ABSTRACT
Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by trematode worms of the genus Schistosoma that affects almost 240 million people worldwide, with more than 700 million people living in endemic areas. Praziquantel has been widely used in the treatment of patients diagnosed with schistosomiasis since the 1980s. However, it has no effect on immature worms and does not prevent reinfection, which raises the concern with a possible resistance of the worm due to selective pressure by the extensive use. Niclosamide is the only molluscicide recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) commercially available to control the snail population, however, it has low selectivity, high cost and difficulty in operation. This scenario demonstrates the importance of implementing measures that focus on the search for new alternatives to the drugs currently available for the treatment and prevention of schistosomiasis. The diversity of marine organisms is a promising source for prospecting several compounds, applicable to medicine, agriculture, food and the environment. In this work, an evaluation of the schistosomicidal and molluscicidal activity of seaweed extracts of Ochtodes secundiramea in solvents of different polarities was carried out. The methanol extract demonstrated schistosomicidal activity, the hexane and dichloromethane extracts demonstrated activity in both test models. A metabolomic analysis will be performed to identify a possible active compound against schistosomiasis.
A esquistossomose é uma doença parasitária causada por vermes trematódeos do gênero Schistosoma que afeta quase 240 milhões de pessoas no mundo, onde mais de 700 milhões de pessoas vivem em áreas endêmicas. O composto que é amplamente utilizado no tratamento de pacientes diagnosticados com esquistossomose desde a década de 80 é o praziquantel, porém, não possui efeito sobre os vermes imaturos e não previne contra uma reinfecção, alertando sobre uma possível resistência do verme devido à pressão seletiva pelo seu uso. Niclosamida é o único moluscicida recomendado pela Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS) disponível comercialmente para controle da população de caramujos; entretanto, possui uma baixa seletividade, alto custo e dificuldade de operacionalização. Este cenário demonstra a importância da implementação de medidas que tenham como foco a busca por novas alternativas aos fármacos atualmente disponíveis para o tratamento e prevenção da esquistossomose. A diversidade de organismos marinhos é uma promissora fonte de prospecção de diversos compostos, aplicáveis à medicina, agricultura, alimentos e meio ambiente. Neste trabalho, foi realizada uma avaliação da atividade esquistossomicida e moluscicida dos extratos da alga marinha Ochtodes secundiramea em solventes de diferentes polaridades. O extrato em metanol demonstrou atividade esquistossomicida, os extratos em hexano e diclorometano demonstraram atividade em ambos os modelos de teste. Será realizada uma análise metabolômica para identificação de um possível composto ativo contra a esquistossomose.
ABSTRACT
The macroalga Ochtodes secundiramea is a well-known producer of essential terpene oils with promising biological activities and similar applications to those of microalgal biocompounds in the pharmaceutical, food or cosmetics sectors. This study assesses the environmental impacts associated with the production of five essential terpene oils (myrcene, 10Z-bromomyrcene, 10E-bromo-3-chloromyrcene, apakaochtodene B and acyclic C10H14Br2) by O. secundiramea cultivated in a closed airlift photobioreactor with artificial illumination. The results of the life cycle assessment (LCA) allowed analyzing the effect of implementing a semi-continuous operation on several stages of the life cycle of the products, which may lead to impact reductions from 1% up to 25%. Regarding the most problematic aspects of the process, the cultivation in the photobioreactor (S4) was identified as the main stage responsible for the environmental burdens, with contributions ranging between 60% and 80% of the total impacts for a semi-continuous production maintained during one year of operation. The electricity supply is the key activity affecting eight of the ten assessed categories and involves between 50% and 60% of the impact of the process. S4 is the main cause of the high energy requirements, with 86% of the total electricity consumption. Additionally, several scenarios aiming at improving the environmental profile of the system were evaluated. The application of LCA finally led to the proposal of two optimized scenarios with improvements between 8% and 40% with respect to the baseline case study.
Subject(s)
Oils, Volatile/metabolism , Rhodophyta/physiology , Terpenes/metabolism , Acyclic Monoterpenes , Alkenes , Environment , Environmental Monitoring , Monoterpenes , Oils, Volatile/toxicity , Risk Assessment , Terpenes/toxicityABSTRACT
Abstract Alzheimer's disease affects nearly 36.5 million people worldwide, and acetylcholinesterase inhibition is currently considered the main therapeutic strategy against it. Seaweed biodiversity in Brazil represents one of the most important sources of biologically active compounds for applications in phytotherapy. Accordingly, this study aimed to carry out a quantitative and qualitative assessment of Hypnea musciformis (Wulfen) J.V. Lamouroux, Ochtodes secundiramea (Montagne) M.A. Howe, and Pterocladiella capillacea (S.G. Gmelin) Santelices & Hommersand (Rhodophyta) in order to determine the AChE effects from their extracts. As a matter of fact, the O. secundiramea extract showed 48% acetylcholinesterase inhibition at 400 μg/ml. The chemical composition of the bioactive fraction was determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS); this fraction is solely composed of halogenated monoterpenes, therefore allowing assignment of acetylcholinesterase inhibition activity to them.
