Chemical composition of shallot (Allium ascalonicum Hort.)

An extensive phytochemical analysis of the polar extracts from bulbs of shallot, Allium ascalonicum Hort., led to the isolation of two new furostanol saponins, named ascalonicoside A1/A2 (1a/1b) and ascalonicoside B (4), respectively, along with compounds 2a and 2b, most likely extraction artifacts. On the basis of 2D NMR and mass spectrometry data, the structures of the novel compounds were elucidated as furost-5(6)-en-3beta,22alpha-diol 1beta-O-beta-D-galactopyranosyl 26-O-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside] (1a), its epimer at position 22 (1b), and furost-5(6),20(22)-dien-3beta-ol 1beta-O-beta-D-galactopyranosyl 26-O-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->2)-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside] (4). This is the first report of furostanol saponins in A. ascalonicum. High concentrations of quercetin, isorhamnetin, and their glycosides were also isolated and described.     

Minor diterpenoids from cascarilla (Croton eluteria Bennet) and evaluation of the cascarilla extract and cascarillin effects on gastric acid secretion

Three new diterpenoids belonging to the clerodane (2-3) and halimane (4) structural types have been isolated from the bark of Croton eluteria Bennet, commonly known as cascarilla. Their structures have been fully characterized by spectroscopic means. Cascarilla extract and its major component, cascarillin, were found to significantly increase histamine-induced gastric acid secretion in the mouse stomach. These preliminary results provide the first rationale for the use of cascarilla in bitter preparations aimed at improving digestion.     

Natural and Semisynthetic Analogues of Manadoperoxide B Reveal New Structural Requirements for Trypanocidal Activity

Chemical analysis of the Indonesian sponge Plakortis cfr. lita afforded two new analogues of the potent trypanocidal agent manadoperoxide B (1), namely 12-isomanadoperoxide B (2) and manadoperoxidic acid B (3). These compounds were isolated along with a new short chain dicarboxylate monoester (4), bearing some interesting relationships with the polyketide endoperoxides found in this sponge. Some semi-synthetic analogues of manadoperoxide B (6–8) were prepared and evaluated for antitrypanosomal activity and cytotoxicity. These studies revealed crucial structure–activity relationships that should be taken into account in the design of optimized and simplified endoperoxyketal trypanocidal agents.     

Anti-Obesity Activity of the Marine Carotenoid Fucoxanthin

Nowadays the global tendency towards physical activity reduction and an augmented dietary intake of fats, sugars and calories is leading to a growing propagation of overweight, obesity and lifestyle-related diseases, such diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome. In particular, obesity, characterized as a state of low-level inflammation, is a powerful determinant both in the development of insulin resistance and in the progression to type 2 diabetes. A few molecular targets offer hope for anti-obesity therapeutics. One of the keys to success could be the induction of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) in abdominal white adipose tissue (WAT) and the regulation of cytokine secretions from both abdominal adipose cells and macrophage cells infiltrated into adipose tissue. Anti-obesity effects of fucoxanthin, a characteristic carotenoid, exactly belonging to xanthophylls, have been reported. Nutrigenomic studies reveal that fucoxanthin induces UCP1 in abdominal WAT mitochondria, leading to the oxidation of fatty acids and heat production in WAT. Fucoxanthin improves insulin resistance and decreases blood glucose levels through the regulation of cytokine secretions from WAT. The key structure of anti-obesity effect is suggested to be the carotenoid end of the polyene chromophore, which contains an allenic bond and two hydroxyl groups. Fucoxanthin, which can be isolated from edible brown seaweeds, recently displayed its many physiological functions and biological properties. We reviewed recent studies and this article aims to explain essential background of fucoxanthin, focusing on its promising potential anti-obesity effects. In this respect, fucoxanthin can be developed into promising marine drugs and nutritional products, in order to become a helpful functional food.     

Preliminary Structure-Activity Relationship on Theonellasterol, a New Chemotype of FXR Antagonist, from the Marine Sponge Theonella swinhoei

Using theonellasterol as a novel FXR antagonist hit, we prepared a series of semi-synthetic derivatives in order to gain insight into the structural requirements for exhibiting antagonistic activity. These derivatives are characterized by modification at the exocyclic carbon-carbon double bond at C-4 and at the hydroxyl group at C-3 and were prepared from theonellasterol using simple reactions. Pharmacological investigation showed that the introduction of a hydroxyl group at C-4 as well as the oxidation at C-3 with or without concomitant modification at the exomethylene functionality preserve the ability of theonellasterol to inhibit FXR transactivation caused by CDCA. Docking analysis showed that the placement of these molecules in the FXR-LBD is well stabilized when on ring A functional groups, able to form hydrogen bonds and π interactions, are present.     

Ascribing Ecological Meaning to Habitat Shape by Means of a Piecewise Regression Approach to Fractal Domains

A fractal dimension (FD) indicates the ability of a set of structures to fill the Euclidean space where it is embedded. For habitat boundaries, FD is bound to a plane, thus 1 ≤ FD  ≤ 2. FD is low for simple shapes and increases as patches become more irregular. Some authors have found that FD metric delineating area-perimeter relation (APR) is best fitted through piecewise linear curves, where the slope of each line segment is one-half the FD over the corresponding scaling region. The detection of shifts in boundary FD of landscape habitats is a significant issue in ecology, since discontinuities could be an index of a substantial modification of the processes and dynamics that generate and maintain habitats. This work makes use of fractal analysis to examine the relationship between anthropogenic processes and habitat spatial patterns. It proposes two goals (1) suggesting Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS®) as a fast and effective approach to discover shifts in APR of landscape patches; (2) explaining the substantial existence of such shifts using a set of human-related predictor variables. MARS methodology has been applied to 6 types of habitats within the Baganza stream watershed (Parma, Italy) and the discovered patterns have been correlated with anthropogenic variables that could influence APR. A standardized linear discriminant analysis (DA) has been used to predict FDs from the set of the employed predictors. DA corroborated the existence of breakpoints in APR and explained the contribute of predictor variables in determining the discovered shifts.