raffinose and 6-hydroxy-2-5-7-8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic-acid

Monguba fruit has a seed with a chestnut-like flavor that can be consumed boiled, fried, and roasted. These nutritious seeds also have been used in popular medicine to treat several diseases. Nevertheless, the nutritional and functional potential of monguba seed is still underexploited. In this sense, we investigated the nutritional and functional components of monguba seeds. These seeds showed high total content of sugars, mainly sucrose, whereas the content of the raffinose family oligosaccharides was low. The mineral assay showed high amount of minerals, namely potassium, calcium, magnesium and zinc, which indicate that monguba seeds can be a new source of these minerals. UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS analysis showed caffeic, ferulic and 4-hydroxybenzoic acids as the main phenolic compounds, mainly in the esterified form, in these seeds. Monguba seed showed high lipid content, in which the main compounds were palmitic acid and γ-tocopherol. The soluble and insoluble phenolic fractions from monguba seeds showed high antioxidant activity measured by the oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC) and the trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assays. Therefore, the monguba seeds have great potential to be explored by food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries due to their chemical composition.

Topics: Antioxidants; Bombacaceae; Caffeic Acids; Chemical Phenomena; Chromans; Coumaric Acids; Fatty Acids; Fruit; gamma-Tocopherol; Nuts; Palmitic Acid; Parabens; Phenols; Plant Extracts; Plant Oils; Potassium; Raffinose; Seeds; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

This study assesses the effects of a vitamin E analogue, Trolox, on the oxidative state, endothelial function and morphology in experimental heart transplantation. Heterotopic heart transplantation was carried out in pigs: untreated after 2 and 24 hours of ischemia and treated with Trolox after 24 hours of ischemia. Prolonged preservation of donor hearts was achieved with continuous perfusion and University of Wisconsin solution, in which acid-base balance and enzymes were determined during the procedure. In recipients, hemodynamic and biochemical parameters were determined at baseline and during reperfusion. Trolox diminished the pH of the preservation solution (p<0.01), the left ventricle of the transplanted heart recovered a systolic pressure equaling that of the 2h group and higher than that of the untreated 24h group (p<0.01), the antioxidant levels were not decreased and the glutathione reductase level was maintained throughout the first part of reperfusion. In this group also there was a direct correlation between the concentration of this enzyme and the antioxidant levels (p<0.001). Although the endothelin concentrations increased, the change was less marked in the Trolox group than in the untreated 24h group (p<0.01). Morphologically, mitochondria and myocardial vessels presented a normal structure in the Trolox group, and interstitial edema, inflammatory infiltrate and contraction bands were less prominent than in the untreated group. All these effects indicate that Trolox protected the transplanted heart, at least partially, against ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Topics: Adenosine; Allopurinol; Animals; Antioxidants; Chromans; Endothelium; Glutathione; Heart; Heart Transplantation; Hemodynamics; In Vitro Techniques; Insulin; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury; Organ Preservation; Organ Preservation Solutions; Oxidation-Reduction; Perfusion; Raffinose; Sus scrofa; Time Factors; Transplantation, Heterotopic; Vitamin E

A complication in liver transplantation is increased clotting times due to inhibition of protein synthesis resulting from prolonged hypothermic preservation. Protein synthesis is also blocked in cold preserved hepatocytes. In this study, the mechanism of inhibition of protein synthesis in cold preserved hepatocytes was investigated.. Hepatocytes prepared from rat liver were cold preserved in University of Wisconsin solution for 4, 24, and 48 hr. Protein synthesis was measured as incorporation of radiolabeled leucine into acid precipitable proteins. Hepatocytes were treated with antioxidants (dithiothreitol, trolox or deferoxamine, nitric oxide synthase inhibitor (N(G)-monomethyl-L-arginine monoacetate), steroids (dexamethasone or methylprednisolone), methods to keep adenosine triphosphate high (aerobic storage), and cytoskeletal disrupting agents (cytochalasin D or colchicine).. There was a 26% decrease in protein synthesis after only 4 hr of cold storage and a further 25% decrease at 24 hr. Antioxidants, elevated adenosine triphosphate, and N(G)-monomethyl-L-arginine monoacetate did not affect the rate of loss of protein synthesis. Protein synthesis was not due to inhibition of amino acid transport or lack of amino acids in the storage medium. Steroid pretreatment of hepatocytes had no effect on the loss of protein synthesis occurring in the first 4 hr of storage but did suppress the loss occurring during the next 44 hr of storage. Cytoskeletal disrupting agents, added to freshly isolated cells, inhibited protein synthesis.. The mechanism of loss of protein synthesis in cold preserved liver cells is not mediated by: (1) oxygen free radical generation or improved by antioxidant therapy, (2) nitric oxide generation in hepatocytes, (3) an adenosine triphosphate-sensitive destruction of cell viability, and (4) decreased permeability of amino acids or loss of amino acids from the cells. Loss of protein synthesis due to hypothermic storage appears biphasic. The first phase, occurring within 4 hr of storage, may be the result of the effects of hypothermia on the cell cytoskeletal system and may be untreatable. The second phase, which occurs during the next 24 to 48 hr is sensitive to steroid pretreatment. This phase may be amenable to improved preservation methodology. Improved preservation of the liver may require the use of steroids to conserve protein synthetic capabilities.

Topics: Adenosine; Allopurinol; Animals; Antioxidants; Chromans; Cryopreservation; Cytosol; Deferoxamine; Dithiothreitol; Glutathione; Insulin; Leucine; Liver; Organ Preservation Solutions; Protein Biosynthesis; Raffinose; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Reperfusion Injury; Tritium; Vitamin E

Reperfusion injury following lung preservation has been associated with free radical formation and subsequent endothelial cell damage. Trolox is a water-soluble analogue of the free radical scavenger alpha-tocopherol. We hypothesized that addition of this form of vitamin E to University of Wisconsin (UW) solution would decrease reperfusion injury and improve lung function after cold ischemic preservation.. Bovine aortic endothelial cells were cultured and stored at 4 degrees C for 12, 24, and 48 h in UW or UW + Trolox (UWT). Endothelial cell viability after storage was assessed by dimethylthiazole tetrazolium cytotoxicity assay. An isolated rat perfused lung (IPL) model was used and lungs were flushed with the respective solutions with cold storage times of 6 and 12 h. Following storage, the lungs were reperfused with fresh blood and lung function was assessed by blood gas analysis, alveolar-arterial gradient, and compliance.. There was no difference in endothelial cell viability between UW and UWT after 12 or 24 h; however, UWT had higher endothelial cell viability than UW with 48 h of cold ischemic storage. Using the IPL model, the pO2 was higher with UWT than UW after 6 and 12 h of cold ischemia. The alveolar-arterial oxygen difference was significantly lower for UWT versus UW at 6 h. UWT provided increased compliance at 6 and 12 h of ischemia.. The addition of a water-soluble vitamin E analogue to UW solution resulted in increased endothelial cell viability after prolonged storage and improved whole lung preservation in the postreperfusion period as evidenced by higher oxygenation and increased compliance. These results are clinically relevant as the lung is extremely sensitive to reperfusion injury and UW solution is being increasingly used in lung transplantation and remains the predominant solution in abdominal organ transplantation.

Topics: Adenosine; Allopurinol; Animals; Cattle; Cells, Cultured; Child; Chromans; Endothelium, Vascular; Glutathione; Humans; In Vitro Techniques; Insulin; Ischemia; Lung; Organ Preservation Solutions; Pulmonary Circulation; Raffinose; Rats; Rats, Inbred Lew; Reperfusion Injury; Solubility; Vitamin E

Dog kidneys were preserved by simple hypothermic storage in UW-lactobionate organ preservation solution for 48 h and analyzed for evidence of lipid peroxidation. The antioxidant function of the UW solution was evident in stored kidney tissues which had significant reductions in conjugated dienes, lipid peroxides, and Schiff base content compared to fresh controls without vascular flushing. Aerobic incubation of kidney cortex homogenates at 37 degrees C for 60 min resulted in increases in conjugated dienes, lipid peroxides, and Schiff bases in UW-stored kidneys. Schiff base production was markedly higher in UW-stored kidneys during warm incubation than in controls. Addition of Trolox (200 microM) to UW solution resulted in significant reductions in Schiff base production during warm aerobic incubation after preservation. In contrast, adding ascorbate (1 mM) to UW solution potentiated oxidative stress during aerobic incubation, with significant increases in conjugated dienes, lipid peroxides, and Schiff bases which were only partially reversed by further addition of Trolox. Increased oxidative stress was correlated with decreased respiratory function (decreased uncoupled respiration rates and sensitivity to oligomycin inhibition) in aerobically incubated homogenates. This study showed that although the UW solution does have an antioxidant function during hypothermic preservation there remains an increased oxidative stress during warm reoxygenation even in optimally harvested kidneys. The antioxidant effect of the UW solution after preservation can be significantly enhanced using the water-soluble vitamin E analogue Trolox. Antioxidant supplementation of UW solution may be advantageous in preserving kidneys with increased oxidative stresses obtained from suboptimal donors in clinical practice.

Topics: Adenosine; Allopurinol; Animals; Antioxidants; Ascorbic Acid; Chromans; Cold Temperature; Dogs; Female; Glutathione; In Vitro Techniques; Insulin; Kidney; Lipid Peroxidation; Male; Malondialdehyde; Organ Preservation; Organ Preservation Solutions; Raffinose

The individual effects of verapamil and 2 antioxidants on perfused rat liver nucleoside triphosphate (NTP) recovery following cold storage in University of Wisconsin (UW) solution was assessed using 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The pharmacological agents were added to UW solution and were present only during organ storage. NTP recovery was significantly higher for the 24-hr UW + 40 microM verapamil group as compared with the 24-hr UW group. None of the other pharmacological agents caused a significant increase in NTP recovery. These findings suggest that addition of verapamil to UW organ preservation solution may result in better poststorage liver function.

Topics: Acetylcysteine; Adenosine; Allopurinol; Animals; Antioxidants; Chromans; Glutathione; Insulin; Liver; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Male; Nucleotides; Organ Preservation; Organ Preservation Solutions; Perfusion; Raffinose; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Verapamil