Health survey among people living near an abandoned mine. A case study: Jales mine, Portugal

Campo de Jales is a village surrounding the abandoned Jales mine. The area is heavily contaminated with heavy metals and dusts from large tailings piles as result of centuries of mining operations. The aim of this study is to investigate potential health threats associated with site contamination. The population studied comprised two groups: people living in Campo de Jales (n = 229) and a control group – people living in Vilar de Macada (n = 234). Lead and cadmium exposure and symptoms survey were carried out. The results showed a significant higher levels of blood lead and cadmium between the Campo de Jales residents (lead: 9.5 microgr/dl versus 7.7 microgr/dl; cadmium: 0.84 microgr/dl versus 0,65 microgr/dl) as well as to a higher prevalence of respiratory and irritation symptoms and great concern about his own health. In conclusion: community is the scene of long-term health problems resulting from the site environmental contamination

Identification of phenolic compounds in Equisetum giganteum by LC–ESI-MS/MS and a new approach to total flavonoid quantification

AbstractEquisetum giganteum L., commonly called “giant horsetail”, is an endemic species of Latin America. Its aerial parts have been widely used in ethnomedicine as a diuretic and in herbal medicine and food supplements as a raw material. The phenolic composition of E. giganteum stems was studied by liquid chromatography coupled to diode array detection (LC–DAD) and liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–ESI-MS/MS), which identified caffeic acid derivatives, flavonoids and styrylpyrones. The most abundant glycosilated flavonoids in this sample were kaempferol derivatives. Other rare phenolic components, namely, quercetin-3-O-(caffeoyl)-glucoside and 3-hydroxyhispidin-3,4′-di-O-glucoside, were reported for first time in the Equisetum genus. An LC-UV method for the simultaneous quantification of flavonoid aglycones in E. giganteum obtained after hydrolysis was developed and validated. The method exhibited excellent linearity for all analytes, with regression coefficients above 0.998, LOD≥0.043μgmL−1, LOQ≥0.158μgmL−1 and recovery rates of 96.89–103.33% and 98.22–102.49% for quercetin and kaempferol, respectively. The relative standard deviation for the intra- and inter-day precision was≤3.75%. The hydrolysis process was optimized by central composite rotational design and response surface analysis. The second-order response models for the aglycones contents were as follows: quercetin (μgg−1)=24.8102+55.2823×HCl+0.776997×Time−7.23852×HCl2−7.46528E−04×Time2−0.229167×HCl×Time; kaempferol (μgg−1)=−9.66755+974.822×HCl+11.8059×Time−130.612×HCl2−0.0125694×Time2 −3.22917×HCl×Time, with estimated optimal conditions of 1.18M HCl and 205min of hydrolysis. The results obtained with these new methods were compared to those from a spectrophotometric assay used to determine the total flavonoids in the Equisetum arvense monograph (Horsetail, British Pharmacopoeia 2011). For all four species analyzed (E. giganteum, E. arvense, E. hyemale and E. bogotense), the calculated aglycone content was higher using the optimized hydrolysis conditions. Additionally, the LC method was more appropriate and specific for quantitative analysis

Anti-Trichomonas vaginalis activity of marine-associated fungi from the South Brazilian Coast

AbstractTrichomonas vaginalis is the causative agent of trichomonosis, the most common non-viral sexually transmitted disease. Infection with this protozoan may have serious consequences, especially for women. Currently, 5-nitroimidazole drugs are the treatment of choice for trichomonosis, but the emergence of resistance has limited the effectiveness of this therapy. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate the anti-T. vaginalis activity of marine-associated fungi found in the South Brazilian Coast. A total of 42 marine-associated fungal species (126 filtrate samples) isolated from 39 different marine organisms, mainly sponges, were selected to be screened against T. vaginalis. Of these, two filtrate samples from Hypocrea lixii F02 and Penicillium citrinum F40 showed significant growth-inhibitory activity (up to 100%) against ATCC 30236 and fresh clinical isolates, including a metronidazole-resistant isolate. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of H. lixii F02 and P. citrinum F40 samples for all isolates tested, including the metronidazole-resistant isolate, were 2.5mg/mL. The kinetic growth curve showed that the filtrate samples were able to reduce the density of parasites to zero within 24h of incubation, which was confirmed by microscopy. Both fungal filtrate samples exhibited no hemolytic activity, and the P. citrinum F40 filtrate sample showed low cytotoxicity against Vero cells. These data suggest that marine-associated fungi from the South Brazilian Coast may produce potential candidates for further investigation and possible use in the treatment of metronidazole-resistant trichomonosis

Anthocyanins content and chemical composition of the essential oil of three blackberry cultivars from southern Brazil

In this work, fruits of three cultivars, Caingangue, Cherokee and Guarani, originated from collections from Embrapa, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, were analyzed concerning the anthocyanin content and the essential oils composition. The anthocyanin content were determined by spectrophotometry, resulting in 0.606 ± 0.018 g/ 100 g, 0.728 ± 0.020 g/100 g and 0.854 ± 0.065 g/ 100 g expressed as cyanidin-3- glucoside, for the three cultivars, respectively. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation in a Clevenger apparatus and the chemical characterization was performed by GC-FID and GCMS. The oil composition of Caingangue cultivar presented predominance of monoterpenes, especially piperitone (50.5%) and camphor (15.5%). The oil fractions of Cherokee and Guarani cvs. were characterized by sesquiterpenes. Cherokee fruits presented high amount of β-caryophyllene (29.6%) followed by the hexadecanoic acid (11.7%), whereas in Guarani fruits spathulenol (22.4%), globulol (16.9%), epi-globulol (11.3%), δ-cadinene (10.0%) and α-cadinene (10.0%) were the main constituents.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire