Enzymatic Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activity of Oligomer Analogues of Medicinal Biopolymers from Comfrey and Other Species of the Boraginaceae Family

This study reports the first enzymatic synthesis leading to several oligomer analogues of poly[3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)glyceric acid]. This biopolymer, extracted from plants of the Boraginaceae family has shown a wide spectrum of pharmacological properties, including antimicrobial activity. Enzymatic ring opening polymerization of 2-methoxycarbonyl-3-(3,4-dibenzyloxyphenyl)oxirane (MDBPO) using lipase from Candida rugosa leads to formation of poly[2-methoxycarbonyl-3-(3,4-dibenzyloxyphenyl)oxirane] (PMDBPO), with a degree of polymerization up to 5. Catalytic debenzylation of PMDBPO using H2 on Pd/C yields poly[2-methoxycarbonyl-3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)oxirane] (PMDHPO) without loss in molecular mass. Antibacterial assessment of natural polyethers from different species of Boraginaceae family Symhytum asperum, S. caucasicum,S. grandiflorum, Anchusa italica, Cynoglossum officinale, and synthetic polymers, poly[2-methoxycarbonyl-3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)oxirane (PMDMPO) and PMDHPO, reveals that only the synthetic analogue produced in this study (PMDHPO) exhibits a promising antimicrobial activity against pathogenic strains S.aureus ATCC 25923 and E.coli ATCC 25922 the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) being 100 µg/mL.

The wild plants of Scotia Illustrata (1684)

Scotia Illustrata was published in 1684 and contains a section (II:1) describing 662 ‘naturally occurring plants of Scotland’. This paper sets out to identify and discuss the species in the text. It was possible to identify 652 species from the text and 396 could be securely identified. Most of these are species which are widespread today, but there are some important exceptions. Three arable weeds are mentioned which now seem to be extinct in Scotland: Lolium temulentum, Scandix pecten-veneris and Euphorbia exigua. There are also references to one possibly-extinct river species (Sium latifolium), and one coastal species (Centaurea calcitrapa). Two species, now rare in Scotland, are described in the text as species widespread on roads: Cynoglossum officinale and Hyoscyamus niger.

Біополімери сполучної тканини сироватки крові в коней за отруєння чорнокоренем лікарським (Cynoglоssum officinаle)

<p>The results of a complex study of the effect of Cynoglossum officinale on the organism of horses were presented in the article. The research was conducted in the period from 2014 to 2017 at the Derkulsky stud farm in Lugansk region. It has been established that poisoning by Cynoglossum officinale causes a violation of the hepatotoxic biliary system and the development of cirrhosis in horses. A set of biochemical parameters of blood serum that may be markers of dystrophic processes in liver tissues was determined. The most informative indicators for diagnosis of cirrhosis of the liver in horses are indicators that characterize the state of the connective tissue, namely the content of glycosaminoglycans and their fractions. There was a tendency to increase the number of general GAGs in the horses which died, compared to the control group. In animals that survived, this indicator increased significantly (p≤0.05) compared to the control, indicating the development of fibrous changes in the tissues of parenchymal organs. After analysis of the level of separate GAGs fractions, it was determined that level I of GAGs fraction in all groups was higher than the reference norm, indicating a metabolic abnormality of GAGs of the connective tissue, in particular chondroitin-6-sulfate, especially in animals that survived after poisoning (p≤0.05). Level II of GAGs fraction for most of the horses which died after Cynoglossum officinale poisoning was also higher than the norm: 3.12 ± 0.49 un., and in the horses that survived this figure was 2.67 ± 0,23 un. Consequently, after Cynoglossum officinale poisoning the formation of cholesterol-4 and dermatan sulfates increased that is usually observed in the degenerative processes in the liver and is accompanied with the growth of the connective tissue. Level III of GAGs fraction, the major part of which is heparan and keratan sulfates, increased by 2.6 times (p≤0.05) in case of death of animals after Cynoglossum officinale poisoning and by 2.4 times (p≤0.05) in the horses that survived. It is possible that depolymerization of heparan sulfate occurs in the stromal elements of the liver and of other internal organs which is replaced by chondroitin-4-sulfates as a result of poisoning of the animals by Cynoglossum officinale while Ito cells are transforming into myofibroblasts. These data are confirmed by morphological studies of the liver, which are manifested by dystrophic changes, on the background of cell cytology, hepatodepressive syndrome and an increase in the volume of connective tissue which leads to the death of most of the horses and to the development of chronic pathological process in animals that survive.<strong></strong></p>