Acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity from Amaryllis belladonna growing in Chile: enzymatic and molecular docking studies.

Alkaloid profiles from Amaryllis belladonna plants collected in Chile were examined by GC-MS to assess their inhibitory activity on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) using in vitro and in silico methodologies. The alkaloid extract was roughly separated by column chromatography on silica gel. AChE inhibitory activities from extracts and purified alkaloids were tested by the Ellman method and a molecular docking study was performed to assess the interaction between AChE and purified alkaloids. Sixteen alkaloids were found from hexane and chloroform extracts, and three were isolated and identified as buphanidrine, acetylcaranine and lycorine. Chloroform extract showed the greatest AChE inhibitory activity with IC50 value 8.89 µg/mL, whereas buphanidrine exhibited the highest inhibitory activity, with IC50 value 17.56 µg/mL. Inhibition kinetics showed that buphanidrine acts as a mixed inhibitor and molecular docking supports this inhibition mechanism. Overall, our study supports the potential use of A. belladonna as an alkaloid source with AChE inhibitory activity.[Formula: see text].

Bioconversion of potato solid waste into antifungals and biopigments using Streptomyces spp.

Potato waste was processed and used as a sole substrate for simultaneously producing antifungals and biopigments using Streptomyces spp. Out of three different Streptomyces isolates, strain SO6 stood out due to its ability to produce antifungals against economically important fungal phytopathogens and intracellular biopigments using potato waste powders without additional nutrients. This strain also showed the potential to secrete a broad range of enzymes for fermentation of eight sugars that could be involved in potato waste bioconversion. The results of the fermentation assay indicated that Streptomyces sp. strain SO6 degrades potato wastes during submerged fermentation, diminishing total dry weight and increasing reducing sugars from 0.3 to 3.6 mg·mL-1 and total proteins from 70.6 to 187.7 µg·mL-1. The results showed that Streptomyces strain SO6 was able to convert the potato waste into 0.96 mg·g-1 of diffusible antifungals and 1.75 mg·g-1 of reddish-purple biopigments. On the contrary, an absence of pigment production was observed during the fermentation of the commercial medium used as reference. According to our results, replacement of commercial culture media with available low-cost agroindustrial wastes for producing bioactive chemicals is a real opportunity to enhance the Streptomyces pigment production and antibiotic sustainability with cost-competitiveness. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the simultaneous production of biopigments and diffusible antifungal antibiotics produced by Streptomyces spp. using potato solid waste as the sole nutrient source.

Release with or without reconstruction of the transverse carpal ligament for severe carpal tunnel syndrome: a randomized clinical trial.

The objective of this study is to compare the clinical effectiveness of two surgical techniques in patients with severe unilateral idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome. A total of 117 patients were randomized in two groups. In the experimental group ( n = 59) reconstruction of the transverse carpal ligament was performed after open retinaculum release (TCL reconstruction group). In the control group ( n = 58) only retinaculum release was performed (TCL release group). The primary outcome measure was grip strength; secondary outcome measures were pain and response to the Boston questionnaire. Significance was analysed using the t-test or Mann-Whitney test. At 6 months, the experimental group showed clinical and statistically significant improvement in grip strength and decrease in symptom severity. Retinaculum release with reconstruction of the transverse carpal ligament results in improvement of grip strength in the medium term when compared with open retinaculotomy in patients with severe unilateral idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.