The Marine Macroalgae of the Genus Ulva: Chemistry, Biological Activitiesand Potential Applications

This review summarizes a literature survey of the marine macroalgae of the genus Ulva (Phylum Chlorophyta), covering the period of 1985 to 2012. The secondary metabolites isolated from members of this genus and biological activities of the organic extracts of some Ulva species as well as of the isolated metabolites are discussed. The emphasis on their application in food industry and their potential uses as biofilters are also addressed

Ocotea quixos, American cinnamon

Entre las tres Lauráceas sudamericanas con olor a canela, Ocotea quixos Lam, se distingue por el más rico legado histórico. El cinamaldehído, su principio odorífero, se encuentra además del o -metoxicinamaldehído, el ácido cinámico y el cinamato de metilo en el cáliz del fruto. Por el contrario, el 1-nitro-2-feniletano es responsable del olor a canela de la corteza y las hojas de Aniba canelilla (HBK) Mez y Ocotea pretiosa (Nees) Mez.Among the three South American Lauraceae with cinnamon odours, Ocotea quixos Lam. is distinguished with the richest historical legacy. Cinnamaldehyde, its odoriferous principle, occurs besides o-methoxycinnamaldehyde, cinnamic acid and methyl cinnamate in the fruit calyx. In contradistinction, 1-nitro-2-phenylethane is responsible for the cinnamon odour of bark and leaves of Aniba canelilla (H.B.K.) Mez and Ocotea pretiosa (Nees) Mez

Aqueous extract of dioscorea opposita thunb. normalizes the hypertension in 2K1C hypertensive rats

BACKGROUND: Dioscorea opposita Thunb. (Huai Shan Yao, DOT), a common staple food in China, has been used for more than 2000 years in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to treat different systemic diseases including hypertension. The objective of this study was to investigate the possible antihypertensive effects of the aqueous extract of (DOT) in renovascular hypertensive rats as well as the mechanism in reducing blood pressure. METHODS: The two-kidney one-clip (2K1C) Goldblatt model of renovascular hypertension was used in Wistar rats. Rats with captopril, low-dose DOT and high-dose DOT treated 2K1C groups for 6 weeks. The blood pressure, cardiac mass index (heart weight/body weight), plasma level of angiotensin-II (Ang-II), endothelin-1(ET-1), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were evaluated. RESULTS: DOT significantly reduced mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure after treatment. DOT also significantly increased plasma SOD activity but decreased plasma MDA concentration. Renal function was improved with captopril and DOT. DOT reduced plasma Ang-II activity and plasma ET concentration. They couldalso significantly reduce the left ventricular hypertrophy and cardiac mass index. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that DOT may have an antihypertensive effect on hypertension by inhibit ET-converting enzyme and antioxidant activity, which warrant further exploration

Antifungal Activity Evaluation of the Constituents of Haliclona baeri and Haliclona cymaeformis, Collected from the Gulf of Thailand

A new compound maleimide-5-oxime was isolated, together with 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, tetillapyrone, from the ethyl acetate extract of the marine sponge Haliclona baeri while tetillapyrone, nortetillapyrone, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde and phenylacetic acid were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of Haliclona cymaeformis, collected from the Gulf of Thailand. The structures of tetillapyrone and nortetillapyrone were re-examined using HMBC correlations. Maleimide-5-oxime, tetillapyrone and nortetillapyrone were found to be inactive against three human tumor cell lines (the estrogen-dependent ER(+) MCF-7, the estrogen-independent ER(−) MDA-MB-231 and NCI-H460. Maleimide-5-oxime, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, phenylacetic acid, tetillapyrone and nortetillapyrone were evaluated for their growth inhibitory effect against seven yeasts and eight filamentous fungi. Only nortetillapyrone showed antifungal activity, with a preponderance on the dermatophytic filamentous fungi

Chemical and biological studies from an Azorean macroalga: Ulva rigida

3rd Portuguese Meeting on Medicinal Chemistry and 1st Portuguese-Spanish-Brazilian Meeting on Medicinal Chemistry, Aveiro, 28-30 Novembro 2012.New drugs from natural sources have been targets of the drug discovery program and some bioactive compounds from macroalgae such as sulfated polysaccharides, steroids and diterpens have found their applications in the pharmaceutical industry.[1,2] Consequently, we have investigated the chemical composition and the in vitro antitumor potential of the metabolites isolated from the macroalga Ulva rigida, collected from the Azorean coast, an environmentally healthy habitat with a high level of biodiversity. We hereby describe isolation of isofucosterol (1) and 7(E)-3ẞ-hidroxy-5α, 6α-epoxymegastigmane (2) from the methanol extract of Ulva rigida, collected in May of 2011 in the Sea of St Miguel Island - Azores archipelago. The process of isolation of these metabolites involved chlorophylls elimination by the method previously described[3] and fractionation by column chromatography. The structures of 1 and 2 were established by 1D and 2D NMR spectral analysis and specific rotation as well as comparison of their spectral data with those described in the literature.[4,5] Compounds 1 and 2 were evaluated for their capacity to inhibit the in vitro growth of three human cancer cell lines: MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), NCI-H460 (non-small cell lung cancer) and A375-C5 (human skin cell line), using the protein binding dye SRB method. The results showed that compound 1 exhibited only a weak activity against MCF-7 (GI50 = 122.2 ± 17.9 μM), NCI-H460 (GI50 = 128.4 ± 32.4 μM), A375-C5 (GI50 = 119.2 ± 28.9 μM), while compound 2 was inactive against all the three cell lines (GI50 >200 μM).This work was financially supported by the project, Bioactive products in marine algae of Azores (PTDC/MAR/100482/2008) from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT). Madalena Silva thanks FCT for the young researcher scholarship under PTDC/MAR/100482/2008 project

Neofiscalin A and fiscalin C are potential novel indole alkaloid alternatives for the treatment of multidrug-resistant Gram-positive bacterial infections

Ten indole alkaloids were obtained from the marine sponge-associated fungus Neosartorya siamensis KUFA 0017. We studied the antimicrobial properties of these and of three other compounds previously isolated from the soil fungus N. siamensis KUFC 6349. Only neofiscalin A showed antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE); with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 8 μg mL(-1) against both strains. Another compound, fiscalin C, presented synergistic activity against MRSA when combined with oxacillin, although alone showed no antibacterial effect. Moreover, neofiscalin A, when present at sub-MICs, hampered the ability of both MRSA and VRE strains to form a biofilm. Additionally, the biofilm inhibitory concentration values of neofiscalin A against the MRSA and VRE isolates were 96 and 80 μg mL(-1), respectively. At a concentration of 200 μg mL(-1), neofiscalin A was able to reduce the metabolic activity of the biofilms by ∼50%. One important fact is that our results also showed that neofiscalin A had no cytotoxicity against a human brain capillary endothelial cell line.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Valuable compounds on conifers, macroalgae and halophyte species

XXIII Encontro Nacional da Sociedade Portuguesa de Química, Aveiro 12 a 14 de Junho de 2013.As part of our on-going investigation on bioactive secondary metabolites, we carried out the phytochemical study of the endemic conifer Juniperus brevifolia and the macroalga Cystoseira abies-marine from Azores Islands, and also of the halophyte Salicornia ramosissima from Aveiro lagoon. This communication gives an overview on the isolation, structural characterization and bioactivity of the most interesting secondary metabolites found in these species.University of Aveiro, Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), European Union, QREN, FEDER and COMPETE for funding the QOPNA research unit (project PEst-C/QUI/UI0062/2011), the Portuguese NMR Network

Chemical study and biological activity evaluation of two Azorean Macroalgae: Ulva rigida and Gelidium microdon

Copyright: © 2013 Silva M, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credite.The green macroalga Ulva rigida C. Agardh (Chlorophyta) and the red macroalga Gelidium microdon Kützing (Rhodophyta), collected from the Azorean archipelago, were investigated for their secondary metabolites and their in vitro growth inhibitory effect on three human tumor cell lines: MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), NCI-H460 (non-small cell lung cancer) and A375-C5 (melanoma), as well as for their antifungal and antibacterial activities. The methanol extract of U. rigida furnished isofucosterol (1), 7(E)-3β-hydroxy-5α,6α-epoxymegastigmane (2) and (+)-dehydrovomifoliol (3) while the methanol extract of G. microdon yielded cholesterol (4) and lumichrome (5). The crude extracts of both macroalgae were found to be moderately active against the three cell lines whereas compound 1 showed a weak effect and compound 2 was inactive. The crude extracts of the two macroalgae were found to be moderately active against some fungi and bacteria while compounds 1 and 2 were inactive against all microorganisms tested