Analytical investigations on lindane bioremediation capability of the demosponge Hymeniacidon perlevis

Lindane is an organochlorine pesticide that has been widely used to treat agricultural pests. It is of particular concern because of its toxicity, persistence and tendency to bioaccumulate in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In this context, we investigated the ability of the demosponge Hymeniacidon perlevis to bioremediate lindane polluted seawater during in vitro experimentation. Lindane was extracted by solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) and determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Furthermore, we assessed the role exerted in lindane degradation by bacteria isolated from the sponge. Sponges showed low mortality in experimental conditions (lindane concentration 1 μg/L) and were able to remove about 50% of the lindane content from seawater in 48 h. Bacteria isolated from sponges showed a remarkable remediating capacity (up to 97% of lindane removed after 8-days). A lindane metabolite was identified, 1,3,4,5,6-pentachloro-cyclohexene. The results obtained are a prelude to the development of future strategies for the in situ bioremediation of this pollutan

Bovine and soybean milk bioactive compounds: Effects on inflammatory response of human intestinal Caco-2 cells

In this study the effects of commercial bovine and soybean milks and their bioactive compounds, namely genistein, daidzein and equol, on the inflammatory responses induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment of human intestinal Caco-2 cells were examined, in terms of nitric oxide (NO) release and inducible nitric oxide synthetase (iNOS) expression. Both milks and their bioactive compounds significantly inhibited, dose-dependently, the expression of iNOS mRNA and protein, resulting in a decreased NO production. The NF-κB activation in LPS-stimulated intestinal cells was also examined. In all cases we observed that cell pre-treatment before LPS activation inhibited the IkB phosphorylation. Accordingly, quantification of bioactive compounds by solid phase microextraction coupled with liquid chromatography has shown that they were absorbed, metabolized and released by Caco-2 cells in culture media. In conclusion, we demonstrated that milks and compounds tested are able to reduce LPS-induced inflammatory responses from intestinal cells, interfering with NF-kB dependent molecular mechanisms

Development, Optimization, and Comparison of Different Sample Pre-Treatments for Simultaneous Determination of Vitamin E and Vitamin K in Vegetables

The absence of vitamin E from the diet can lead to cardiovascular disease, cancer, cataracts, and premature aging. Vitamin K deficiency can lead to bleeding disorders. These fat-soluble vitamins are important nutritional factors that can be determined in different methods in vegetables. In this work, the simultaneous determination of α-tocopherol, α-tocopheryl acetate, phylloquinone, and menaquinone-4 by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) has been optimized using both direct injection and solid phase microextraction (SPME). Three different sample pre-treatment approaches based on: (A) solid–liquid–liquid–liquid extraction (SLE–LLE), (B) SLE, and (C) SPME were then applied to extract the target analytes from vegetables samples using menaquinone as internal standard. All the procedures allowed the determination of the target analytes in onion, carrot, celery, and curly kale samples. Similar results were obtained with the three different approaches, even if the one based on SPME offers the best performance, together with a reduced use of solvent, time consumption, and experimental complexity, which makes it the preferable option for industrial applications

Determination of Commercial Animal and Vegetable Milks’ Lipid Profile and Its Correlation with Cell Viability and Antioxidant Activity on Human Intestinal Caco-2 Cells

none9openantonella aresta; Stefania De Santis; Alessia Carocci; Alexia Barbarossa; Andrea Ragusa; Nicoletta De Vietro; Maria Lisa Clodoveo; Filomena Corbo; Carlo ZAMBONINAresta, Antonella; De Santis, Stefania; Carocci, Alessia; Barbarossa, Alexia; Ragusa, Andrea; De Vietro, Nicoletta; Lisa Clodoveo, Maria; Corbo, Filomena; Zambonin, Carl

Attività svolte dall'Unità Supporto al RUP periodo luglio-ottobre 2023

Vista la grandissima rilevanza che le procedure di acquisto di beni e servizi e l’affidamento di lavori assumono nelle varie attività dell'Ente, particolare attenzione è stata rivolta da parte degli organi di governo del CNR alla necessità di supportare il ruolo e le funzioni del responsabile unico del procedimento (oggi Responsabile Unico di Progetto) negli appalti e nelle concessioni. Con provvedimento del Direttore Generale CNR n. 63 del 31/05/2023 è stata istituita l'Unità Supporto al RUP afferente alla Direzione Generale per adempiere alle disposizioni dell’art. 31 del Decreto Legislativo 18 aprile 2016 n. 50 che, al comma 9, espressamente prevedeva che “La stazione appaltante, allo scopo di migliorare la qualità della progettazione e della programmazione complessiva, può, nell'ambito della propria autonomia organizzativa e nel rispetto dei limiti previsti dalla vigente normativa, istituire una struttura stabile a supporto dei RUP, anche alle dirette dipendenze del vertice della pubblica amministrazione di riferimento”

Determination of α-Tocopherol in Olive Oil by Solid-Phase Microextraction and Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry

Olive oil has great human health benefits and is an important component of the Mediterranean diet. Its quality, sensory attributes and oxidative stability are linked to the presence of minor compounds. Vitamin E (α-tocopherol) is a key component in these properties. In this work, solidphase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography - mass spectrometry was employed for the determination of -tocopherol in olive oil. The analytical performance of the method have been assessed in fortified olive oil with negligible vitamin E concentrations. The calibration curve was linear from 0.020 to 0.500 mg/g. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.006 and 0.021 mg/g, respectively. Intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations were 3.2 and 10.0, respectively, and were concentration independent. The method was employed for the determination of α-tocopherol in virgin and extra virgin olive oil, reporting average concentrations of 0.044 ± 0.03 and 0.200 ± 0.05 mg/g, respectively. Overall, the method is simple, sensitive, rapid, solvent-free, and provided high recoveries of 97.7 ± 3.1%. In addition, vitamin E stability in extra-virgin olive oil was characterized by a shelf-life study

Simultaneous determination of salicylic, 3-methyl salicylic, 4-methyl salicylic, acetylsalicylic and benzoic acids in fruit, vegetables and derived beverages by SPME-LC-UV/DAD

Salicylic and benzoic acid are phenolic acids occurring in plant cells, thus they can be present in fruit and vegetables at various levels. They possess anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, however they may induce symptoms and health problems in a small percentage of the population. Therefore, a low phenolic acid diet may be of clinical benefit to such individuals. In order to achieve this goal, the concentration of these substances in different food and beverages should be assessed. The present work describes for the first time a new method, based on solid phase microextraction (polydimethylsiloxane-divinylbenzene fiber) coupled to liquid chromatography with UV diode array detection, for the simultaneous determination of salicylic acid, 3-methyl salicylic acid, 4-methyl salicylic acid, acetylsalicylic acid and benzoic acid in selected fruit, vegetables and beverages.All the aspects influencing fiber adsorption (time, temperature, pH, salt addition) and desorption (desorption and injection time, desorption solvent mixture composition) of the analytes have been investigated. An isocratic separation was performed using an acetonitrile-phosphate buffer (pH 2.8; 2. mM) mixture (70:30, v/v) as the mobile phase. The estimated LOD and LOQ values (μg/mL) were in the range 0.002-0.028 and 0.007-0.095. The within-day and day-to-day precision values (RSD%) were between 4.7-6.1 and 6.6-9.4, respectively.The method has been successfully applied to the analysis of fava beans, blueberries, kiwi, tangerines, lemons, oranges and fruit juice (lemon and blueberry) samples. The major advantage of the method is that it only requires simple homogenization and/or centrifugation and dilution steps prior to SPME and injection in the LC system

SPME-LC with UV detection to study delorazepam-serum albumin interactions

Solid phase microextraction coupled to high performance liquid chromatography with UV detection (SPME/LCUV) has been employed to study the binding of delorazepam to human serum albumin (HSA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA). The procedure could also be potentially extended to the measurement of partition coefficients between a wide variety of semi- or non-volatile compounds and matrices. The method is solvent free, simple, fast, and drawbacks of the conventional analytical techniques are avoided. Moreover, the matrix did not interfere with the measurement by binding to the fibre and the amount extracted by the fibre was negligibly small; thus it did not disturb the delorazepam–protein binding