Suchergebnisse

XX Encontro Luso-Galego de Química no Porto, Portugal, 26 a 28 de novembro de 2014, Complexo FFUP/ICBAS. ; The vast genus Inula includes species used in traditional medicine, for the treatment of inflammatory conditions, diabetes, hypertension, and also as bactericides, among other applications. Some corroboration of these ethnopharmacological applications was attempted, for instance crude extracts activity has been evaluated and the main bioactive secondary metabolites have been identified as sesquiterpene lactones. The reported activities include anti-tumour/cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory activity just to mention a few. […]. ; University of Aveiro, FCT, Portugal and the European Union, QREN, FEDER, COMPETE, for funding the Organic Chemistry Research Unit (QOPNA) (project PEst-C/QUI/Ul0062/2013; FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-037296). ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Seaweeds are well-known for their exceptional capacity to accumulate essential minerals and trace elements needed for human nutrition, although their levels are commonly very variable depending on their morphological features, environmental conditions, and geographic location. Despite this variability, accumulation of Mg, and especially Fe, seems to be prevalent in Chlorophyta, while Rhodophyta and Phaeophyta accumulate higher concentrations of Mn and I, respectively. Both red and brown seaweeds also tend to accumulate higher concentrations of Na, K, and Zn than green seaweeds. Their valuable mineral content grants them great potential for application in the food industry as new ingredients for the development of numerous functional food products. Indeed, many studies have already shown that seaweeds can be used as NaCl replacers in common foods while increasing their content in elements that are oftentimes deficient in European population. In turn, high concentrations of some elements, such as I, need to be carefully addressed when evaluating seaweed consumption, since excessive intake of this element was proven to have negative impacts on health. In this regard, studies point out that although very bioaccessible, I bioavailability seems to be low, contrarily to other elements, such as Na, K, and Fe. Another weakness of seaweed consumption is their capacity to accumulate several toxic metals, which can pose some health risks. Therefore, considering the current great expansion of seaweed consumption by the Western population, specific regulations on this subject should be laid down. This review presents an overview of the mineral content of prevalent edible European macroalgae, highlighting the main factors interfering in their accumulation. Furthermore, the impact of using these marine vegetables as functional ingredients or NaCl replacers in foods will be discussed. Finally, the relationship between macroalgae's toxic metals content and the lack of European legislation to regulate them will be addressed.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The genus Inula comprises more than one hundred species widespread in temperate regions of Europe and Asia. Uses of this genus as herbal medicines have been first recorded by the Greek and Roman ancient physicians. In the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, from the 20 Inula spp. distributed in China, three are used as Traditional Chinese medicines, named Tumuxiang, Xuanfuhua and Jinfeicao. These medicines are used as expectorants, antitussives, diaphoretics, antiemetics, and bactericides. Moreover, Inula helenium L. which is mentioned in Minoan, Mycenaean, Egyptian/Assyrian pharmacotherapy and Chilandar Medical Codex, is good to treat neoplasm, wound, freckles and dandruff. Many other Inula spp. are used in Ayurvedic and Tibetan traditional medicinal systems for the treatment of diseases such as bronchitis, diabetes, fever, hypertension and several types of inflammation. This review is a critical evaluation of the published data on the more relevant ethnopharmacological and medicinal uses of Inula spp. and on their metabolites biological activities. This study allows the identification of the ethnopharmacological knowledge of this genus and will provide insight into the emerging pharmacological applications of Inula spp. facilitating the prioritirization of future investigations. The corroboration of the ethnopharmacological applications described in the literature with proved biological activities of Inula spp. secondary metabolites will also be explored. ; University of Aveiro, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal), the European Union, QREN, FEDER, COMPETE, for funding the Organic Chemistry Research Unit (QOPNA) (project PEst-/QUI/UI0062/2013; FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-037296). The work was also supported by a grant of UEFISCDI, Romania, PN-II-PT-PCCA-2 no. 134/2012. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

10º Encontro Nacional de Química Orgânica e 1º Simpósio Luso-Brasileiro de Química Orgânica, Lisboa, 4-6 Setembro de 2013 ; In continuation of our study on the chemical characterization of endemic plants of the Azores archipelago, we have examined Juniperus brevifolia. Our interest in this plant was stimulated by the wide range of biological activities reported for other species of this genus and/or of their constituents. Previous work showed that leaves extracts, for instance dichloromethane extract and chloroform-soluble fraction of the acetone extract, showed high activity against HeLa and Hep-2 tumour cell lines. Chemical investigation of these extracts afforded more than thirty compounds, mainly abietane and pimarane derivatives, eight of them were new natural compounds and other exhibit interesting antitumor activity.These findings prompted us to study bark extracts. ; Thanks are due to Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal), the European Union, QREN, FEDER, COMPETE, for funding the Organic Chemistry Research Unit (QOPNA) (project PEst-C/QUI/UI0062/2011) and the Portuguese National NMR Network (RNRMN). M. Martins is grateful to CNPq, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – Brasil, for the scholarship granted.

XVI Latin-American Congress on Chromatography & 9th National Meeting on Chromatography. Lisboa, Portugal, 5 a 9 de janeiro de 2016. ; Macroalgae, are largely used in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. Cystoseira abies-marina (S.G. Gmelin) C. Agardh is a brown macroalgae (Phaeophyta) which belongs to Cystoseira genus and is distributed in the Mediterranean, Macaronesian Region and the coast of Africa. In the Azores lslands, it grows abundantly in the intertidal zone where it is pioneer and attains large size. Since intertidal seaweeds are exposed to extreme stress conditions (temperatura, UV, water levei) in addition to herbivory and fouling, they develop protective mechanisms, some of which involve the biosynthesis of metabolites with properties that may be useful to man (e.g. natural antioxidants, antifouling agents, novel UV sunscreens). The dichlormethane extract of C. abies-marina from Azares was studied revealing the presence of meronorditerpenoids with cytotoxic and antioxidant activities. In this research the antioxidant activity and chemical composition of the ethyl acetate fraction of C. abies-marina methanolic extract was studied. C. abies-marina was collected in two phases of its life cycle üuvenile phase and mature phase). […]. ; FCT/MEC the European Union, QREN, FEDER, COMPETE, for funding the Organic Chemistry Research Unit (QOPNA) (Project PEst-C/QUI/UI0062/2013; FCOMP-0 1-0 124-FEDER-037296); University of Azores. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Salicornia ramosissima J. Woods is considered, in the Iberian Peninsula and France, a gourmet product. Nevertheless, is one of the less studied Salicornia species. In this work, GC-MS was employed to, for the first time; fully characterise the lipophilic profile of S. ramosissima and to assess the effect of natural and extra irrigation in that profile. The obtained data showed esterified and free fatty acids, fatty alcohol, sterols, alkanes and aromatic acid derivatives, being palmitic acid, tetracosanol and octacosanol the most abundant compounds. The extra irrigation increases significantly (P < 0.001) the content of esterified lipophilic compounds. Stigmastanol, 24-ethyl-δ(22)-coprostenol, several secondary fatty alcohols and dicarboxylic acids were identified for the first time in Salicornia genus. Several of the detected compounds are known to have health benefits and our results suggest that S. ramosissima should be considered as an important dietary source of lipophilic phytochemicals. ; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal), the European Union, QREN, FEDER, COMPETE, for funding the Organic Chemistry Research Unit (QOPNA) (Project PEst-C/QUI/UI0062/2013; FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-037296), Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) and the Portuguese National NMR Network (RNRMN). ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

10º Encontro Nacional de Química Orgânica e 1º Simpósio Luso-Brasileiro de Química Orgânica, Lisboa, 4-6 Setembro de 2013. ; The synthesis of xanthones, adequately functionalized for a specific application, is a challenging task. In this presentation, will be disclosed our recent studies with this unique family of compounds, namely the one-pot photoinduced electrocyclisation of (E)-3-styrylflavones 1 and in situ oxidation of cycloadducts to give 5-phenyl-7H-benzo[c]xanthen-7-one derivatives 2,3a and aromatization studies of (E)-3-aryl-4-benzylidene-8-hydroxy-3,4-dihydro-1H-xanthene-1,9(2H)-diones 33b into 4-benzyl-1,8-dihydroxy-3-phenyl-9H-xanthen-9-one derivatives 4. ; We would like to thank Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal), the European Union, QREN, FEDER, COMPETE, for funding the Organic Chemistry Research Unit (QOPNA) (project PEst-C/QUI/UI0062/2011) and the Portuguese National NMR Network (RNRMN).D. H. A. Rocha thanks FCT for her PhD grant (SFRH/BD/68991/2010).

XVI Latin-American Congress on Chromatography & 9th National Meeting on Chromatography. Lisboa, Portugal, 5 a 9 de janeiro de 2016. ; Fucus spiralis Linnaeus, known in Azores as "Fava-do-mar'' is an edible brown macroalga (Ochrophyta (Phaeophyceae)) which can be found on rocks at upper intertidal leveis, where it forms a patchy zone. It is the only member of the genus Fucus that can be found in Azores and its receptacles are eaten as a local delicacy. Nutritionally, it is very rich in fiber (crude content 63.9% dw) contains important minerais Na, K, Mg, Ca and low content in lipids (5.2%). This edible seaweed is also rich in secondary metabolites, such as phlorotannins, sterols and fatty acids, which are associated with several biological activities. From the human health point ofview, all the above mentioned constituents are of extreme importance and show the potential of F. spiralis as a nutraceutical product. […]. ; FCT/MEC the European Union, QREN, FEDER, COMPETE, for funding the Organic Chemistry Research Unit (QOPNA) (Project PEst-C/QUI/UI0062/2013; FCOMP-0 1-0 124-FEDER-037296); University of Azores. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Reversing protein aggregation within cells may be an important tool to fight protein-misfolding disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and cardiovascular diseases. Here we report the design and synthesis of a family of steroid−quinoline hybrid compounds based on the framework combination approach. This set of hybrid compounds effectively inhibited Aβ1−42 self-aggregation in vitro by delaying the exponential growth phase and/or reducing the quantity of fibrils in the steady state. Their disaggregation efficacy was further demonstrated against preaggregated Aβ1−42 peptides in cellular assays upon their endocytosis by neuroblastoma cells, as they reverted both the number and the average area of fibrils back to basal levels. The antiaggregation effect of these hybrids was further tested and demonstrated in a cellular model of general protein aggregation expressing a protein aggregation fluorescent sensor. Together, our results show that the new cholesterol−quinoline hybrids possess wide and marked disaggregation capacities and are therefore promising templates for the development of new drugs to deal with conformational disorders. ; Thanks are due to the University of Aveiro, FCT/MEC, Centro 2020 and Portugal2020, the COMPETE Program, and the European Union (FEDER Program) via the financial support to the research units LAQV-REQUIMTE (UIDB/50006/2020), IBiMED (UID/BIM/04501/2019) and CICECO- Aveiro Institute of Materials (UID/CTM/50011/2019), financed by national funds through the FCT/MCTES, to the Portuguese NMR Network, to the ThiMES Project (POCI-01- 0145-FEDER-016630), and to the PAGE Project "Protein Aggregation Across the Lifespan" (CENTRO-01-0145- FEDER-000003), including postdoctoral grants to H.M.T.A. (BPD/UI98/4861/2017) and R.N.d.S. (BPD/UI98/6327/2018). M.P. was supported by Ph.D. Grant SFRH/BD/135655/2018. A.R.S. and S.G. were supported by national funds (OE) through FCT, I.P., in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in numbers 4, 5, and 6 of Article 23 of the Decree-Law 57/2016 of August ...

Bioconversions using enzymes immobilized in magnetic supports present significant advantages due to the easy separation of the enzyme from the reaction mixture and the simplicity and low cost of the support preparation. The characterization of the oligosaccharide mixture obtained by the action of b-galactosidase covalently attached, via glutaraldehyde, to a hydrazideeDacronemagnetite composite is presented. The fractionation of the oligosaccharide mixture by high performance liquid chromatography, followed by the analysis of the purified compounds by mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy permitted the identification of glucose, galactose, lactose and a hexose disaccharide containing a 1/6 linkage. Also, the following GOS were identified: b-D-Galp-(1/6)-b-D-Galp-(1/4)- Glcp, b-D-Galp-(1/4)-[b-D-Galp-(1/6)]-Glcp and b-D-Galp-(1/6)-b-D-Galp-(1/6)-b-D-Galp-(1/4)- Glcp. When GOS yield (26.2%) and kinetics of biotransformation of lactose by the Dacron immobilized b-galactosidase were compared with values obtained for the enzyme immobilized in other magnetic supports, similar behaviour was observed ; David F.M. Neri gratefully acknowledges support by Alban, the European Union Programme of High Level Scholarships for Latin America (Scholarship No. E05D057787BR). Luiz B. Carvalho Jr. is recipient of a scholarship from the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq). M.R.M. Domingues acknowledges financial support provided to the project POCI/QUI/59337/2004. Duarte P. M. Torres acknowledges Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Portugal) for the PhD Grant received (reference ...