Caracterización de flavonoides en el extracto alcohólico de hojas de Apium graveolens var. Rapaceum, DC / Characterization of flavonoids in alcohol extract of leaves of Apium graveolens var. Rapaceum DC

Objetivo. Caracterizar flavonoides presentes en el extracto y subextracto metanólico de las hojas de Apium graveolens var. Rapaceum, DC. "Apio-nabo". Materiales y métodos. Se elaboró un extracto y subextracto metanólico de las hojas Apium graveolens var. Rapaceum, DC. "Apio-nabo". Se determinó la solubilidad del extracto metanólico en solventes de polaridad creciente. Se detectaron los componentes químicos del extracto y subextracto metanólico mediante un tamizaje fitoquímico empleando gelatina, tricloruro férrico, reactivo de Shinoda, reactivo de Dragendorff y reactivo de Ninhidrina, entre otros. Se ejecutó cromatografía en capa fina y mediante espectroscopia UV/Vis se propuso estructuras químicas para los metabolitos tipo flavonoides presentes en el extracto y subextracto metanólico de hojas de Apium graveolens var. Rapaceum, DC. "Apio-nabo". Resultados. El extracto metanólico de hojas de Apium graveolens var. Rapaceum, DC fue soluble en solventes polares. Los metabolitos secundarios encontrados son compuestos fenólicos tipo flavonoides, taninos y alcaloides en el extracto y subextracto metanólico. Se propuso tres estructuras químicas de flavonoides a través del análisis de los espectros UV/Vis, y mediante comparación con lo publicado por TJ Mabry y Olga Lock. Conclusión. Se caracterizó la posible estructura química de tres metabolitos secundarios tipo flavona encontrados en el subextracto metanólico de hojas de Apium graveolens var. Rapaceum, DC.

Objective. To characterize flavonoids present in the methanol extract and subextract of the leaves of Apium graveolens var. Rapaceum, DC. "Celery-turnip". Materials and methods. An methanolic extract and subextract of Apium graveolens var. Rapaceum, DC. "Celery-turnip" was prepared. The solubility of the methanolic extract in solvents of increasing polarity was determined. The chemical components of the methanolic extract and subextract were detected by means of a phytochemical screening using gelatin, ferric trichloride, Shinoda reagent, Dragendorff reagent and Ninhydrin reagent, among others. Thin layer chromatography was carried out and by means of UV / Vis spectroscopy chemical structures were proposed for the flavonoid metabolites present in the methanolic extract and subextract of Apium graveolens var. Rapaceum, DC. "Celery-turnip". Results. It was determined that the methanolic extract of the leaves of Apium graveolens var. Rapaceum, DC. is soluble in polar solvents. The metabolites, the phenolic compounds, the flavonoids, the tannins and the alkaloids in the extract and methanol subextract. Flavonoid chemical structures are proposed through the analysis of the UV / Vis spectra, and it has been published with TJ Mabry and Olga Lock. Conclusion. The possible chemical structure of three secondary flavone metabolites found in methanolic subextract of leaves of Apium graveolens var. Rapaceum, DC.

Protection against neurotoxicity by an autophagic mechanism

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of 3-n-butylphthalide (NBP) on a 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+)-induced cellular model of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and to illustrate the potential mechanism of autophagy in this process. For this purpose, rat PC12 pheochromocytoma cells were treated with MPP+ (1 mM) for 24 h following pretreatment with NBP (0.1 mM). Cell metabolic viability was determined by the MTT assay and cell ultrastructure was examined by transmission electron microscopy. The intracellular distribution and expression of α-synuclein and microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) were detected by immunocytochemistry and Western blotting. Our results demonstrated that: 1) NBP prevented MPP+-induced cytotoxicity in PC12 cells by promoting metabolic viability. 2) NBP induced the accumulation of autophagosomes in MPP+-treated PC12 cells. 3) Further study of the molecular mechanism demonstrated that NBP enhanced the colocalization of α-synuclein and LC3 and up-regulated the protein level of LC3-II. These results demonstrate that NBP protects PC12 cells against MPP+-induced neurotoxicity by activating autophagy-mediated α-synuclein degradation, implying that it may be a potential effective therapeutic agent for the treatment of PD.