ABSTRACT
Plant species are precursors of a wide variety of secondary metabolites that, besides being useful for themselves, can also be used by humans for their consumption and economic benefit. Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) fruit is not only a common food and spice source, it also stands out for containing high amounts of antioxidants (such as vitamins C and A), polyphenols and capsaicinoids. Particular attention has been paid to capsaicin, whose anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative and analgesic activities have been reported in the literature. Due to the potential interest in pepper metabolites for human use, in this project, we carried out an investigation to identify new bioactive compounds of this crop. To achieve this, we applied a metabolomic approach, using an HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography) separative technique coupled to metabolite identification by high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). After chromatographic analysis and data processing against metabolic databases, 12 differential bioactive compounds were identified in sweet pepper fruits, including quercetin and its derivatives, L-tryptophan, phytosphingosin, FAD, gingerglycolipid A, tetrahydropentoxylin, blumenol C glucoside, colnelenic acid and capsoside A. The abundance of these metabolites varied depending on the ripening stage of the fruits, either immature green or ripe red. We also studied the variation of these 12 metabolites upon treatment with exogenous nitric oxide (NO), a free radical gas involved in a good number of physiological processes in higher plants such as germination, growth, flowering, senescence, and fruit ripening, among others. Overall, it was found that the content of the analyzed metabolites depended on the ripening stage and on the presence of NO. The metabolic pattern followed by quercetin and its derivatives, as a consequence of the ripening stage and NO treatment, was also corroborated by transcriptomic analysis of genes involved in the synthesis of these compounds. This opens new research perspectives on the pepper fruit's bioactive compounds with nutraceutical potentiality, where biotechnological strategies can be applied for optimizing the level of these beneficial compounds.
Subject(s)
Capsicum/chemistry , Capsicum/metabolism , Nitric Oxide/pharmacology , Capsicum/drug effects , Capsicum/growth & development , Carbolines/analysis , Carbolines/metabolism , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Flavin-Adenine Dinucleotide/analysis , Flavin-Adenine Dinucleotide/metabolism , Fruit/chemistry , Fruit/drug effects , Fruit/growth & development , Fruit/metabolism , Humans , Mass Spectrometry/methods , Metabolomics/methods , Quercetin/analysis , Quercetin/metabolism , Quercetin/pharmacology , Sphingosine/analogs & derivatives , Sphingosine/analysis , Sphingosine/metabolism , Tryptophan/analysis , Tryptophan/metabolismABSTRACT
El carcinoma neuroendocrino de cérvix uterino (CNCU) es una entidad infrecuente asociada a un comportamiento agresivo. El tratamiento óptimo no está definido claramente. Rara vez se asocia a una gestación. Se presentan 2 casos de CNCU tratados en nuestro departamento, el primero de ellos asociado a un embarazo
Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the uterine cervix is a rare disease with very aggresive behavior. The optimal initial therapeutic approach has not yet been clearly defined. It rarely is complicated by pregnancy. We present 2 cases of this entity treated in our department, the first associated to gestation
