scholarly journals Preclinical toxicity test results of a new antiviral–immune-modulator compound consisting of flavonoid molecules (COVID-19 clinical trial preliminary data)

Author(s):  
Gürer G. Budak ◽  
Seçil Özkan ◽  
Mehmet Budak ◽  
Tamay Şeker ◽  
Bahar Meryemoglu ◽  
...  

Aim: Isolated specific glycone–aglycone conjugated flavonoids which are investigated for their effect of bioavailability and molecular concentrations. The specific formula is then tested via in vitro and in vivo cytotoxicity tests. Methods: Considering the higher affinity for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), quercetin, quercetin 3-sambubioside-3’-glucoside, luteolin, apigenin-7-4’alloside, kaempferol-7-O-glucoside, epicatechin-epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate, and hesperetin were selected to investigate the effects of a new combination of the formula. Specific chemical analyses, such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS), quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (QTOF–MS) analysis and ultraviolet–visible (UV–VIS) spectrophotometry, were performed for molecular qualification and quantification. Results: In silico molecular docking analyses have shown that flavonoids can bind strongly to the spike protein and main protease of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Flavonoids also have anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating activity by inhibiting cytokines. Although flavonoids may be a treatment alternative for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an effective flavonoid compound has yet to be developed. The main problem here is that the absorption rate of flavonoids is very low (2–10%) in the intestines, and these compounds are metabolized rapidly. In contrast, according to recent literature, a conjugated flavonoid mixture is better absorbed in the small intestine, and its toxic effects are relatively fewer. Conclusions: It is found that the new formula has no cytotoxic or genotoxic effects. Furthermore, oral administrations of the new compound did not produce any toxicity symptoms or any mortality in male and female rats. The pre-clinical in vitro and in vivo toxicity test results indicated that the new flavonoid formula can be safely used for clinical trials.

Diagnostics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Danese ◽  
Davide Negrini ◽  
Mairi Pucci ◽  
Simone De Nitto ◽  
Davide Ambrogi ◽  
...  

Bile acids (BA) play a pivotal role in cholesterol metabolism. Their blood concentration has also been proposed as new prognostic and diagnostic indicator of hepatobiliary, intestinal, and cardiovascular disease. Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) currently represents the gold standard for analysis of BA profile in biological samples. We report here development and validation of a LC–MS/MS technique for simultaneously quantifying 15 BA species in serum samples. We also established a reference range for adult healthy subjects (n = 130) and performed a preliminary evaluation of in vitro and in vivo interference. The method displayed good linearity, with high regression coefficients (>0.99) over a range of 5 ng/mL (lower limit of quantification, LLOQ) and 5000 ng/mL for all analytes tested. The accuracies were between 85–115%. Both intra- and inter-assay imprecision was <10%. The recoveries ranged between 92–110%. Each of the tested BA species (assessed on three concentrations) were stable for 15 days at room temperature, 4 °C, and −20 °C. The in vitro study did not reveal any interference from triglycerides, bilirubin, or cell-free hemoglobin. The in vivo interference study showed that pools obtained from hyper-cholesterolemic patients and hyper-bilirubinemic patients due to post-hepatic jaundice for benign cholestasis, cholangiocarcinoma and pancreatic head tumors had clearly distinct patterns of BA concentrations compared with a pool obtained from samples of healthy subjects. In conclusion, this study proposes a new suitable candidate method for identification and quantitation of BA in biological samples and provides new insight into a number of variables that should be taken into account when investigating pathophysiological changes of BA in human diseases.


Molecules ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (9) ◽  
pp. 2140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinchi Feng ◽  
Yang Li ◽  
Chenxi Guang ◽  
Miao Qiao ◽  
Tong Wang ◽  
...  

Linarin, a flavone glycoside, is considered to be a promising natural product due to its diverse pharmacological activities, including analgesic, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective activities. In this research, the metabolites of linarin in rat intestinal flora and biosamples were characterized using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/Q-TOF-MS/MS). Three ring cleavage metabolites (4-hydroxybenzoic acid, 4-hydroxy benzaldehyde and phloroglucinol) were detected after linarin was incubated with rat intestinal flora. A total of 17 metabolites, including one ring cleavage metabolite (phloroglucinol), were identified in rat biosamples after oral administration of linarin. These results indicate that linarin was able to undergo ring fission metabolism in intestinal flora and that hydrolysis, demethylation, glucuronidation, sulfation, glycosylation, methylation and ring cleavage were the major metabolic pathways. This study provides scientific support for the understanding of the metabolism of linarin and contributes to the further development of linarin as a drug candidate.


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