Percorrer por autor "Campos, Maria G."
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- Analytical methods for honeybee venom characterizationPublication . Mehdi, Iouraouine El; Falcão, Soraia; Boujraf, Saïd; Mustapha, Harandou; Campos, Maria G.; Vilas-Boas, MiguelThe discovery of new drugs has benefited significantly from the development of research in venomics, increasing our understanding of the envenomation processes. It has been previously reported that honeybee venom (HBV) exhibits several pharmacological activities such as anti‑inflammatory, antibacterial, antimutagenic, radioprotective, and anticancer activity and may inclusively act as a complementary treatment for SARS‑CoV‑2. It composition consists mainly on melittin, phospholipase A2, and apamin but other constituents such as hyaluronidase, mast cell degranulating peptide and secapin are also relevant for its bioactivity. However, and because HBV is not officially recognized as a drug, until now, the international community did not establish quality standards for it. To uncover its exact composition, and boost the discovery of HBV‑derived drugs, a significant number of techniques were developed. In this review, a relevant overview of the so far published analytical methods for HBV characterization is organized with the aim to accelerate its future standardization. The literature search was performed within PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct by selecting specific documents and exploring HBV evaluation.
- Chemical, cytotoxic, and anti-inflammatory assessment of honey bee venom from Apis mellifera intermissaPublication . El Mehdi, Iouraouine; Falcão, Soraia; Harandou, Mustapha; Boujraf, Saïd; Calhelha, Ricardo C.; Ferreira, Isabel C.F.R.; Anjos, Ofélia; Campos, Maria G.; Vilas-Boas, MiguelThe venom from Apis mellifera intermissa, the main honey bee prevailing in Morocco, has been scarcely studied, despite its known potential for pharmacological applications. In the present work, we investigated the composition, the anti-inflammatory activity, and the venom’s cytotoxic properties from fifteen honey bee venom (HBV) samples collected in three regions: northeast, central, and southern Morocco. The chemical assessment of honey bee venom was performed using LC-DAD/ESI/MSn, NIR spectroscopy and AAS spectroscopy. The antiproliferative effect was evaluated using human tumor cell lines, including breast adenocarcinoma, non-small cell lung carcinoma, cervical carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and malignant melanoma. Likewise, we assessed the anti-inflammatory activity using the murine macrophage cell line. The study provides information on the honey bee venom subspecies’ main components, such as melittin, apamin, and phospholipase A2, with compositional variation depending on the region of collection. Contents of toxic elements such as cadmium, chromium, and plumb were detected at a concentration below 5 ppm, which can be regarded as safe for pharmaceutical use. The data presented contribute to the first study in HBV from Apis mellifera intermissa and highlight the remarkable antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory effects of HBV, suggesting it to be a candidate natural medicine to explore.
- A doubled-faced bee venom collector: a new contribution to improve bee venom collectionPublication . El Mehdi, Iouraouine; Mustapha, Harandou; Vilas-Boas, Miguel; Campos, Maria G.Collecting bee venom or apitoxin requires careful work with the highest degree of cleanliness. Furthermore, precautions at the time of collection in the apiary must be considered. Several kinds of bee venom collector exist in the market of beekeeping equipment [1,2]. In the apparatus used outside the hive, the collector panel is put on the entrance or on the bottom board of the hive. Other types are used inside the hive, on or instead of the frames. The aim of this study is to provide an improved device for collecting bee venom with required quality at several scales: 1-quality of the bee venom namely, specifically purity and physico-chemical characteristics, 2- yield of the collection, 3-stability of the beehive as well as the apiary, 4-reduce bee damage or the death of the excited bees per period of collection, 5- provide an affordable device for Moroccan beekeepers. The improvement affects several levels and sections: electronic control system part, stainless wire array, venom collection surface. As a result of the study we can conclude that it is possible to make a bee venom collector that is relatively cheap and, at the same time, suited to Moroccan conditions. The optimum frequency of bee venom collecting event is every 10 to 15 days and the optimum duration of bee venom collection in the beehive is 30 min to 60 min early in the morning. The experiment showed that the best method consists of placing the frame at one of the outermost opposite ends of the beehive. An average yield per period of collection (30 min to 60 min) and per beehive was from 30 to 35 mg of dry venom. Furthermore the quality was very promising. With the present apparatus bee venom is dried on clean conditions with the minimum contaminations and without secondary air current, reducing dead or injured worker bees – 15 to 30 died bees. The presence of a wire tensioner provides a good conductibility of the current and consequently an optimum bee electrocuting. In view of the foregoing, three conclusions draw oneself: 1-The production of bee venom in Moroccan apiary will constitute a new practice in addition to others and consequently an additional income for beekeepers. 2-This device will be the first step to develop other apparatus with several improved and coupled techniques. 3-The feasibility of bee venom collected by this device can likely confirmed by a chemical and biological characterization.
- Enzyme inhibitory potential of ligustrum lucidum aiton berriesPublication . Paula, Vanessa B.; Delgado, Teresa; Campos, Maria G.; Anjos, Ofélia; Estevinho, Leticia M.Ligustrum lucidum Aiton and its berries have been used in Chinese traditional medicine for around two thousand years. In the present study, L. lucidium berries harvested in two regions of Portugal were studied. Haemolytic activity and inhibition of oxidative haemolysis as well as the enzyme inhibitory activities ( -amylase enzyme and acetylcholinesterase) were assessed. Results suggest that the different biological activities varied according to the region where samples were collected. Results demonstrated that the sample obtained from region R1 was the most efficient extract for all parameters evaluated, presenting the lowest values of IC50, 10.67 0.46 g/mL for the inhibition of erythrocyte oxidative haemolysis, 58.28 3.77 g/mL for the -amylase enzyme and 67.67 2.10 g/mL for the acetylcholinesterase inhibition. L. Lucidum berries may be an interesting source of compounds for use in the development of the therapeutic armamentarium for diseases where enzymatic disruption is believed to play a role.
- Quality of bee pollen submitted to drying, pasteurization, and high-pressure processing-A comparative approachPublication . Anjos, Ofélia; Seixas, Natália; Antunes, Carlos A.L.; Campos, Maria G.; Paula, Vanessa B.; Estevinho, Leticia M.Bee Pollen is a valuable and useful natural food product that can be used for different purposes, among which medical ones. This matrix is deemed a superfood because of its chemical composition, which is rich in nutrients and possesses significant bioactivities, including antioxidant and microbiological properties. Nevertheless, the storage conditions and processing methods must be optimized to maintain their properties and maximise their application. This work investigates the best bee pollen conservation process and its impact on individual con-stituents. Monofloral bee pollen was analysed for 30 and 60 days after three different storage processes (drying, pasteurization, and high-pressure pasteurization). The results showed a decrease mainly in fatty acid and amino acid content for the dried samples. The best results were obtained with high-pressure pasteurization, maintaining the proteins, amino acids and lipids characteristics of pollen and the lowest microbial contamination.
- Screening of biological activities of ligustrum lucidum berries: a comparative approachPublication . Delgado, Teresa; Paula, Vanessa B.; Campos, Maria G.; Farinha, Nelson; Caeiro, André; Estevinho, Leticia M.; Anjos, OféliaLigustrum lucidum Aiton including its berries have been used in Chinese Traditional Medicine for around 2000 years. Scientific studies developed on the last decades provided evidence on some biological properties of these products, mostly from particular geographic origins. In the present study, L. lucidium berries harvested in two regions of Portugal were considered. Extracts obtained with 100% ethanol, with 50% ethanol/water (v/v) and in boiled water were prepared and several parameters were assessed: antioxidant activity (using two methodologies), antimicrobial activity and phenolic profile. Results suggest that the different biological activities varied according to the region where samples were collected but also with the extraction methodology. Superior antioxidant potential was observed in water extracts, according to both assays, while for the remaining activities the ethanol 50% extracts had the highest activity. In these regions, the L. lucidum berries showed promising biological activities and may be interesting sources of compounds for the development of new drugs for diseases where oxidant reactive species and enzymatic disruption are believed to play a role as well as adjuvants for current antibiotic therapy.
- Special bioactivities of phenolics from Acacia dealbata l. with potential for dementia, diabetes and antimicrobial treatmentsPublication . Paula, Vanessa B.; Pedro, Soraia I.; Campos, Maria G.; Delgado, Teresa; Estevinho, Leticia M.; Anjos, OféliaSome diseases still need better therapeutic approaches, including the prevention of development. Natural resources are investigated with this purpose; among them, we decided to use an invasive plant as a main strategy. This will help in two ways: screening new compounds in flowers prevents the plant from causing widespread damage by controlling the dissemination and also obtains crude material for further applications. In the present study, flower extracts from Acacia dealbata Link harvested in Portugal were studied during three stages of flowering. Phenolic compounds were evaluated using HPLC/DAD and the total phenolics as the total flavonoids content was determined. The bioactivities screened were antioxidant potential, inhibitory activities of some enzymes (acetylcholinesterase, lipase and -glucosidase) and, to complete the screening, the inhibition of microbial growth was determined against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, as well as for yeasts. The data obtained suggested that the hydroethanolic extracts gave good results for all these biological activities and varied according to the maturation status of the flowers, with the early stage being the most active, which can be related to the chalcones content. This new approach will lead to the possible control of the invasive plant and also future perspective research for therapeutic purposes.
- Standard methods for pollen researchPublication . Campos, Maria G.; Anjos, Ofélia; Chica, Manuel; Campoy, Pascual; Nozkova, Janka; Almaraz-Abarca, Norma; Barreto, Lidia M.R.C.; Nordi, João Carlos; Estevinho, Leticia M.; Pascoal, Ananias; Paula, Vanessa B.; Choupina, Altino; Dias, L.G.; Tešić, Živoslav L. j.; Mosić, Mirjana D.; Kostić, Aleksandar Ž.; Pešić, Mirjana B.; Milojković-Opsenica, Dušanka M.; Sickel, Wiebke; Ankenbrand, Markus J.; Grimmer, Gudrun; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Keller, Alexander; Förster, Frank; Tananaki, Chrysoula H.; Liolios, Vasilios; Kanelis, Dimitrios; Rodopoulou, Maria-Anna; Thrasyvoulou, Andreas; Paulo, Luísa; Kast, Christina; Lucchetti, Matteo A.; Glauser, Gaëtan; Lokutova, Olena; Almeida-Muradian, Ligia Bicudo; Szczęsna, Teresa; Carreck, Norman L.“Bee pollen” is pollen collected from flowers by honey bees. It is used by the bees to nourish themselves, mainly by providing royal jelly and brood food, but it is also used for human nutrition. For the latter purpose, it is collected at the hive entrance as pellets that the bees bring to the hive. Bee pollen has diverse bioactivities, and thus has been used as a health food, and even as medication in some countries. In this paper, we provide standard methods for carrying out research on bee pollen. First, we introduce a method for the production and storage of bee pollen which assures quality of the product. Routine methods are then provided for the identification of the pollen’s floral sources, and determination of the more important quality criteria such as water content and content of proteins, carbohydrates, fatty acids, vitamins, alkaloids, phenolic and polyphenolic compounds. Finally, methods are described for the determination of some important bioactivities of bee pollen such as its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antimutagenic properties. Métodos estándar Para la investigación del polen El "polen de abeja" es el polen recogido de las flores por las abejas melíferas. El polen de abeja es utilizado para nutrir a las propias abejas, principalmente para proporcionar jalea real y alimento para las crías, pero también se utiliza para la nutrición humana. Para este último fin, se recoge en la entrada de la colmena en forma de gránulos que las abejas llevan a la colmena. El polen de abeja tiene diversas bioactividades, por lo que se hautilizado como alimento para la salud, e incluso como medicamento en algunos países. En este artículo, proporcionamos métodos estándar para llevar a cabo investigaciones sobre el polen de abeja. En primer lugar, presentamos un método de producción y almacenamiento de polen de abeja que garantiza la calidad del producto. A continuación, se ofrecen métodos de rutina para la identificación de las fuentes florales del polen y la determinación de los criterios de calidad más importantes, como el contenido de agua y de proteínas, carbohidratos, ácidos grasos, vitaminas, alcaloides y compuestos fenólicos y polifenólicos. Por último, se describen métodos para la determinación de algunas bioactividades importantes del polen de abeja, como sus propiedades antioxidantes, antiinflamatorias, antimicrobianas y antimutagénicas.