precision of less than 4% was obtained.

Whole cells in enantioselective reduction of benzyl acetoacetate.

The β-ketoester benzyl acetoacetate was enantioselectively reduced to benzyl (S)-3-hydroxybutanoate by seven microorganism species. The best result using free cells was obtained with the yeast Hansenula sp., which furnished 97% ee and 85% of conversion within 24 h.

Kinetic modeling of solvent-free lipase-catalyzed partial hydrolysis of palm oil.

This work reports the experimental data and kinetic modeling of diacylglycerol (DAG) production from palm oil using a commercial immobilized lipase (Lipozyme RM IM) in a solvent-free medium. The experiments were performed in batch mode, at 55 °C and 400 rpm, and the effects of enzyme concentration (0.68-2.

13C NMR quantification of mono and diacylglycerols obtained through the solvent-free lipase-catalyzed esterification of saturated fatty acids.

In the present investigation, we studied the enzymatic synthesis of monoacylglycerols (MAG) and diacylglycerols (DAG) via the esterification of saturated fatty acids (stearic, palmitic and an industrial residue containing 87% palmitic acid) and glycerol in a solvent-free system. Three immobilized lipases (Lipozyme RM IM, Lipozyme TL IM and Novozym 435) and different reaction conditions were evaluated. Under the optimal reaction conditions, esterifications catalyzed by Lipozyme RM IM resulted in a mixture of MAG and DAG at high conversion rates for all of the substrates.