The chemical composition and biological activity of a sample of yellow propolis from Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil (EEP-Y MS), were investigated for the first time and compared with green, brown, and red types of Brazilian propolis and with a sample of yellow propolis from Cuba. Overall, EEP-Y MS had different qualitative chemical profiles, as well as different cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities when compared to the other types of propolis assessed in this study and it is a different chemotype of Brazilian propolis. Absence of phenolic compounds and the presence of mixtures of aliphatic compounds in yellow propolis were determined by analysing 1H-NMR spectra and fifteen terpenes were identified by GC-MS. EEP-Y MS showed cytotoxic activity against human tumour strain OVCAR-8 but was not active against Gram-negative or Gram-positive bacteria. Our results confirm the difficulty of establishing a uniform quality standard for propolis from diverse geographical origins. The most appropriate pharmacological applications of yellow types of propolis must be further investigated.

Recebido em 14/4/03; aceito em 21/10/03 BISPHOSPHONATES AS OSTEOTROPIC CARRIERS FOR DESIGNING SITE-DIRECTED DRUGS. Drug therapy involving bone tissue diseases is difficult, calling for the design of specific drugs. The present paper is a brief review of a new site-directed system termed ODDS (osteotropic drug delivery system), based on a latenciation process, using bisphosphonates as bone carriers. This is an important tool for the rational prodrug design for obtaining selective drugs.Keywords: bisphosphonates; prodrugs; ODDS. INTRODUÇÃOA liberação seletiva de fármacos no local de ação via pró-fármacos tem gerado interesse considerável para aumentar a potência e diminuir os efeitos adversos dos protótipos dos quais derivam. Embora muitas formas de pró-fármacos seletivos tenham sido desenvolvidas, o tecido ósseo ainda permanecia como um alvo limitado, devido às suas propriedades biológicas e à falta de um sistema circulatório semelhante ao de outros tecidos 1 . O tecido ósseo adulto é distinguido de outros tecidos pela presença de fosfato e cálcio mineral, como a hidroxiapatita [Ca 10 (PO 4 ) 6 (OH) 2 ], que incorpora em sua estrutura outros íons e sais, sendo o principal componente mineral constituinte do osso e o elemento essencial responsável pela função de apoio mecânico 2-4 . Devido à dinâmica do tecido ósseo, este é continuamente desgastado pela atividade osteoclástica e substituído pela atividade osteoblástica, ambas reguladas por fatores sistêmicos e locais [5][6] . Como qualquer outro tecido, os ossos são suscetíveis a doenças que influenciam a atividade osteoclástica, como o hiperparatiroidismo e câncer, sendo a hipercalcemia resultado de destruição direta e localizada do tecido ósseo por células neoplásicas 7 . Exemplos primá-rios são a artrite reumatóide (AR) e a lesão espinhal, nas quais se observa a perda gradual e rápida de massa óssea 8,9 . Recentemente, propôs-se um novo e promissor sistema de liberação de fármacos para atingir o tecido ósseo via pró-fármacos denominado "Osteotropic Drug Delivery System (ODDS)", que utiliza os bifosfonatos como transportadores 10 . Os bifosfonatos (BFs) são conhecidos por sua alta afinidade pela hidroxiapatita. Esta propriedade trópica óssea dos BFs possibilitou sua utilização no planejamento de formas latentes de liberação de fármacos nas estruturas ósseas ou na medula óssea 1 . Os pirofosfatos (P-O-P) são reguladores fisiológicos da calcificação e reabsorção óssea, naturalmente presentes no soro e na urina. A ação dos bifosfonatos deve-se à sua semelhança estrutural com este grupo de compostos 11-13 (Figura 1).O trabalho nesta área tem-se concentrado na liberação de radioisótopos, mas, atualmente, as pesquisas compreendem a liberação de outras moléculas, cuja atividade farmacológica é bem definida. Estas incluem agentes antineoplásicos, anabolizantes, antiinflamatórios e, recentemente, proteínas 4 .A descoberta de que os BFs podiam inibir a reabsorção óssea foi realizada em 1960, após tentativas para identificar agentes que fossem semelhantes ao pirofosfato e q...

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The identification of gasoline adulteration by organic solvents is not an easy task, because compounds that constitute the solvents are already in gasoline composition. In this work, the use of hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) with a statistical approach for identifying gasoline adulteration by organic solvents is described. Both principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) from NMR data of 47 commercial samples allowed the distinction between conform and nonconform samples. The 1H NMR−PCA and 1H NMR−HCA models were evaluated through the analyses of 21 intentionally adulterated samples, which showed a tendency to meet in the nonconform group with the increase of the solvent concentration.

For over a century, Catuaba has been used in Brazilian folk medicine as an aphrodisiac even though the identity of the plant material employed is often uncertain. The species recommended by the Brazilian Pharmacopeia is Anemopaegma arvense (Bignoniaceae), but many other plants, regionally known as Catuaba, are commercialised. Frequently, the quality control of such a complex system is based on chemical markers that do not supply a general idea of the system. With the advent of the metabolomics approach, a global analysis of samples becomes possible. It appears that (1)H-NMR is the most useful method for such application, since it can be used as a wide-spectrum chemical analysis technique. Unfortunately, the generated spectra is complex so a possible approach is to look at the metabolite profile as a whole using multivariate methods, for example, by application of principal component analysis (PCA). In the present paper, we describe for the first time a proton high-resolution magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H-HR-MAS NMR) method coupled with PCA for the metabolomic analysis of some commercial Catuaba samples, which provided a reduction in the time required for such analysis. A comparative study of HPLC, HR-MAS and liquid-NMR techniques is also reported.

Pyrazinamide was condensed with the poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(aspartic acid) copolymer (PEG-PASP), a micelle-forming derivative was obtained that was characterized in terms of its critical micelle concentration (CMC) and micelle diameter. The CMC was found by observing the solubility of Sudan III in Poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(pyrazinamidomethyl aspartate) copolymer (PEG-PASP-PZA) solutions. The mean diameter of PEG-PASP-PZA micelles, obtained by analyzing the dynamic light-scattering data, was 78.2 nm. The PEG-PASP-PZA derivative, when assayed for anti-Mycobacterium activity, exhibited stronger activity than the simple drug.

dammarenediol-II e 3α,20(S)-diidroxidamar-24-eno. Além desses foram ainda isolados o monoterpeno novo 2(S*)-fenilacetoxi-4(R*)-p-menta-1(7),5-dieno, e os triterpenos novos 3βfenilacetoxiurs-12-eno, 3β-fenilacetoxiolean-12-eno e 3β,16β,11α-triidroxiurs-12-eno. Os triterpenos de T. burserifolia, T. rhoifolia e Dacryodes foram analisados em mistura. Os espectros de RMN 13 C mostraram que os principais triterpenos eram α-amirina e estigmasterol em D. hopkinsii. A quimiossistemática da tribo Protieae é discutida.Trattinnickia burserifolia has yielded the known ursanes, α-amyrenone, α-amyrin, 3-epi-αamyrin, 3α,16β-dihydroxyurs-12-ene, the oleananes β-amyrenone, β-amyrin, 3-epi-β-amyrin, 3α,16β-dihydroxyolean-12-ene, the tirucallane acids 3α-hydroxytirucall-8,24-dien-21-oic, 3αhydroxytirucall-7,24-dien-21-oic and 3-oxotirucall-8,24-dien-21-oic, the dammaranes dammarenediol-II and 3α,20(S)-dihydroxydammar-24-ene. Besides it was isolated the new monoterpene 2(S*)-phenylacetoxy-4(R*)-p-mentha-1(7),5-diene and, the new triterpenes 3βphenylacetoxyurs-12-ene, 3β-phenylacetoxyolean-12-ene and 3β,16β,11α-trihydroxyurs-12-ene. The triterpenes from T. burserifolia, T. rhoifolia and Dacryodes were analyzed in mixture. Their 13 C NMR spectra showed that the major triterpenes were in T. burserifolia α-amyrin and β-amyrin; in T. rhoifolia α-amyrin, β-amyrin, 3-epi-α-amyrin, 3-epi-β-amyrin, and lupenone; in T. rhoifolia αamyrin, β-amyrin, 3-epi-α-amyrin, 3-epi-β-amyrin, 3α-hydroxytirucall-8,24-dien-21-oic acid and 3α-hydroxytirucall-7,24-dien-21-oic acid; in D. hopkinsii α-amyrin, β-amyrin, lupeol, tirucallol, sitosterol and stigmasterol. Aspects of chemosystematic of the tribe Protieae are discussed.

The metabolite profiling associated with the antioxidant potential of Amazonian fruits represents an important step to the bioactive compound′s characterization due to the large biodiversity in this region. The comprehensive bioactive compounds profile and antioxidant capacities of mamey apple (Mammea americana), camapu (Physalis angulata), and uxi (Endopleura uchi) was determined for the first time. Bioactive compounds were characterized by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (UPLC-MSE) in aqueous and ethanolic extracts. Globally, a total of 293 metabolites were tentatively identified in mamey apple, campau, and uxi extracts. The main classes of compounds in the three species were terpenoids (61), phenolic acids (58), and flavonoids (53). Ethanolic extracts of fruits showed higher antioxidant activity and total ion abundance of bioactive compounds than aqueous. Uxi had the highest values of phenolic content (701.84 mg GAE/100 g), ABTS (1602.7 μmol Trolox g−1), and ORAC (15.04 μmol Trolox g−1). Mamey apple had the highest results for DPPH (1168.42 μmol TE g−1) and FRAP (1381.13 μmol FSE g−1). Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy results showed that sugars and lipids were the substances with the highest amounts in mamey apple and camapu. Data referring to chemical characteristics and antioxidant capacity of these fruits can contribute to their economic exploitation.