Essential Oils from Bolivia. XV. Herzogole, an Original Monoterpene Benzodioxole from an Essential Oil from Pentacalia herzogii (Cabrera) Cuatrec.

Over 15 years, with the support of a Canadian funding agency, the Universidad Mayor de San Simón, in Bolivia, undertook a large survey of aromatic plants of the South American country. More than a hundred species were studied under various aspects, including the production and characterization of essential oils. As part of this survey, the chemical composition of an essential oil sample obtained from Pentacalia herzogii (Asteraceae) growing wild in the High Valley region of the department of Cochabamba was determined by a combination of GC and GC-MS measurements. α-Pinene was the main constituent of this essential oil (34%), accompanied by limonene (22%) and germacrene D (7.5%) as well as an important fraction of methoxylated monoterpenoids. They were mainly isomers of thymol methyl ether, accounting for 13% of the chromatogram. A new quantitatively important compound (9%) was identified through NMR and chemical synthesis as 4-isopropyl-6-methylbenzo[d][1,3]dioxole, and designated herzogole, alongside the minor related compound 1-isopropyl-2,3-dimethoxy-5-methylbenzene. The monoterpene benzodioxole featured a distinctive green-phenolic aroma which could raise interest for fragrance use. Since these compounds were not known naturally, a biosynthetic mechanism of their formation was proposed and put in perspective to illustrate the metabolic originality of P. herzogii.

Improving Accuracy and Timeliness of Nursing Documentation of Pediatric Early Warning Scores.

INTRODUCTION: Accurate and timely documentation of pediatric early warning scores (PEWS) by the bedside nurse into the electronic health record (EHR) is important to promote early identification of patients in stages of deterioration. Through the implementation of a PEWS calculator embedded in the EHR, we hope to improve the accuracy of the recorded score and reduce the time between vital sign collection and final documentation in the EHR. METHODS: Identification of the highest PEWS value in the 24 hours before all unplanned transfers or rapid response activations without a transfer occurred between the period November 1, 2013, through December 31, 2016. The accuracy of the calculated cardiac or respiratory subscore based on heart rate or the respiratory rate at the time of PEWS calculation was determined. We tracked the calculation of the time to chart via the difference between nursing documentation of PEWS compared to vital sign collection. Before September 3, 2015, PEWS was calculated mentally by the bedside nurse; afterward, the nurse entered the unique PEWS features into the EHR, and the EHR automatically calculated PEWS. RESULTS: This study evaluated 2,409 PEWS scores, 1,411 before and 998 after initiation of the PEWS calculator. Accuracy before the EHR calculator was 71%, and the median time to document was 55 minutes. Following the implementation of the calculator, no scores were incorrectly calculated too low, and the median time to document was 20 minutes. CONCLUSIONS: Transition to an EHR-based PEWS calculator eliminated inaccurately low PEWS values and reduced time to document.

Antileishmanial metabolites from Lantana balansae

ABSTRACT Eleven compounds, 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (1), persicogenin (2), eriodictyol 3′,4′,7-trimethyl ether (3), phytol (4), spathulenol (5), 4-hydroxycinnamic acid (6), onopordin (7), 5,8,4′-trihydroxy-7,3′-dimethoxyflavone (8), quercetin (9), jaceosidin (10), and 8-hydroxyluteolin (11), were isolated from an ethanol extract of Lantana balansae Briq., Verbenaceae, that was found to possess antileishmanial activity. The structures of the compounds were determined by NMR spectroscopy and HR mass spectrometry, and 1, 2, 3, 7, 8 and 9 were investigated for antiprotozoal activity toward promastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis and Leishmania braziliensis. Compound 1 was shown to be the most potent, with the IC50 values 2.0 µM toward L. amazonensis and 0.68 µM toward L. braziliensis, although less potent than the positive control Amphotericin B. All compounds have been reported previously, but this is the first report of the isolation of a cyclopentenone fatty acid (1) and flavanones (2 and 3) from a Lantana species.

Cytotoxic Sesquiterpene Lactones from Kauna lasiophthalma Griseb.

Two new eudesmane derivatives (3 and 8) were isolated from the ethanol extract of the aerial parts of Kaunia lasiophthalma Griseb, together with 14 known eudesmane, germacrane, and guaiane sesquiterpenes, and four flavones. The structures and relative configurations of all the compounds were established by NMR spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry. The anticancer activity of sesquiterpenes 1, 3, 6-9, 11, 12, 14, and 16 was evaluated in vitro with the breast cancer cell lines HCC1937, JIMT-1, L56Br-C1, MCF-7, and SK-BR-3, and compared with the cytotoxicity in the non-cancerous breast epithelial cell line MCF-10A. All compounds were found to possess anticancer activity, and compound 1 was the most potent in all of the investigated cancer cell lines with IC50 values ranging between 2.0 and 6.2 µM. In order to demonstrate the importance of the α-methylene-γ-lactone/ester moiety present in all compounds for the effects on the cells, the methyl cysteine adduct 21 was prepared from 9 and found to be inactive or considerably less potent.