A lipidomic cell-based assay for studying drug-induced phospholipidosis and steatosis.

Phospholipidosis and steatosis are two toxic effects, which course with overaccumulation of different classes of lipids in the liver. MS-based lipidomics has become a powerful tool for the comprehensive determination of lipids. LC-MS lipid profiling of HepG2 cells is proposed as an in vitro assay to study and anticipate phospholipidosis and steatosis. Cells with and without preincubation with a mixture of free fatty acids (FFA; i.e. oleic and palmitic) were exposed to a set of well-known steatogenic and phospholipidogenic compounds. The use of FFA preloading accelerated the accumulation of phospholipids, thus leading to a better discrimination of phospholipidosis, and magnified the lipidomic alterations induced by steatogenic drugs. Phospholipidosis was characterized by increased levels of phosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylethanolamines, phosphatidylserines, and phosphatidylinositols, while steatosis induced alterations in FA oxidation and triacylglyceride (TG) synthesis pathways (with changes in the levels of FFA, acylcarnitines, monoacylglycerides, diacylglycerides, and TG). Interestingly, palmitic and oleic acids incorporation into lipids differed. A characteristic pattern was observed in the fold of change of particular TG species in the case of steatosis (TG(54:3) > TG(52:2) > TG(50:1) > TG(48:0)). Based on the levels of those lipids containing only palmitic and/or oleic acid moieties a partial least squares-discriminant analysis model was built, which showed good discrimination among nontoxic, phospholipidogenic and steatogenic compounds. In conclusion, it has been shown that the use of FFA preincubation together with intracellular LC-MS based lipid profiling could be a useful approach to identify the potential of drug candidates to induce phospholipidosis and/or steatosis.

Rapid screening of low-molecular-weight phenols from persimmon (Diospyros kaki) pulp using liquid chromatography/UV-visible/electrospray mass spectrometry analysis.

BACKGROUND: Persimmon fruits have been widely used in traditional medicine owing to their phenolic composition. This research aims to perform a rapid, detailed and affordable study of the profile of low-molecular-weight phenols from persimmon pulp. RESULTS: Two different HPLC-DAD/ESI-MS(n) analyses were performed using a routine three-dimensional ion trap mass spectrometer to analyze the ethanolic extract of persimmon pulp: (1) an untargeted data-dependent analysis to identify the majority of small phenols that included full MS and MS(2) scan events; (2) a targeted data-dependent analysis to identify polymerized phenols (dimers and formic acid adducts) through a source-induced dissociation analysis that included full MS and MS(2) scan events. Thirty-two low-molecular-weight phenols were detected, comprising gallic acid and its glycoside and acyl derivatives, glycosides of p-coumaric, vanillic and cinnamic acids and different flavone di-C-hexosides, most of them reported for the first time in persimmon. CONCLUSION: The use of a straightforward and affordable methodology of analysis led to obtain an up-to-date profiling of low-molecular-weight phenols in persimmon. The results can help future actions aimed to expand the understanding of the phenolic metabolome of persimmon cultivars.

Determination of the antiradical activity and kinetics of pomegranate juice using 2,2-diphenylpicyrl-1-hydrazyl as the antiradical probe.

Whole fruit pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) juice of the 'Wonderful' cultivar was characterized through the elucidation of its antiradical kinetics and activity using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl as the antiradical probe. Time-dependent concentration of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl during its reduction by the juice has been adjusted through a non-linear parametric fitting. Determined total antiradical activity was high, able to reduce 84.58 µmol/l of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl per concentration unit of juice (µl/ml), equivalent to a concentration of 42.29 mmol/l of ascorbic acid (or Trolox). Partial antiradical activities due to the fast-, medium- and slow-kinetics were 49.09, 18.16 and 17.33 µmol/l of reduced 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl per concentration unit of juice (µl/ml), respectively. The corresponding rate constant for the fast-, medium- and slow-kinetics were κ 1 = 6.03, κ 2 = 0.169 and κ 3 = 0.0094 (µl l)/(ml µmol min), respectively. This methodology allows characterization of samples through the accurate determination of the kinetics of their antiradical features, avoiding the use of empirical approximations that hinder the realistic comparison between extracts independently of their origin.

Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry analysis of volatiles, sugars, organic acids and aminoacids in Valencia Late orange juice and reliability of the Automated Mass Spectral Deconvolution and Identification System for their automatic identification and quantification.

Neutral volatiles and non-volatile polar compounds (sugars, organics acids and aminoacids) present in Valencia Late orange juice have been analysed by Gas Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Before analysis, the neutral volatiles have been extracted by Headspace-Solid Phase Microextraction (HS-SPME), and the non-volatile polar compounds have been transformed to their corresponding volatile trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatives. From the resulting raw GC-MS data files, the reliability of the Automated Mass Spectral Deconvolution and Identification System (AMDIS) to perform accurate identification and quantification of the compounds present in the sample has been tested. Hence, both raw GC-MS data files have been processed automatically by using AMDIS and manually by using Xcalibur™, the manufacturer's data processing software for the GC-MS platform used. Results indicate that the reliability of AMDIS for accurate identification and quantification of the compounds present in the sample strongly depends on a number of operational settings, for both the MS and AMDIS, which must be optimized for the particular type of assayed sample. After optimization of these settings, AMDIS and Xcalibur™ yield practically the same results. A total of 85 volatiles and 22 polar compounds have been identified and quantified in Valencia Late orange juice.

Effect of lemon verbena supplementation on muscular damage markers, proinflammatory cytokines release and neutrophils' oxidative stress in chronic exercise.

Intense exercise is directly related to muscular damage and oxidative stress due to excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) in both, plasma and white blood cells. Nevertheless, exercise-derived ROS are essential to regulate cellular adaptation to exercise. Studies on antioxidant supplements have provided controversial results. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of moderate antioxidant supplementation (lemon verbena extract) in healthy male volunteers that followed a 90-min running eccentric exercise protocol for 21 days. Antioxidant enzymes activities and oxidative stress markers were measured in neutrophils. Besides, inflammatory cytokines and muscular damage were determined in whole blood and serum samples, respectively. Intense running exercise for 21 days induced antioxidant response in neutrophils of trained male through the increase of the antioxidant enzymes catalase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase. Supplementation with moderate levels of an antioxidant lemon verbena extract did not block this cellular adaptive response and also reduced exercise-induced oxidative damage of proteins and lipids in neutrophils and decreased myeloperoxidase activity. Moreover, lemon verbena supplementation maintained or decreased the level of serum transaminases activity indicating a protection of muscular tissue. Exercise induced a decrease of interleukin-6 and interleukin-1ß levels after 21 days measured in basal conditions, which was not inhibited by antioxidant supplementation. Therefore, moderate antioxidant supplementation with lemon verbena extract protects neutrophils against oxidative damage, decreases the signs of muscular damage in chronic running exercise without blocking the cellular adaptation to exercise.

Effects of verbascoside, a phenylpropanoid glycoside from lemon verbena, on phospholipid model membranes.

Phenylpropanoid glycosides are water-soluble compounds widely distributed, most of them deriving from medicinal herbs. Among them, verbascoside or acteoside has exhibited a wide biological activity, being free radical scavenging the most representative one. Moreover, antitumor, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombotic and wound healing properties have been previously described. Herein, the interaction of verbascoside with phospholipid membranes has been studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry, fluorescence anisotropy and dynamic light scattering. Verbascoside showed stronger affinity for negatively charged membranes composed of phosphatidylglycerol (PG) than for phosphatidylcholine (PC) membranes. This compound promoted phase separation of lipid domains in PC membranes and formed a stable lipid complex with and approximate phospholipid/verbascoside ratio of 4:1. Despite its hydrophilic character, verbascoside's caffeoyl moiety was located deep into the hydrophobic core of PC membranes and was almost inaccessible to spin probes located at different depths in PG membranes. This compound affected the ionization behavior of the PG phosphate group and most likely interacted with the vesicles surface. The presence of verbascoside decreased the particle size in PG unilamellar vesicles through the increase of the phospholipid head group area. A localization of verbascoside filling the upper region of PG bilayers close to the phospholipid/water interface is proposed. These effects on membranes may help to understand the mechanism of the biological activity of verbascoside and other similar phenylpropanoid glycosides.