Anti-inflammatory potential of mushroom extracts and isolated metabolites

Background: In the recent years natural resources are being in focus due to their great potential to be exploited in the discovery/development of novel bioactive compounds and, among them, mushrooms can be highlighted as alternative sources of anti-inflammatory agents. Scope and approach: The present review reports the anti-inflammatory activity of mushroom extracts and of their bioactive metabolites involved in this bioactive action. Additionally the most common assays used to evaluate mushrooms anti-inflammatory activity were also reviewed, including in vitro studies in cell lines, as well as in animal models in vivo. Key findings and conclusions: The anti-inflammatory compounds identified in mushrooms include polysaccharides, terpenes, phenolic acids, steroids, fatty acids and other metabolites. Among them, polysaccharides, terpenoids and phenolic compounds seem to be the most important contributors to the anti-inflammatory activity of mushrooms as demonstrated by numerous studies. However, clinical trials need to be conducted in order to confirm the effectiveness of some of these mushroom compounds namely, inhibitors of NF-κB pathway and of cyclooxygenase related with the expression of many inflammatory mediators.

Partial molar volumes of l-serine and l-threonine in aqueous ammonium sulfate solutions at (278.15, 288.15, 298.15, and 308.15) K

In this study, the partial molar volumes of L-serine and L-threonine in aqueous solutions of ammonium sulfate at (0.0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.7, and 1.0) mol.kg(-1) are reported between 278.15 and 308.15 K. Transfer volumes and hydration numbers were obtained, which are larger in L-serine than in L-threonine. Dehydration of the amino acids is observed, rising with the temperature and salt molality. The data suggest that interactions between ions and charged/hydrophilic groups are predominant, and by applying the McMillan and Mayer formalism, it was concluded that they are mainly pair wise. The combination of the data presented in this study with solubility and molecular dynamics data suggests a stronger interaction of the ammonium cation with the zwitterionic centers of the amino acids when compared to the interactions of those centers with the sulfate anion.