The inflammatory process, although beneficial, can produce tissue damage and systemic damage when uncontrolled. Effective therapeutic alternatives with little or no side effects are of great therapeutic interest. This study aimed to determine the phytochemical composition of bark extracts from J. cordata, an endemic plant from México, and evaluate their in vitro anti-inflammatory activity. Hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol extracts were characterized by qualitative phytochemical tests, and their bioactive groups were identified by ¹H NMR and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The extract’s anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated as nitric oxide (NO) production and their cytotoxicity by an MTS cell proliferation assay in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW 264.7 cells at concentrations of 1–100 μg/mL. The hexane extract contained fatty acids, fatty esters, phytosterols, alkanes, vitamin E, and terpenoids; the ethyl acetate extract showed fatty acids, fatty esters, aromatic aldehyde, phytosterols, vitamin E, and terpenoids, while the methanolic extract showed fatty esters, fatty acid, aromatics aldehydes, and alcohol. The ethyl acetate extract showed the highest inhibition of NO production, followed by the methanolic extract and the hexane extract, without affecting the viability of RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. The results suggest that J. cordata extracts are a potential source of bioactive compounds with anti-inflammatory potential.

The hymenolepiosis by Hymenolepis nana is a major public health problem in developing countries, and the commercial drugs against this parasitosis are not enough effective. The combination of antiparasitic and antioxidant agents has improved the treatment of some parasitoses. Thus, the development of new cestocidal and antioxidant agents to treat the hymenolepiosis cases is important. In the present study, four hydroxy- and four dihydroxy-chalcones were synthesized using the catalyst boron trifluoride diethyl etherate (BF₃•OEt₂). The antioxidant activity and antiparasitic against H. nana of chalcones were tested, as well as the toxicity by the brine shrimp lethality bioassay and the method of Lorke. The antioxidant activity was measured by three radical scavenging assays: 2,2’-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP). The hydroxyl substitution pattern (number and position), mainly in ring B, was responsible for the chalcone antiparasitic activity. At least one meta or para hydroxyl group in ring B was essential for activity of the synthetic chalcones against H. nana; The time taken for the parasite to die by the 3b and 3e chalcones (20 mg/mL) treatment was up to six times lower than the control drug Praziquantel. On the other hand, chalcones with catechol structure in ring B (3g and 3h) showed the highest antioxidant values. The toxicity evaluations suggests that synthetic hydroxychalcones with cestocidal (3b and 3e) and antioxidant (3g and 3h) activities are safe compounds and potential in vivo agents to treat this parasitosis.

An in silico assay was designed, and generated compounds were studied to delimitate the synthesis by microwave irradiation–conventional heat combination. In vitro evaluation as antihyperglycemic and hypoglycemic agents were made, where 2s has good potential.

Chitosan is a biopolymer obtained from shrimp waste mainly by a polluting chemical method. In this work, a less polluting biological-chemical method to obtain chitosan from this waste has been optimized; this method used a successive lactic fermentation and chemical process. Additionally, in this work, the effect of chitosan coating on the post-harvest behavior of fresh-cut papaya was studied as a practical application. A rotatable central composite design (CCRD) with two variables (fermentation time and total soluble solids of the fermentation medium) was used to optimize the chitosan extraction. The optimized conditions for chitosan extraction were 108 h and 8.74 °Brix. The optimized chitosan showed a high deacetylation degree of 83%, acceptable process yield of 2.03%, a low ash content of 0.23% and a molecular weight of 107.5 kDa. In addition, optimized chitosan decreased the loss of color and acidity, as well as the growth of microorganisms; it also increased the pH of minimally processed papaya slices without a statistically significant difference with that of commercial chitosan. Based on these results, optimized chitosan could be applied to other fruits as a coating to maintain their quality characteristics and inhibit microbial growth during the storage of fresh-cut fruits.