REMOÇÃO DO CORANTE REMAZOL VERMELHO DE MEIOS AQUOSOS UTILIZANDO ADSORVENTE MISTO COMPOSTO DE ASPERGILLUS NIGER E CAPIM ELEFANTE

The objective of this work was to evaluate the ability to remove the Remazol Red dye, from a synthetic aqueous solution, using mixed biomass of Aspergillus niger and Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum), under different temperature conditions (30, 40 and 50 ± 2 ºC), in concentrations ranging from 25 to 105 mg/L and time from 0 to 200 min. The kinetic study was characterized by the pseudo-second order model. The Langmuir isotherm model presented the best fit to the linearization technique and presented 3.42mg g -1 adsorption capacity for the model. The spontaneity of the adsorption reaction was obtained by Gibbs free energy. The thermodynamic study indicated that the adsorption was favorable and spontaneous, and that the increase in temperature causes a reduction in the adsorptive capacity.O descarte de efluentes têxteis não tratados nos meios aquosos pode ocasionar em um rápido esgotamento do oxigênio dissolvido, o que resulta em um desequilíbrio noecossistema. São vários os métodos utilizados na remoção de cor, e, dentre eles, a adsorção vem se mostrando como um método de tratamento simples, barato e eficiente. O objetivo deste trabalho consiste em avaliar a habilidade da biomassa mista de Aspergillus niger e capim elefante (Penissetum purpureum Schum) na remoção do corante Remazol Vermelho de uma solução aquosa sintética sob difrentes condições de temperatura (30, 40 e 50 °C), concentrações variando entre 25 e 105 mg/L, tempo de adsorção de 0 a 200 minutos e pH 2.0. O estudo cinético foi caracterizado pelo modelo de pseudo-segunda ordem. Já o modelo de Langmuir se mostrou o melhor ajuste linear das isotermas de adsorção, apresentando uma capacidade de adsorção de 3,42 mg g-1. A esponteneidade da reação de adsorção foi avaliada através daenergia lvire de Gibbs. O estudo termodinâmico indicou que a adsorção é favorável e espontânea, além de que o aumento da temperatura ocasiona em uma redução na capacidade de adsorção. Estes resultados obtidos em efluentes sintéticosdemonstram que o adsorvente misto produzido neste estudo é uma alternativa promissora no tratamento de efluentes contaminados com Remazol Vermelho

Metabolism and physiology of Lactobacilli: a review

The consumption of probiotic microorganisms in fermented products has been used for centuries. Lactobacillus spp. is one of the main species studied due to its various beneficial effects to health. This species has great ability to adapt to hostile environments, produces antimicrobial substances capable of destroying or inhibiting the growth of pathogenic bacteria and is involved in the digestion of complex carbohydrates not digested by the host. However, there are still some uncertainties and disagreements about the precise biochemical metabolism of lactobacilli. The aim of this article is to review the metabolism and physiological characteristics of lactobacilli for a better understanding of the benefits that these bacteria promote in the host and for the development of strains and probiotic products with higher health benefits

In silico ADMET prediction, evaluation of cytotoxicity in mouse splenocytes and preliminary evaluation of in vitro antimalarial activity of 4-(4-chlorophenyl)thiazole compounds

Abstract In this work, an in silico study and evaluation of the cytotoxicity of 4-(4-chlorophenyl)thiazole compounds against mouse splenocytes and the chloroquine-sensitive Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 strain are reported. The in silico results showed that the compounds have important pharmacokinetic properties for compounds with potential drug candidates. Regarding cytotoxicity assays against splenocytes, the compounds have low cytotoxicity. In addition, they were able to promote activation of these cells by increasing nitric oxide production without promoting cell death. Finally, they were able to promote cell proliferation. Regarding the in vitro anti-P. falciparum activity assays, it was observed that the compounds were able to inhibit the parasite’s growth, presenting IC50 values ranging from 0.79 to greater than 10 µM. These results are promising when compared to chloroquine. Therefore, this study showed that 4-(4-chlorophenyl)thiazole compounds are promising candidates for antimalarials

Biossorção do corante índigo carmim por Pennisetum purpureum Schumach. 1827 (Poales: Poaceae) (Capim elefante)

As indústrias têxteis devem tratar seus efluentes antes do descarte em corpos hídricos. Esse tratamento objetiva majoritariamente a remoção de corantes, cuja interação com o meio ambiente pode causar grandes danos a natureza. A Biossorção tem se mostrado muitas vezes uma técnica econômica e eficaz na remoção de boa parte destes corantes. Deste modo propomos aplicar como biossorvente, o Pennisetum purpureum Schumach., 1827 (Poales: Poaceae) (Capim elefante), para tratar   efluentes contendo o corante Índigo Carmim. Os ensaios de remoção do corante foram realizados em batelada nas seguintes condições: variando as temperaturas (30, 40, 60 e 100 ± 2 ºC); agitação constante de 150 rpm; pH 5,5; 0,5 g de biossorvente; e em diferentes concentrações de corante, de 25 a 65 mg·L-1. O mecanismo de biossorção foi bem descrito pelo modelo de Langmuir. A capacidade biossortiva máxima foi de 17,51 mg?g-1.  A investigação termodinâmica indicou que a biossorção é um processo favorável e espontâneo em temperaturas até 60 ºC, acima disso o sistema apresentou uma redução da capacidade biossortiva. Deste modo, a utilização de Pennisetum purpureum Schumach., 1827 (Poales: Poaceae) como biossorvente para a remoção do corante índigo carmim de efluentes têxteis se mostrou uma   nova alternativa eficaz e econômic

In vitro evaluation of alkaline lignins as antiparasitic agents and their use as an excipient in the release of benznidazole

Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.The Amazon rainforest is considered the largest tropical timber reserve in the world. The management of native forests in the Amazon is one of the most sensitive geopolitical issues today, given its national and international dimension. In this work, we obtained and characterized physicochemical lignins extracted from branches and leaves of Protium puncticulatum and Scleronema micranthum. In addition, we evaluated in vitro its potential as an antioxidant, cytotoxic agent against animal cells and antiparasitic against promastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis, trypomastigotes of T. cruzi and against Plasmodium falciparum parasites sensitive and resistant to chloroquine. The results showed that the lignins obtained are of the GSH type and have higher levels of guaiacyl units. However, they show structural differences as shown by spectroscopic analysis and radar charts. As for biological activities, they showed antioxidant potential and low cytotoxicity against animal cells. Antileishmanial/trypanocidal assays have shown that lignins can inhibit the growth of promastigotes and trypomastigotes in vitro. The lignins in this study showed low anti-Plasmodium falciparum activity against susceptible strains of Plasmodium falciparum and were able to inhibit the growth of the chloroquine-resistant strain. And were not able to inhibit the growth of Schistosoma mansoni parasites. Finally, lignins proved to be promising excipients in the release of benznidazole. These findings show the potential of these lignins not yet studied to promote different biological activities.publishersversionpublishe

Synthesis, characterization, antioxidant and antiparasitic activities new naphthyl-thiazole derivatives

Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.In this work, 13 thiosemicarbazones (1a - m) and 16 thiazoles (2a - p) were obtained, which were properly characterized by spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques. The pharmacokinetic properties obtained in silico revealed that the derivatives are in accordance with the parameters established by lipinski and veber, showing that such compounds have good bioavailability or permeability when administered orally. In assays of antioxidant activity, thiosemicarbazones showed moderate to high antioxidant potential when compared to thiazoles. In addition, they were able to interact with albumin and DNA. Screening assays to assess the toxicity of compounds to mammalian cells revealed that thiosemicarbazones were less toxic when compared to thiazoles. In relation to in vitro antiparasitic activity, thiosemicarbazones and thiazoles showed cytotoxic potential against the parasites Leishmania amazonensis and Trypanosoma cruzi. Among the compounds, 1b, 1j and 2l stood out, showing inhibition potential for the amastigote forms of the two parasites. As for the in vitro antimalarial activity, thiosemicarbazones did not inhibit Plasmodium falciparum growth. In contrast, thiazoles promoted growth inhibition. This study shows in a preliminary way that the synthesized compounds have antiparasitic potential in vitro.publishersversionpublishe

Biological activities and physicochemical characterization of alkaline lignins obtained from branches and leaves of Buchenavia viridiflora with potential pharmaceutical and biomedical applications

Funding Information: The study was funded by Foundation for the State of Pernambuco (Process - FACE-04.03/19 ), AP Researcher Research Grant - FACEPE (Process BFP-0038-0 ) and National Council for Scientific and Technological Development grant - CNPq (Process 306865/2020-3 ). This research was also funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the GHTM ( UID/04413/2020 ). Thanks to MR4, who provided us with the Plasmodium falciparum strains that we used in the assays. We also thank the Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance of the Institute of Chemistry and Biotechnology (Federal University of Alagoas- UFAL) for the analysis of NMR. In addition to these, we would also like to thank Mil Madeiras Preciosas, a subsidiary of the Swiss group Precious Woods ( http://preciouswoods.com.br/ ) for providing samples of branches and leaves of Buchenavia viridiflora. Publisher Copyright: © 2022In this work, we investigated in vitro different biological activities of alkaline lignins extracted from the species Buchenavia viridiflora, a tree from the Amazon rainforest used as a wood product. The chemical composition results for the twig and leaves were, respectively (%): cellulose (30.88 and 24. 28), hemicellulose (21.62 and 23.03), lignin (29.93 and 25.46), extractives (13.06 and 20.52), and ash (4.51 and 6.72). The yield was higher for the lignin of the branches (67.9 %) when compared to the leaves (60.2 %). Lignins are of the GSH type, low molecular weight and thermally stable. They promoted moderate to low antioxidant activity, highlighting the lignin of the branches, which presented an IC50 of 884.56 μg/mL for the DPPH assay and an IC50 of 14.08 μg/mL for ABTS. In the cytotoxicity assays, they showed low toxicity against macrophage cells (IC50 28.47 and 22.58 μg/mL). In addition, they were not cytotoxic against splenocytes and erythrocytes at concentrations ranging from 100 to 6.25 μg/mL. These were able to promote splenocyte proliferation and induce the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines. And inhibit the growth of tumor cells with IC50 ranging from 12.63 to values >100 μg/mL and microbial at a concentration of 512 μg/mL. Finally, they showed antiparasitic activity by inhibiting the growth of chloroquine-sensitive and resistant Plasmodium falciparum strains. These findings reinforce that the lignins in this study are promising for potential pharmaceutical and biomedical applications.publishersversionpublishe

Perception of cnidarians by students of the urban and rural school of two municipalities of Pernambuco, Brazil / Percepção dos cnidários pelos alunos da escola urbana e rural de dois municípios de Pernambuco, Brasil

The cnidarians represent an important phylum of zoology, consisting of aquatic animals almost always of marine origin. The representatives of this phylum have important functions, being fundamental in the food chain of many animals, in addition to being important predators, responsible for maintaining the environmental balance. However, the interest in the cnidarian phylum is also related to the numerous accidents caused by some of its representatives, such as caravels and jellyfish, which intensifies the need to address this content more comprehensively in the classroom. For this, teaching resources represent important tools that can help teachers and students in the teaching-learning process, making the approach more pleasurable, didactic, and complete. One of these tools are photographs, which are classified as non-verbal language, effectively contributing to the teaching process, as well as to scientific-technological discoveries, which can be used in any learning environment. In this sense, students from the 5th year of Elementary School, from the city of Paudalho/Pernambuco, participated in a study on cnidarians, where the previous knowledge they obtained on the subject was evaluated, and how the use of tools such as drawings and figures could contribute for the construction of their knowledge about the phylum. The applied methodology, called indirect observation, boosted the understanding of the content, as well as contributed to the development of creativity and observation in the classroom. In addition, this tool boosted the development of cognitive conflicts, since students were able to relate preexisting knowledge with new information obtained during the class, which is fundamental in the science teaching process, whose main objective is to make the student relate the content covered in the classroom, with their daily lives, mobilizing students to expand their knowledge. These attitudes make the teaching of zoology something concrete and certainly more pleasurable, ensuring that good teaching strategies can break down barriers in science teaching

Antioxidant, antimicrobial and immunostimulant properties of saline extract from Caesalpinia pulcherrima (L.) Swartz (Fabaceae) leaves

281-289Caesalpinia pulcherrima (L.) Swartz is a species that originates in India and Central America and is widely distributed in the world. This plant presents important biological properties, due to the presence of some secondary medicinal metabolites, such as tannins, glycosides, flavonoids and diterpenes. In folk medicine, C. pulcherrima is used in different diseases as bronchitis, asthma, infections, wounds and eye irritations. The aim of this study was to perform a phytochemical screening and evaluate which biological properties the saline extract of leaves from C. pulcherrima have against microorganisms and animal cells. Results showed that 15 majority compounds could be found in saline extract distributed among phenol, coumarin and quercetin groups.Saline extract of leaves from C. pulcherrima also showed good results in antioxidant test and showed significant antifungal property against Candida strains. Moreover, the saline extract did not showed cytotoxicity against mice splenocytes and promoted proliferation in these cells. These results may be predictive for future studies using the saline extract from C. pulcherrima leaves as cell stimulant agent in a pharmaceutical phytotherapic formulation used in cicatricial and in vitro immunostimulant assays

REMOÇÃO DO CORANTE REMAZOL VERMELHO DE MEIOS AQUOSOS UTILIZANDO ADSORVENTE MISTO COMPOSTO DE ASPERGILLUS NIGER E CAPIM ELEFANTE

The objective of this work was to evaluate the ability to remove the Remazol Red dye, from a synthetic aqueous solution, using mixed biomass of Aspergillus niger and Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum), under different temperature conditions (30, 40 and 50 ± 2 ºC), in concentrations ranging from 25 to 105 mg/L and time from 0 to 200 min. The kinetic study was characterized by the pseudo-second order model. The Langmuir isotherm model presented the best fit to the linearization technique and presented 3.42mg g -1 adsorption capacity for the model. The spontaneity of the adsorption reaction was obtained by Gibbs free energy. The thermodynamic study indicated that the adsorption was favorable and spontaneous, and that the increase in temperature causes a reduction in the adsorptive capacity.O descarte de efluentes têxteis não tratados nos meios aquosos pode ocasionar em um rápido esgotamento do oxigênio dissolvido, o que resulta em um desequilíbrio noecossistema. São vários os métodos utilizados na remoção de cor, e, dentre eles, a adsorção vem se mostrando como um método de tratamento simples, barato e eficiente. O objetivo deste trabalho consiste em avaliar a habilidade da biomassa mista de Aspergillus niger e capim elefante (Penissetum purpureum Schum) na remoção do corante Remazol Vermelho de uma solução aquosa sintética sob difrentes condições de temperatura (30, 40 e 50 °C), concentrações variando entre 25 e 105 mg/L, tempo de adsorção de 0 a 200 minutos e pH 2.0. O estudo cinético foi caracterizado pelo modelo de pseudo-segunda ordem. Já o modelo de Langmuir se mostrou o melhor ajuste linear das isotermas de adsorção, apresentando uma capacidade de adsorção de 3,42 mg g-1. A esponteneidade da reação de adsorção foi avaliada através daenergia lvire de Gibbs. O estudo termodinâmico indicou que a adsorção é favorável e espontânea, além de que o aumento da temperatura ocasiona em uma redução na capacidade de adsorção. Estes resultados obtidos em efluentes sintéticosdemonstram que o adsorvente misto produzido neste estudo é uma alternativa promissora no tratamento de efluentes contaminados com Remazol Vermelho