Biosynthesis of antimalarial lignans from Holostylis reniformis

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Investigations on the new free radical scavenger polynitroxyl-albumin to prevent ischemia and reperfusion injury after orthotopic heart transplantation in the pig model

Objective: Nitroxides have strong antioxidant capacity but their effectiveness is limited by their rapid intracellular inactivation. Poly nitroxyl-Albumin (PNA) is capable of regenerating inactivated nitroxide. We tested the effect of PNA against reperfusion injury in heart transplantation. Methods: Pig hearts were transplanted orthotopically. In the control group (n = 9) reperfusion was performed without reperfusion modifications. In the experimental group (n = 10) 1 ml/kg PNA was given before cross-clamp release. Results: Hemodynamic performance was impaired after transplantation in both groups without significant intergroup differences. Plasma malonedialdehyde levels were significantly diminished in the PNA group as compared to the controls. CK-MB levels in both groups were increased within the first 2 h of reperfusion without significant intergroup differences. In contrast, there were found significant higher values of myocardial specific lactate dehydrogenase (LD1) in the controls versus PNA group. Conclusions: PNA was able to reduce lipid peroxidation and attenuate free radical activity. Contractile dysfunction could no be improved, indicating that (a) the radical scavenging effect was to weak or (b) other mechanisms than free oxygen radicals are responsible for myocardial damage in this experimental model. (C) 2001 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

On the interaction of bovine serum albumin with ionic surfactants: Temperature induced EPR changes of a maleimide nitroxide reflect local protein dynamics and probe solvent accessibility

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Coupling Surface-Enhanced Resonance Raman Scattering and Electronic Tongue as Characterization Tools to Investigate Biological Membrane Mimetic Systems

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Radical scavenging activity of orange and tangerine varieties cultivated in Brazil

Four citrus fruit varieties cultivated in Brazil (two kinds of sweet orange and two kinds of tangerine) were analyzed for physicochemical characteristics contents of total phenolics, total carotenoids and ascorbic acid, and antioxidant activities. The antioxidant activities of aqueous, methanolic, and acetone extracts of the citrus fruit juices were assessed on the basis of their ability to scavenge 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH(center dot)). The cravo tangerine has the highest content of citric acid, while the pera orange is richest in ascorbic acid. The lima orange has the highest total phenolic contents, and the ponkan the highest total carotenoids. The antioxidant activities, expressed as the concentration of antioxidant able to scavenge 50% of the initial DPPH(center dot) (EC(50)), ranged from 139.1+/-27.3 to 182.2+/-28.8 g extract/l for juice of orange varieties and 186.3+/-29.6 to 275.5+/-3.3g extract/l for juice of tangerine citrus varieties. In methanolic extracts the EC(50) ranged from 192.5+/-43.1 to 267.4+/-41.4 g extract/l for orange varieties and from 225.2+/-69.8 to 336.3+/-27.2 g extract/l for tangerine varieties. For EC(50) values of acetone fractions, there were no statistically significant differences between the different varieties. For every citrus fruit in the present study, the radical scavenging capacity was higher in the aqueous than in the methanolic or acetone fractions.

Free radical scavenging profile and myeloperoxidase inhibition of extracts from antidiabetic plants: Bauhinia forficata and Cissus sicyoides

There is abundant evidence that reactive oxygen species are implicated in several physiological and pathological processes. To protect biological targets from oxidative damage. antioxidants must react with radicals and other reactive species faster than biological substrates do. The aim of the present study was to determine the in vitro antioxidant activity of aqueous extracts from leaves of Bauhinia forficata Link (Fabaceae - Caesalpinioideae) and Cissus sicyoides L. (Vitaceae) (two medicinal plants used popularly in the control of diabetes mellitus), using several different assay systems, namely, 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) decolorization. superoxide anion radical (O-2 center dot-) scavenging and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity. In the ABTS assay for total antioxidant activity, B. forficata showed IC50 8.00 +/- 0.07 mu g/mL, while C. sicyoides showed IC50 13.0 +/- 0.2 mu g/mL. However, the extract of C. sicyoides had a stronger effect on O-2 center dot- (IC50 60.0 +/- 2.3 mu p/mL) than the extract of B. forficata (IC50 90.0 +/- 4.4 mu g/mL). B. forficata also had a stronger inhibitory effect on MPO activity, as measured by guaiacol oxidation, than C. sicyoides. These results indicate that aqueous extracts of leaves of B. forficata and C. sicyoides are a potential source of natural antioxidants and may be helpful in the prevention of diabetic complications associated with oxidative stress.

The effect of pH on horseradish peroxidase-catalyzed oxidation of melatonin: production of N-1-acetyl-N-2-formyl-5-methoxykynuramine versus radical-mediated degradation

There is a g-rowing body of evidence that melatonin and its oxidation product, N-1-acetyl-N-2-formyl-5-methoxykynuramine (AFMK), have anti-inflammatory properties. From a nutritional point of view, the discovery of melatonin in plant tissues emphasizes the importance of its relationship with plant peroxidases. Here we found that the pH of the reaction mixture has a profound influence in the reaction rate and products distribution when melatonin is oxidized by the plant enzyme horseradish peroxidase. At pH 5.5. 1 mm of melatonin was almost completely oxidized within 2 min, whereas only about 3% was consumed at pH 7.4. However, the relative yield of AFMK was higher in physiological pH. Radical-mediated oxidation products, including 2-hydroxymelatonin a dimer of, 2-hydroxymelatonin and O-demethylated dimer of melatonin account for the fast consumption of melatonin at pH 5.5. The higher production of AFMK at pH 7.4 was explained by the involvement of compound III of peroxidases as evidenced by spectral studies. on the other hand, the fast oxidative degradation at pH 5.5 was explained by the classic peroxidase cycle.

Changing inter-molecular spin-orbital coupling for generating magnetic field effects in phosphorescent organic semiconductors

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Static potential in QED(3) with nonminimal coupling

Here we study the effect of the nonminimal coupling j(mu)epsilon(munualpha)partial derivative(nu)A(alpha) on the static potential in multiflavor QED(3). Both cases of four and two components fermions are studied separately at leading order in the 1/N expansion. Although a nonlocal Chern-Simons term appears, in the four components case the photon is still massless leading to a confining logarithmic potential similar to the classical one. In the two components case, as expected, the parity breaking fermion mass term generates a traditional Chern-Simons term which makes the photon massive and we have a screening potential which vanishes at large intercharge distance. The extra nonminimal couplings have no important influence on the static potential at large intercharge distances. However, interesting effects show up at finite distances. In particular, for strong enough nonminimal coupling we may have a new massive pole in the photon propagator, while in the opposite limit there may be no poles at all in the irreducible case. We also found that, in general, the nonminimal couplings lead to a finite range repulsive force between charges of opposite signs.

Confinement of spin-0 and spin-1/2 particles in a mixed vector-scalar coupling with unequal shapes for the potentials

The Klein - Gordon and the Dirac equations with vector and scalar potentials are investigated under a more general condition, V-v = V-s + constant. These isospectral problems are solved in the case of squared trigonometric potential functions and bound states for either particles or antiparticles are found. The eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are discussed in some detail. It is revealed that a spin-0 particle is better localized than a spin-1/2 particle when they have the same mass and are subjected to the same potentials.

Tensor coupling and pseudospin symmetry in nuclei

In this work we study the contribution of the isoscalar tensor coupling to the realization of pseudospin symmetry in nuclei. Using realistic values for the tensor coupling strength, we show that this coupling reduces noticeably the pseudospin splittings, especially for single-particle levels near the Fermi surface. By using an energy. decomposition of the pseudospin energy splittings, we show that the changes in these splittings come mainly through the changes induced in the lower radial wave function for the low-lying pseudospin partners and through changes in the expectation value of the pseudospin-orbit coupling term for surface partners. This allows us to confirm the conclusion already reached in previous studies, namely that the pseudospin symmetry in nuclei is of a dynamical nature.

Confining solutions of massive spin-0 bosons by a linear nonminimal vector coupling in the Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau theory

The Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau (DKP) equation, in the scalar sector of the theory and with a linear nominimal vector potential, is mapped into the nonrelativistic harmonic oscillator problem. The behavior of the solutions for this sort of vector DKP oscillator is discussed in detail.

On the nonminimal vector coupling in the Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau theory and the confinement of massive bosons by a linear potential

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Bound states of bosons and fermions in a mixed vector-scalar coupling with unequal shapes for the potentials

The Klein - Gordon and the Dirac equations with vector and scalar potentials are investigated under a more general condition, V(v) + V(s) = constant. These intrinsically relativistic and isospectral problems are solved in the case of squared hyperbolic potential functions and bound states for either particles or antiparticles are found. The eigenvalues and eigenfuntions are discussed in some detail and the effective Compton wavelength is revealed to be an important physical quantity. It is revealed that a boson is better localized than a fermion when they have the same mass and are subjected to the same potentials.