Crystal and molecular structure of aflatrem

Lenta BN, Ngatchou J, Kenfack PT, Neumann B, Stammler H-G, Sewald N. Crystal and molecular structure of aflatrem. Acta Crystallographica. Section E, Crystallographic Communications. 2015;71(Pt 11):O867-0868.The crystal structure of the title compound, C32H39NO4, confirms the absolute configuration of the seven chiral centres in the molecule. The molecule has a 1,1-dimethylprop-2-enyl substituent on the indole nucleus and this nucleus shares one edge with the five-membered ring which is, in turn, connected to a sequence of three edge-shared fused rings. The skeleton is completed by the 7,7-trimethyl-6,8-dioxabicyclo[3.2.1]oct-3-en-2-one group connected to the terminal cyclohexene ring. The two cyclohexane rings adopt chair and half-chair conformations, while in the dioxabicyclo[3.2.1] oct-3-en-2-one unit, the six-membered ring has a half-chair conformation. The indole system of the molecule exhibits a tilt of 2.02 (1)degrees between its two rings. In the crystal, O-H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bonds connect molecules into chains along [010]. Weak N-H center dot center dot center dot pi interactions connect these chains, forming sheets parallel to (10 (1) over bar)

Impact of heavy load activity on cardiovascular system: echocardiographic assessment of informal construction workers heart in Cameroon.

Introduction: Physiological cardiac hypertrophy and dilation are common findings in heavy physical load activity. We carried out this study to investigate the relationship between construction work and cardiac parameters adaptations, by comparing healthy masons to office workers on heart ultrasound. Methods: The study was carried out on, 50 construction workers and 50 office workers matched for their weight, height and age. Systolic and Diastolic blood pressures, Left Ventricular diameter and thickness, Septum wall thickness and Left ventricular mass index were measured and calculated Results: Heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were lower in construction workers, as compared to office workers: respectively 63±7 bpm vs. 75±6 bpm (p=0.000); 120.1±7 mmHg vs. 130.5±9 mmHg (p=0.000) and 68.5±7 mmHg vs. 77.0 ±9 mmHg (p=0.000). Construction workers had a thicker septum and posterior wall: respectively 10.3 ± 1.1 mm vs. 8.9 ± 0.9 mm (p=0.000); and 9.0 ± 1.2 mm vs. 8.1 ± 0.8 mm (p=0.000). Conclusion: Conclusion We deducted that heavy load work has an impact on the heart mensuration. The past occupational history has to be taken into consideration during initial medical assessing of a worker in for a new job so as to avoid erroneous conclusions.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Bioguided isolation of antiplasmodial secondary metabolites from Mill. (Lauraceae)

Waleguele CC, Tchuente Tchuenmogne MA, Fotsing Fongang YS, et al. Bioguided isolation of antiplasmodial secondary metabolites from Mill. (Lauraceae). Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C. Accepted.**Abstract** The antiplasmodium assay-guided investigation of the roots, stem bark, and leaves ofPersea americanaMill. led to the isolation of a new fatty alcohol, perseatriol (1), along with six known compounds (2–7). Their structures were elucidated based on the analysis of their NMR and MS data. All crude extracts and fractions exhibited good antiplasmodial activity onPlasmoduim falciparum3D7 with IC50values ranging from 0.76 to 10.5 μg/mL; they also displayed cytotoxicity against HeLa cells with low selectivity indexes (SIs). A preliminaryPlasmodiumlactate dehydrogenase (pLDH) assay was also performed on the isolated compounds. 9,9′-Di-O-feruloyl-5,5′-dimethoxysecoisolariciresinol (4) turned out to be non-toxic and displayed the best activities onP. falciparumwith an IC50value of 0.05 μM, comparable to the reference drug chloroquine with an IC50value of 0.03 μM. Furthermore, besides compound4, this work reports the first isolation of lutein (2) and scopoletin (3) fromP. americana. The crude extracts of roots, stem bark, and leaves ofP. americana, their fractions and compounds completely suppressed the growth ofP. falciparum. The observed activity supports the use ofP. americanain folk medicine for the treatment of malaria

Purpureone, an antileishmanial ergochrome from the endophytic fungus Purpureocillium lilacinum

Lenta BN, Ngatchou J, Frese M, et al. Purpureone, an antileishmanial ergochrome from the endophytic fungus Purpureocillium lilacinum. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung B. 2016;71(11):1159-1167.The ethyl acetate extracts prepared from the mycelia of three endophytic fungi Purpureocillium lilacinum, Aspergillus sp., and Fusarium sp., isolated from the roots of Rauvolfia macrophylla (Apocynaceae) were screened for their antiprotozoal activity in vitro against Plasmodium falciparum (NF54), Leishmania donovani, Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, and Trypanosoma cruzi. Amongst these extracts, the one from P. lilacinum showed potent antileishmanial activity against L. donovani (IC50 value of 0.174 mu g mL(-1)) with good selectivity (SI = 94.9) toward the L6 cell line, whereas the other extracts were inactive and not selective. The fractionation and purification of the active extract from P. lilacinum by column chromatography over silica gel yielded a new ergochromone derivative (1), together with six known compounds: (22E, 24R)-stigmasta-5,7,22-trien-3-beta-ol (2), (22E, 24R)-stigmasta- 4,6,8(14), 22-tetraen-3-one (3), emodin (4), chrysophanol (5), aloe-emodin (6), and palmitic acid, whose structures were elucidated spectroscopically. Compound 1 was tested in vitro for its antiparasitic activities against the above listed parasites and for its antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Providencia stuartii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The compound displayed potent antileishmanial activity against L. donovani with an IC50 value of 0.63 mu g mL(-1) (0.87 mu m) with good selectivity (SI = 49.5) toward the L6 cell line. It also exhibited good antibacterial activity against three of the tested microbial strains B. cereus, E. coli ATCC879, and P. stuartii ATCC29916 with minimum inhibitory concentrations below 62.6 mu g mL(-1). Compound 1 is thus a promising active compound that could be investigated for antileishmanial and antimicrobial drug development