The Anti-Cholinesterase Potential of Fifteen Different Species of Narcissus L. (Amaryllidaceae) Collected in Spain

Narcissus L. is a renowned plant genus with a notable center of diversity and is primarily located in the Mediterranean region. These plants are widely recognized for their ornamental value, owing to the beauty of their flowers; nonetheless, they also hold pharmacological importance. In Europe, pharmaceutical companies usually use the bulbs of Narcissus pseudonarcissus cv. Carlton to extract galanthamine, which is one of the few medications approved by the FDA for the palliative treatment of mild-to-moderate symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential of these plants in Alzheimer’s disease. The alkaloid extract from the leaves of different species of Narcissus was obtained by an acid-base extraction work-up -procedure. The biological potential of the samples was carried out by evaluating their ability to inhibit the enzymes acetyl- and butyrylcholinesterase (AChE and BuChE, respectively). The species N. jacetanus exhibited the best inhibition values against AChE, with IC50 values of 0.75 ± 0.03 µg·mL−1, while N. jonquilla was the most active against BuChE, with IC50 values of 11.72 ± 1.15 µg·mL−1.Programa Iberoamericano de Ciencia y Tecnologia para el Desarrollo (CYTED, 223RT0140)

Chemical and biological aspects of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids

Podeu consultar el llibre complet a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/32392The Amaryllidaceae alkaloids represent a large (over 300 alkaloids have been isolated) and still expanding group of biogenetically related isoquinoline alkaloids that are found exclusively in plants belonging to this family. In spite of their great variety of pharmacological and/or biological properties, only galanthamine is used therapeutically. First isolated from Galanthus species, this alkaloid is a long-acting, selective, reversible and competitive inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase, and is used for the treatment of Alzheimer¿s disease. Other Amaryllidaceae alkaloids of pharmacological interest will also be described in this chapter

Chemical and biological aspects of Amaryllidaceae alkaloids

Podeu consultar el llibre complet a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/32392The Amaryllidaceae alkaloids represent a large (over 300 alkaloids have been isolated) and still expanding group of biogenetically related isoquinoline alkaloids that are found exclusively in plants belonging to this family. In spite of their great variety of pharmacological and/or biological properties, only galanthamine is used therapeutically. First isolated from Galanthus species, this alkaloid is a long-acting, selective, reversible and competitive inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase, and is used for the treatment of Alzheimer¿s disease. Other Amaryllidaceae alkaloids of pharmacological interest will also be described in this chapter

Modelling the skeletal muscle injury recovery using in vivo contrast-enhanced micro-CT : a proof-of-concept study in a rat model

Skeletal muscle injury characterisation during healing supports trauma prognosis. Given the potential interest of computed tomography (CT) in muscle diseases and lack of in vivo CT methodology to image skeletal muscle wound healing, we tracked skeletal muscle injury recovery using in vivo micro-CT in a rat model to obtain a predictive model. Skeletal muscle injury was performed in 23 rats. Twenty animals were sorted into five groups to image lesion recovery at 2, 4, 7, 10, or 14 days after injury using contrast-enhanced micro-CT. Injury volumes were quantified using a semiautomatic image processing, and these values were used to build a prediction model. The remaining 3 rats were imaged at all monitoring time points as validation. Predictions were compared with Bland-Altman analysis. Optimal contrast agent dose was found to be 20 mL/kg injected at 400 μL/min. Injury volumes showed a decreasing tendency from day 0 (32.3 ± 12.0mm 3, mean ± standard deviation) to day 2, 4, 7, 10, and 14 after injury (19.6 ± 12.6, 11.0 ± 6.7, 8.2 ± 7.7, 5.7 ± 3.9, and 4.5 ± 4.8 mm 3, respectively). Groups with single monitoring time point did not yield significant differences with the validation group lesions. Further exponential model training with single follow-up data (R 2 = 0.968) to predict injury recovery in the validation cohort gave a predictions root mean squared error of 6.8 ± 5.4 mm 3. Further prediction analysis yielded a bias of 2.327. Contrast-enhanced CT allowed in vivo tracking of skeletal muscle injury recovery in rat