The present study aimed to evaluate in vivo and in vitro the antitumoural activity of a propolis extract obtained with edible vegetable oil and its fractions and also to investigate its chemical composition by LC-MS and LC-MS/MS. To evaluate the toxicological aspects related to the propolis extract treatment, hematological, biochemical, histopathological and morphological analyses of treated animals were performed. All propolis extracts showed an in vivo antitumour activity in the experimental model with a moderate toxicity effect at experimental exposure levels. The oil extract was as effective as the ethanolic extract at inhibiting tumour growth. In vitro assays showed that the whole oil extract produced better inhibition of tumour cells than its fractions. LC-MS and LC-MS/MS identified four phenolic acids and three flavonoids. The anticancer potential of the oil extract of propolis has been demonstrated and the edible vegetable oil was shown as an attractive alternative solvent to extract bioactive natural propolis components.

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Recently there has been a growing number of patents dealing with new solvents for preparing propolis extracts. This study aimed to prepare edible oil propolis extracts and compare their chemical composition and biological activity with ethanolic propolis extracts. ESI-MS and spectrophotometric methods were used for qualitative and quantitative analyses, respectively. Antibacterial activity was evaluated by diffusion in agar. Cytotoxicity was tested by MTT assay using tumor cell lines. The oil is able to extract bioactive compounds from propolis. Further studies are needed to improve extraction efficiency and to characterize the active components.Keywords: oil propolis extract; phenolic compounds; antibacterial and cytotoxic activities. introduçãoA própolis é uma resina de ampla utilidade para as abelhas e para o homem.1,2 A composição química da própolis é complexa e está relacionada com a flora da região em que foi originada e a época da coleta.3-6 Sua atividade farmacológica tem sido atribuída aos compostos fenólicos, entre eles flavonóides e ácidos fenólicos, cujos teores têm sido propostos como parâmetros para o controle da qualidade. 7,8 Devido às inúmeras propriedades benéficas da própolis, o seu uso comercial em produtos farmacêuticos, cosméticos e de higiene pessoal na forma de extratos líquidos é amplo. Para a elaboração desses produtos, é comumente utilizado o extrato obtido com álcool de cereais 70% v/v e tempos de extração que variam de 1 dia até 6 meses.9 Entretanto, a presença de álcool na formulação confere um sabor não agradável para alguns consumidores.Buscando superar esses inconvenientes, têm surgido muitas patentes que propõem novos métodos de extração da própolis com baixo teor alcoólico ou isento de álcool. [10][11][12][13][14][15] Dentre as alternativas propostas, destaca-se o extrato de própolis obtido com óleo vegetal, o qual conserva bem as características organolépticas da própolis e possibilita a apresentação do produto em cápsulas gelatinosas. Existe uma dúvida, porém, quanto à eficiência do óleo comestível em extrair os principais compostos bioativos da própolis e se os produtos elaborados com o extrato oleoso possuem ou não as propriedades farmacológicas adequadas para a finalidade à qual são destinados.Neste trabalho avaliamos o extrato oleoso de própolis quanto a sua composição química qualitativa e quantitativa de compostos fenólicos extraídos e comparamos os resultados com aqueles obtidos de diferentes extratos etanólicos de própolis. Este estudo empregou as técnicas de espectrometria de massas com ionização por electrospray (ESI-MS) e espectrofotometria no UV-VIS. Como as atividades antibacteriana e citotóxica de extratos hidroalcoólicos e de alguns compostos isolados de própolis são bem conhecidas, 2 procurou-se avaliar se o extrato oleoso também possuía essas atividades. Neste trabalho o extrato oleoso da própolis foi, então, avaliado in vitro em diferentes cepas de organismos patogênicos e em linhagens de célu-las tumorais humanas para estimar suas atividades antibacteriana...

Objective. As propolis is a highly valued bee product, we aimed to verify the quality of aged propolis, investigating their phenolic and flavonoid composition, levels of toxic metals, radical scavenging and antimicrobial activities. Material and Methods. Samples of fresh and aged propolis of six different beekeepers, from the same geographical location, were investigated in terms of their phenolic and flavonoid composition and levels of Pb, Cd, and Cr, as well as radical scavenging and antimicrobial activities. Results. The two groups of propolis had similar qualitative composition by HPLC-PDA and ESI(-)-MS. Fresh propolis and aged propolis show no differences when average values of extraction yield, flavonoids, EC50, or MIC were compared and both types of propolis showed good antimicrobial activity at low concentrations. Only levels of phenolic compounds were higher in fresh propolis. Conclusion. The propolis samples considered in this study, aged or fresh, had similar qualitative composition, although they were collected in different periods. Samples only differed in their levels of total phenolic content. Moreover, aged propolis conserves significant radical scavenging and antimicrobial properties. We suggest that aged propolis should not be discarded but explored for alternative applications.

Concentrations of eleven representative metals (Al, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Pb and Zn) in forty-two propolis samples were measured by electrothermal atomization and flame atomic absorption spectrometry after calcination in a muffle furnace. Samples were collected from different regions from Paraná State - Brazil where apiculture is an important economic activity. Results showed that the average content of Al, Ca, K, Mg, Mn, Na and Zn in propolis was 0.68, 1.66, 7.59, 1.27, 0.08, 0.58 and 0.02 mg g(-1), respectively. Levels of Al, Ca, and Mg were statistically different in some regions of Paraná and could be used to assign the geographical origin of the propolis. The average concentration of the Cd, Cr, and Pb in raw propolis was 0.13, 5.53 and 9.85 μg g(-1), respectively, and allowed for identification of specific areas with environmental contamination.

Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are chemicals, including pharmaceutical and personal care products, not commonly monitored in the aquatic environment. Pharmaceuticals are nowadays considered as an important environmental contaminant. Chromatography methods which require expensive equipment and complicated sample pretreatment are used for detection of CECs in natural water. Thus, in this study we proposed a simple, fast, and low-cost voltammetric method as a screening tool for the determination of CECs in natural water prior to chromatography. A case study was conducted with alprazolam (benzodiazepine). The method was optimized and validated in-house. The limit of quantification was 0.4 μg L(-1) for a 120 s preconcentration time. The recoveries ranged from 93 to 120 % for accuracy tests. A further proposal aim was to determine for the first time the occurrence of alprazolam in Brazilian river water and to evaluate its potential use as a marker of contamination by wastewater.

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A de ter mi na ção se le ti va de As(III), As(V) e áci do di me ti lar sí ni co (DMA) foi es tu da da pela téc ni ca da ge ra ção de hi dre tos -es pec tro me tria de ab sor ção atô mi ca. Os me i os de re du ção se leci o na dos per mi ti ram a de ter mi na ção de As(III) na pre sen ça de tam pão ci tra to (0,4 mol /L, pH4,4), As(III) + As(V) no meio HCl 6 mol/L, após uma pré-redução com io de to de po tás sio, e As(III) + DMA em CH 3 COOH 0,12 mol/L. O teor de ar sê nio to tal pode ser de ter mi na do no meio HCl 6 mol/L, após ser efe tu a da a pré-redução das for mas As(V) e DMA com io de to de po tás sio e clo re to es ta no so. Os efe i tos de in ter fe rên cia ca u sa dos por di fe ren tes íons me tá li cos fo ram, tam bém, ava li a dos.Hydri de ge ne ra ti on -ato mic ab sorp ti on spec tro metry, using so di um te trahy dro bo ra t e(III) as a re duc tant, was used to form ar si nes se lec ti vely from inor ga nic ar se nic(III) and ar se nic(V), and di meth ylar si nic acid (DMA). The se lec ted re ac ti on me dia al lo wed the ra pid de ter m i na ti on of ar se nic(III) alo ne (ci tra te buf fer 0.4 mol/L, pH 4.4), ar se nic(III) + ar se nic(V) (HCl 6 mol/L, af ter pre-reduction with po tas si um io di de) and ar se nic(III) + DMA (ace tic acid 0.12 mol/L) . To tal ar se nic could be me a su red in HCl 6 mol/L, af ter ar se nic(V) and DMA pre-reduction wit h a po tas si um io di de and stan nous chlo ri de mix tu re. Inter fe ren ce ef fects pro du ced by he avy metal ions were also eva lu a ted.Key words: ar se nic spe ci a ti on, hydri de ge ne ra ti on, se lec ti ve re duc ti on, ato mic ab sorp ti o n spec tro metry Intro duc ti onThe en vi ron men tal che mistry of ar se nic is com pli cated by the wi dely dif fe ring pro per ti es of na tu rally ocurring and ant hro po ge nic ar se nic com pounds. Arse nic can be pre sent in na tu re ma inly as inor ga nic spe ci es, ar se ni te and ar se na te, and as meth yla ted spe ci es, in clu ding methylar so na te and di meth ylar si na te. The most wi dely ob served bi o che mi cal fate of ar se nic in the en vi ron ment is meth yla ti on 1,2 . Even whe re meth yla ted ar se nic compounds have not been used agri cul tu rally, inor ga nic ar senic can be con ver ted into meth yla ted forms in the en vi ron ment; the se or ga no ar se nic com pounds are re le ased into the aque ous en vi ron ment, the reby be co ming avai la ble to hig her le vels of the food cha in 3,4 .The bi o a va i la bi lity and the physi o lo gi cal / to xi co lo gical ef fects of ar se nic de pend on its che mi cal form 5 and, thereby, kno wing the ar se nic spe ci a ti on and trans for ma ti ons in the en vi ron ment be co mes very im por tant, ne e ding ac cura te met hods for se pa ra ti on and de ter mi na ti on of ar se nic spe ci es.Nu me rous analy ti cal tech ni ques have been ap pli ed to ar se nic de ter mi na ti on in en vi ron men tal sam ples; the most wi dely ac cep ted pro ce du re for to tal ar se nic analy sis uses the re duc ti on of ar se nic com pounds to ga se...