Current Bioactive Compounds - Volume 13, Issue 2, 2017

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a deteriorating neurodegenerative non-curable disease that affects millions worldwide. Current drugs have side effects that are significant. In AD, the betaamyloid precursor protein (β-APP), critical for normal neuron growth, survival and repair, is improperly cleaved by specific aspartic proteases creating fragments that form amyloid beta. These fragments aggregate outside neur Read More

Oxidative injury or cellular damage developing from free radicals or reactive oxygen species (ROS) seems to be the basic mechanism involved in the etiology of different ailments such as neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, inflammatory and other chronic diseases. The data proposes that ROS of any origin can be quench using natural scavengers contained by our daily foods and medicinal plants. In this context, the search of no Read More

Background: Despite considerable evidence showing the importance of the 1,4- dihydropyridines, there are very few review articles which provide full access to systematic literature. This review aims to provide synthetic strategy of 1,4-dihydropyridines and medicinal application of different substituted dihydropyridines to develop potent molecules. Methods: A detailed structured search of bibliographic databases was underta Read More

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative and irreversible disease that inevitably progresses to the death. The usage of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors has been effective in reducing the symptoms of this disease. This study aims to examine the compounds from the species of Amaryllidaceae family as a source for active compounds able to inhibit AChE and contribute to the treatment of AD. Read More

Background: Convulsion is a central neurological disorder and it occurs due to excess firing of the neurons. Globally, the number of patients suffering by convulsion is increasing day by day. There is a current need of discovery and development of new potential anticonvulsant agents. Methods: A series of novel pyrimidine derivatives (1a to 2e) were synthesized from benzaldehyde, ethylacetoacetate, thiourea or urea t Read More

Background: Essential oils extracted from plant materials are widely studied because of their fungicide and bactericide actions. However, these essential oils also contain compounds with antioxidant activity. Therefore, the antioxidant capacity of essential oils from spices, herbs and citrus was analyzed. Methods: We evaluated the antioxidant activity of the extracts of spices, herbs and citrus essential oils with the aid of in vitro t Read More

Background: Antioxidant and Anti-LOX properties of plant species are important in the selection of plants for their medicinal and phytochemical assessment. This study aims at comparing antioxidant and anti-LOX properties of ethanolic extracts from different plant parts (leaf and stem) at different phenological stages (mature and immature) of the rare Acridocarpus orientalis. Methods: Fresh A. orientalis samples were colle Read More

Background: Capsaicinoids content of peppers is one of the major parameters that determine its commercial and nutritional values. Despite their properties and application in the food industry, capsaicinoid compounds have been widely studied in the pharmaceutical area due to their therapeutic activities such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, antitumor, antiobesity, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. Methods: Capsa Read More

Background: In this research, we investigated which bioactive substances are found in Hibiscus tiliaceus and whether they might make this plant a suitable additive to ruminant feed. The substances investigated include saponin, fumaric acid, and flavonoids. It is possible that these additives could minimise methane emission, and improve the growth performance of indigenous cattle. Methods: We evaluated the nutrient conte Read More

Background: Many species of the genus Vitex from the Verbenaceae family are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various medical conditions such as depression, venereal diseases, malaria, asthma, allergy, wounds, skin diseases, snake bite and body pains. One of them, Vitex agnuscastus L. has been used to treat pain, swelling, inflammation, headaches, rheumatism, and sexual dysfunction. Methods: The anal Read More

Background: The rhizome of Oni-dokoro (a wild yam, Dioscorea tokoro) has extremely bitter taste and is not generally regarded edible; however, in northern part of Japan, such as Iwate and a part of Aomori, it is used as health promoting food. To clarify the reason, we examined the biologically active compounds in the rhizome collected at Iwate and compared them from the other area in literature. Methods: The acetonitrile ext Read More