Antiviral activities of Boletus edulis, Pleurotus ostreatus and Lentinus edodes extracts and polysaccharide fractions against Herpes simplex virus type 1

Deposited with permissionAntiviral properties of water and methanol extracts from Lentinus edodes, Boletus edulis and Pleurotus ostreatus were evaluated against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Pre-treatment of Vero cells with 75 mg·ml-1 water extracts before virus addition, inhibited 60% of the virus infection and its addition during the virus adsorption period inhibited it up to 80%. Moreover, the mushrooms water extracts were able to significantly inhibit the in vitro virus replication, showing the concentration of a substance required to reduce plaque number in Vero cells by 50% (IC50) values from 26.69 mg·ml-1 to 35.12 mg·ml-1. Methanol extracts exhibited a lower antiviral activity in all cases. In order to identify the type of compounds responsible for the antiviral activity, the low molecular weight (LMW) and high molecular weight (HMW) fractions were evaluated. The activity was found to correlate with the β-glucans present in the polysaccharide fractions, which showed higher antiviral activity than the complete water extracts except for B. edulis where other compounds (probably chitin-binding lectins) might have contributed to the observed activity.This work was also supported by the ALIBIRD-CM S2009/AGR-1469 regional program from the Comunidad de Madrid (Spain

Antiviral compounds obtained from microalgae commonly used as carotenoid sources

Pressurized liquid extraction (PLE), an environmentally friendly technique, has been used to obtain antiviral compounds from microalgae commonly used as carotenoid sources: Haematococcus pluvialis and Dunaliella salina. The antiviral properties of PLE extracts (hexane, ethanol and water) were evaluated against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) at different stages during viral infection. Pretreatment of Vero cells with 75 μg mL -1 of H. pluvialis ethanol extract inhibited virus infection by approximately 85%, whereas the same concentration of water and hexane extracts reduced the virus infectivity 75% and 50%, respectively. D. salina extracts were less effective than H. pluvialis extracts and presented a different behaviour since water and ethanol extracts produced a similar virus inhibition (65%). Moreover, H. pluvialis ethanol extract was also the most effective against HSV-1 intracellular replication. The antiviral activity of water PLE extracts was found to correlate with polysaccharides since the polysaccharide-rich fraction isolated from these extracts showed higher antiviral activity than the original water extracts. A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) characterization of the H. pluvialis ethanol extract showed the antiviral activity of this extract could be partially related with the presence of short-chain fatty acids, although other compounds could be involved in this activity; meanwhile, in the case of D. salina ethanol extract other compounds seemed to be implied, such as: β-ionone, neophytadiene, phytol, palmitic acid and α-linolenic acid. The results demonstrate the use of PLE allows obtaining antiviral compounds from microalgae used as carotenoids sources, which gives the microalgae biomass an added value. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.This work has been financed by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (AGL2005-06726-C04), the programme CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010 (CDS2007-00063) and the regional programme ALIBIRD-CM S-0505/AGR-0153 from the Comunidad de Madrid, Spain.S0505/AGR-0153/ALIBIRDPeer Reviewe

Topical application of acyclovir-loaded microparticles: quantification of the drug in porcine skin layers.

The goal of this work was to increase the amount of acyclovir (ACV) in the basal epidermis, site of Herpes virus simplex infections, using microparticles as carriers. Poly(d,l-lactic–co-glycolic acid) microparticles loaded with ACV were prepared using a solvent evaporation technique. ACV distribution into porcine skin after topical application of microparticles for 6, 24 and 88 h, was determined by horizontal slicing of the skin. An ACV suspension served for comparison. The results showed that, at 6 and 24 h, the quantity of the drug in the basal epidermis with the microparticles, is similar to that obtained with the ACV suspension. However, after 88 h, the ACV reservoir in the basal epidermis was higher with the microparticles compared with the control suspension. This could be explained by the controlled drug release produced by the vector in the basal epidermis. Besides, at 88 h the amount of ACV detected in the receptor chamber of the diffusion cells was much lower with the microparticles than with the suspension. This type of carrier can improve acyclovir topical therapy since it increases drug retention in the basal epidermis and consequently increases the time intervals between doses

Antiviral compounds obtained from microalgae commonly used as carotenoid sources

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10811-011-9692-1Pressurized liquid extraction (PLE), an environmentally friendly technique, has been used to obtain antiviral compounds from microalgae commonly used as carotenoids sources: Haematococcus pluvialis and Dunaliella salina. The antiviral properties of PLE extracts (hexane, ethanol and water) were evaluated against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) at different stages during viral infection. Pre-treatment of Vero cells with 75 µg mL-1 of H. pluvialis ethanol extract inhibited virus infection by approx. 85%, whereas the same concentration of water and hexane extracts reduced the virus infectivity 75% and 50% respectively. D. salina extracts were less effective than H. pluvialis extracts and presented a different behaviour, since water and ethanol extracts produced a similar virus inhibition (65%). Moreover, H. pluvialis ethanol extract was also the most effective against HSV-1 intracellular replication. The antiviral activity of water PLE extracts was found to correlate with polysaccharides, since the polysaccharide-rich fraction isolated from these extracts showed higher antiviral activity than the original water extracts. A GC-MS characterization of the H. pluvialis ethanol extract showed the antiviral activity of this extract could be partially related with the presence of short chain fatty acids, although other compounds could be involved in this activity; meanwhile, in the case of D. salina ethanol extract other compounds seemed to be implied, such as: β-ionone, neophytadiene, phytol, palmitic acid and α-linolenic acid. Results demonstrated the use of PLE allows obtaining antiviral compounds from microalgae used as carotenoids sources, which gives both microalgae biomass an added value.This work has been financed by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (AGL2005-06726-C04), the programme CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010 (CDS2007-00063) and the regional programme ALIBIRD-CM S-0505/AGR-0153 from the Comunidad de Madrid, Spain

Investigaciones e investigadores de la UAM

Continuamos en este número de la revista con la sección: Investigaciones en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, con la que se pretende dar a conocer investigaciones relacionadas con diversas disciplinas científicas que se han desarrollado o se están llevando a cabo en la UAM, con el fin de describir de una forma simple y didáctica tales trabajos, y con ello los contenidos de diversas ramas del conocimiento, y cumplir así con la finalidad inherente a esta revista de divulgar la ciencia así como de contribuir al surgimiento de posibles ideas o iniciativas para posteriores investigaciones por parte de los jóvenes científicos, o de estudiantes universitarios de grado o posgrado que están en disposición y voluntad de llegar a serlo. Se recogen a continuación algunos relatos de investigaciones realizadas por varios profesores de la UAM, los cuales se recogieron en una publicación conmemorativa del cumplimiento de los cuarenta años por parte de esta universidad y relativos a las siguientes disciplinas: Biomedicina, Historia Contemporánea, Química y alimentación, Matemáticas y Bioquímic

Supercritical sage extracts as anti-inflammatory food ingredients

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Industrial Crops and Products. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Industrial Crops and Products, [54, (2014)] DOI: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2014.01.021The anti-inflammatory capacity of supercritical CO2extracts (S1 and S2) obtained from sage (Salvia offi-cinalis) was evaluated using THP-1 human macrophages activated with human ox-LDL, a specific in vitromodel to determine the anti-inflammatory effect of the extracts in an atherosclerotic environment. Theexpression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, with an important role in the atherogenic process, such asTNF- , IL-1 and IL-6, in presence of different extracts concentrations was evaluated. Results showedthat 30 g/mL of both supercritical extracts (S1 and S2) markedly suppressed the ox-LDL induced pro-duction of TNF- , IL-1 and IL-6, as well as their mRNA expression. Data showed that S1 presented ahigher anti-inflammatory activity than S2.A characterization by GC–MS of sage extracts identified 16 compounds, mainly camphor, borneol and1,8-cineole. These three compounds represented a 62.4% of S1 and a 48.1% of S2. Camphor, borneol and1,8-cineole presented an important anti-inflammatory activity in the proposed model, with a decreasein the release and gene expression of TNF- , IL-1 and IL-6 and an increase in IL-10 expression. Theseresults explained the higher activity found in S1.This study suggested that supercritical sage extracts could be used as food ingredients in the develop-ment of anti-inflammatory/anti-atherogenic products.Financial support from Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CICYT) (Project: IPT-300000-2010-034, Ingredientes Saludables Mediterráneos Innovadores (INNSAMED) And Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (ALIBIRD, project S-505/AGR-0153). E.A. thanks Spanish Ministry of Education for a FPU grant

Simultaneous supercritical fluid extraction of heather (Calluna vulgaris L.) and marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) and anti-inflammatory activity of the extracts

Heather (Calluna vulgaris L.) and marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) are two rich sources of bioactive pentacyclic triterpenes. The supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2) extraction of these two plants was explored at a pressure range of 25–50 MPa, 50 ºC, with or without fractionation, different extraction times (1.5–4.0 h) and using ethanol as a co-solvent (0 and 10% w/w). In order to determine potential synergisms, a combined extraction (heather + marigold 50:50) was also studied. In general, higher extraction yields were achieved when the co-solvent was added. Higher concentrations of total triterpenic acids were obtained in heather extracts, specially using ethanol. The co-solvent did not increase the terpene concentration in marigold extracts. For the combined extraction, an antagonist effect in the triterpene concentration was observed in absence of a co-solvent, whereas a synergistic effect was exhibited in its presence, especially for ursolic acid. In general, the extracts showed a certain anti-inflammatory effect, although a straight correlation with the analyzed triterpenic acids concentration was not exhibited. Moreover, the combined extraction exposed a similar anti-inflammatory activity in comparison with the individual plant extractsThe authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (project AGL2013-48943-C2) and the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (ALIBIRD, project number S2013/ABI-2728

Optimization of topical cidofovir penetration using microparticles.

Edelfosine is the prototype molecule of a family of anticancer drugs collectively known as synthetic alkyl-lysophospholipids. This drug holds promise as a selective antitumor agent, and a number of preclinical assays are in progress. In this study, we observe the accumulation of edelfosine in brain tissue after its oral administration in Compritol® and Precirol® lipid nanoparticles (LN). The high accumulation of edelfosine in brain was due to the inhibition of P-glycoprotein by Tween® 80, as verified using a P-glycoprotein drug interaction assay. Moreover, these LN were tested in vitro against the C6 glioma cell line, which was later employed to establish an in vivo xenograft mouse model of glioma. In vitro studies revealed that edelfosine-loaded LN induced an antiproliferative effect in C6 glioma cell line. In addition, in vivo oral administration of drug-loaded LN in NMRI nude mice bearing a C6 glioma xenograft tumor induced a highly significant reduction in tumor growth (p < 0.01) 14 days after the beginning of the treatment. Our results showed that Tween® 80 coated Compritol® and Precirol® LN can effectively inhibit the growth of C6 glioma cells in vitro and suggest that edelfosine-loaded LN represent an attractive option for the enhancement of antitumor activity on brain tumors in vivo

Antioxidant, anti-Inflammatory, and antibacterial properties of an Achillea millefolium L. extract and Its fractions obtained by supercritical anti-solvent fractionation against Helicobacter pylori

The main objective of this work is to evaluate the potential utility of an Achillea millefolium extract (yarrow extract, YE) in the control of H. pylori infection. The supercritical anti-solvent fractionation (SAF) process of YE allowed the obtaining of two different fractions: yarrow’s precipitated fraction (YPF), enriched in most polar phenolic compounds (luteolin-7-O-glucoside, luteolin, and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid), and yarrow’s separator fraction (YSF), enriched in monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, mainly containing camphor, artemisia ketone, and borneol. YE was effective in reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in human gastric AGS cells by 16% to 29%, depending on the H. pylori strain. YPF had the highest inhibitory activity (38–40%) for ROS production. YE modulated the inflammatory response in AGS gastric cells, decreasing IL-8 production by 53% to 64%. This IL-8 inhibition also showed a strain-dependent character. YPF and YSF exhibited similar behavior, reducing IL-8 production, suggesting that both phenolic compounds and essential oils could contribute to IL-8 inhibition. YSF showed the highest antibacterial activity against H. pylori (6.3–7.1 log CFU reduction, depending on the strain) and lower MIC (0.08 mg/mL). Results obtained have shown that YE and SAF fractions (YPF and YSF) were effective as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial agents regardless of the H. pylori strain characteristic