RADIOCARBON DATING OF CHARCOALS FROM HISTORICAL MORTARS FROM TÝŘOV AND PYŠOLEC CASTLES.

Organic inclusions in lime binders provide useful samples for radiocarbon dating of historical objects. Two Czech castles Týřov and Pyšolec from Late Middle Ages were explored, and tens of charcoals were found in their walls. The radiocarbon content of the charcoals was measured with accelerator mass spectrometry.

Multiple In vitro biological effects of phenolic compounds from Morus alba root bark.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Morus alba L. is used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of various diseases, including bacterial infections and inflammation. As a rich source of phenolic compounds, the plant is an object of many phytochemical and pharmacological studies.

Phytochemical Analysis of and -Hexane Extracts and the HPLC Quantitation of Triterpenes.

Previously tested -hexane extracts of the showed promising bioactivity in vivo. Because triterpenes could account for this activity, -hexane extracts were analyzed by HPLC to identify and quantify the triterpenes as the most abundant constituents. Other and species, potentially containing triterpenic aglycones, were included in the study.

A new isoflavanone from Iresine herbstii.

A new isoflavanone 2',2,5-trimethoxy-6,7-methylenedioxyisoflavanone was isolated from the aerial parts of Iresine herbstii, together with isoflavone tlatlancuayin (2',5-dimethoxy-6,7-methylenedioxyisoflavone). The structure was identified using spectroscopic analysis. This is the first description of a methoxy group occurrence at position 2 of the isoflavanone skeleton.

[Medicinal plants and diabetes mellitus].

Diabetes mellitus is a group of chronic metabolic disorders. Hyperglycaemia and other related disturbances in the body's metabolism can result in serious damage to many of the body's systems, especially the blood vessels and nerves. Across the globe, there are an estimated 150 million people suffering from diabetes mellitus, which causes about 5 % of all deaths globally each year.

C-geranyl compounds from Paulownia tomentosa fruits.

Five geranylflavonoids, one prenylated flavonoid, and a simple flavanone were isolated from an ethanolic extract of Paulownia tomentosa fruit. Tomentodiplacol (1), 3'-O-methyl-5'-methoxydiplacol (2), 6-isopentenyl-3'-O-methyltaxifolin (3), and dihydrotricin (4) are reported from a natural source for the first time and 3'-O-methyldiplacone (6) for the first time from the genus Paulownia. The structures of the compounds were determined by mass spectrometry, including HRMS, and by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy.

Antioxidant activity of Catalpa bignonioides.

Antioxidant activity of methanolic extracts from inflorescence rachises, corollas, calyxes, leaves, valves of capsules and hypertrophied placenta of Catalpa bignonioides by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl reduction (DPPH) and tyrosine nitration inhibition induced by peroxynitrite was tested.

[Protective effects of the flavonoids osajin and pomiferin on heart ischemia-reperfusion].

The study was undertaken to evaluate the cardioprotective potential of the flavonoids osajin and pomiferin against ischemia-reperfusion induced injury in rat hearts as a model of antioxidant-based composite therapy. Studies were performed with isolated, modified Langendorff-perfused rat hearts and ischemia of the heart was initiated by stopping the coronary flow for 30 min followed by 60 min of reperfusion (14 ml x min(-1)). Wistar rats were divided into four groups.

Protective effects of osajin in ischemia-reperfusion of laboratory rat kidney.

The aim of this study was to analyze the antioxidative effect of osajin during prophylactic administration. The pathological model for in vivo experiment was the unilateral ischemia-reperfusion of kidney of the laboratory rat. The animals were randomly divided into five groups.

[Morin in the therapy of the ischemia-reperfusion damage model of the rat kidney].

The aim of this study was to analyze the protective effects of morin administered during the therapy of reperfusion injury of the laboratory rat kidney. Animals were randomly divided into five groups (n= 10). One group was left intact.

[Prophylactic administration of homoisoflavonoid in ischemic-reperfusion damage of the renal tissue in the laboratory rat].

The study aimed to examine the antioxidizing effect of homoisoflavonoid in prophylactic administration under the conditions of renal ischemia-reperfusion in the laboratory rat. The pathological model for the in vivo experiment was unilateral renal ischemia-reperfusion of the laboratory rat. The animals were randomized into 5 groups.

2',4'-Dihydroxy-3-methoxy-alpha,beta-dihydrochalcone and 2',4-dihydroxy-alpha,beta-dihydrochalcone: supramolecular structures formed by O-H...O, C-H...O and stacking interactions.

The crystal structures of 2',4'-dihydroxy-3-methoxy-alpha,beta-dihydrochalcone, C16H16O4, and 2',4-dihydroxy-alpha,beta-dihydrochalcone, C15H14O3, have been determined. In both compounds, the structure consists of two nearly planar six-membered aromatic rings connected by a propanal chain, which is bent in the methoxy compound and almost straight in the other compound. In the crystal structures, the molecular units of both compounds are linked by O-H.

Chemoprotective and toxic potentials of synthetic and natural chalcones and dihydrochalcones in vitro.

Cytochrome P4501A activity, oxidative stress and inhibition of gap junctional intercellular communication (GJIC) are involved in metabolic activation of promutagens and tumor-promoting activity of various xenobiotics, and their prevention is considered to be an important characteristic of chemoprotective compounds. In this study, a series of 31 chalcones and their corresponding dihydroderivatives, substituted in 2,2'-, 3,3'-, 4- or 4'-position by hydroxyl or methoxy group, were tested for their ability to inhibit Fe(II)/NADPH-enhanced lipid peroxidation and cytochrome P4501A-dependent 7-cethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity in rat hepatic microsomes. Effects of the compounds on GJIC were determined in rat liver epithelial WB-F344 cells.

How to treat tremor.

This paper presents an example of 18(th) century medical thinking. The author, Dr Georg Ernst Stahl (1659-1734) was the founder of the phlogiston theory in the field of chemistry, a medical professor, and a court physician in Saxony and Prussia. His description includes a definition of tremor, the internal and external causes of tremor, the types of tremor, the diagnostic and prognostic signs, and the treatment.

Antioxidative and EROD activities of osajin and pomiferin.

The major constituents of fruits of Maclura pomifera are the prenylated isoflavones, osajin (1) and pomiferin (2). Since significant biological activities of extracts from the wood of M. pomifera were previously reported, the peroxynitrite scavenging activity, inhibition of lipid peroxidation, scavenging of DPPH and EROD activity of these two major substances were studied.

[Natural substances as chemoprotective agents].

The fate of xenobiotics in the organism and their toxic or therapeutic influence have been under intensive investigation in recent years. The compounds are searched for which affect as preventive agents cancerogenesis and other disorders caused by procancerogens and pro-mutagens from the environment. The main focus is on the compounds able to modulate the activity of enzymes of the Ist and IInd phase of xenobiotic detoxication or compounds with antioxidative activity.

Dracophane, a metacyclophane derivative from the resin of Dracaena cinnabari Balf.

Dracophane, a novel structural derivative of metacyclophane, was isolated from the resin of Dracaena cinnabari Balf. The structure of this compound was determined by spectroscopic methods to be 3,12,21-trihydroxy-1,10,19-tris(4-hydroxyphenyl)-5,14,23-trimethoxy[3.3.

Chemoprotective potentials of homoisoflavonoids and chalcones of Dracaena cinnabari: modulations of drug-metabolizing enzymes and antioxidant activity.

A series of homoisoflavonoids and chalcones, isolated from the endemic tropical plant Dracaena cinnabari Balf. (Agavaceae), were tested for their potential to inhibit cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) enzymes and Fe-enhanced in vitro peroxidation of microsomal lipids in C57B1/6 mouse liver. The effects of the polyphenolic compounds were compared with those of prototypal flavonoid modulators of CYP1A and the well-known antioxidant, butylated hydroxytoluene.

Chemoprotective activity of boldine: modulation of drug-metabolizing enzymes.

Possible chemoprotective effects of the naturally occurring alkaloid boldine, a major alkaloid of boldo (Peumus boldus Mol.) leaves and bark, including in vitro modulations of drug-metabolizing enzymes in mouse hepatoma Hepa-1 cell line and mouse hepatic microsomes, were investigated. Boldine manifested inhibition activity on hepatic microsomal CYP1A-dependent 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase and CYP3A-dependent testosterone 6 beta-hydroxylase activities and stimulated glutathione S-transferase activity in Hepa-1 cells.

Separation of structurally related flavonoids by GC/MS technique and determination of their polarographic parameters and potential carcinogenicity.

The present study deals with the investigation of the naturally occurring derivatives of the benzo[b]pyran-4-one - flavonoids - chrysin, tectochrysin and galangin, and with the effect of minor changes in their chemical structure on their separation using GC/MS. In the relation to their close chemical structure, their basic polarographic parameters were also investigated. Their potential carcinogenicity index tg alpha was determined by DC polarography experiments in the presence of alpha-lipoic acid.

[Antioxidants of biological origin].

Diseases due to free radical are the subject of intensive study. The search aims to find substances preventing the origin of free radicals, substances capable of rendering the developed free radicals harmless, or substances capable of removing the damage of molecules which has already taken place. The present paper briefly surveys the metabolites of biogenic origin, mainly from higher plants, which show in vitro antioxidant activity and are potentially usable in a number of diseases.

Potential carcinogenicity of homoisoflavanoids and flavonoids from Resina sanguinis draconis (Dracaena cinnabari Balf.).

Polarographic behavior of three homoisoflavanoids and four flavanoids isolated from the dragon's blood (Resina sanguinis draconis. Dracaena cinnabari Balf.), collected at Sokotra, was investigated in aprotic solution and an index of potential carcinogenicity tg alpha was determined.