Phytophenols are important bioactive food based chemical entities, largely present in several natural sources. Among them, sesamol is one of the key natural phenols found in sesame seeds, Piper cubeba etc. Several studies have reported that sesame oil is a potent cardioprotective functional food. Papers on the utility of sesamol in sesame oil (the chemical name of sesamol is methylenedioxyphenol, MDP) have appeared in the literature, though there is no single concise review on the usefulness of sesamol in sesame oil in CVD in the literature. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the most challenging health problem encountered by the global population. There has been increasing interest in the growth of effective cardiovascular therapeutics, specifically of natural origin. Among various natural sources of chemicals, phytochemicals are micronutrients and bio-compatible scaffolds having an extraordinary efficacy at multiple disease targets with minimal or no adverse effect. This review offers a perspective on the existing literature on functional ingredients in sesame oil with particular focus on sesamol and its derivatives having nutritional and cardioprotective properties. This is demonstrated to have shown a specifically modulating oxidative enzyme myeloperoxidase (MPO) and other proteins which are detrimental to human well-being. The molecular mechanism of cardioprotection by this food ingredient is primarily attributed to the methylenedioxy group present in the sesamol component.

Owing to its electro-inactive character, anisole (phenylmethyl ether, PhOCH₃) and its related derivatives have been used as electrolytes in electrochemistry. Herein, we report a simple one-step electro-organic conversion of PhOCH₃ to hydroquinone (HQ) on a pristine-MWCNT–Nafion modified electrode glassy carbon electrode surface, GCE/Nf–MWCNT@HQ, in pH 2 KCl–HCl solution within 15 min of working time. The chemically modified electrode showed a highly redox-active and well-defined signal at an apparent standard electrode potential, E^o′ = 0.45 V vs. Ag/AgCl (A2/C2) with a surface excess value, Γ_HQ = 2.1 × 10⁻⁹ mol cm⁻². The formation of surface-confined HQ is confirmed by collective physicochemical and spectroscopic characterizations using TEM, UV-Vis, Raman, FTIR, NMR and GC-MS techniques and with several control experiments. Consent about the mechanism, the 2.1% of intrinsic iron present in the pristine-MWCNT is involved for specific complexation with oxygen donor organic molecule (PhOCH₃) and hydroxylation in presence of H₂O₂ (nucleophilic attack) for HQ-product formation. The GCE/Nf–MWCNT@HQ showed an excellent heterogeneous-electrocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) species in acidic solution with a linear calibration plot in a range, 5–500 ppm at an applied potential, 0.4 V vs. Ag/AgCl with a detection limit, 230 ppb (S/N = 3; amperometric i–t). As a proof of concept, selective detection of toxic Cr(VI) content in the tannery-waste water has been demonstrated with a recovery value ∼100%.

Aim: To evaluate new chemical entities, based on ferulic acid scaffolds, as reversible myeloperoxidase inhibitors (MPOI). Methodology & results: In silico docking studies are performed with MPO pro...

Lipoyl-apocynin and lipoyl-sesamol are bio-active conjugates of thioctic acid (also known as alpha-lipoic acid), synthesized using a benign chemical approach via the combination of thioctic acid and the powerful bio-phytonutrients, apocynin and sesamol, respectively. Encapsulation was performed for chemically modified thioctic acid conjugates within a liposome structure as a possible drug carrier for targeted site delivery without chemical degradation, which could be useful in myeloperoxidase (MPO) mediated atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) treatment. A facile processing route for the thioctic acid conjugates with the complete chemical characterization and bio-encapsulation of these chemical entities in a liposome sphere was developed, and analysis to establish the encapsulation efficiency, zeta potential, vesicle size, surface morphology, and long-term sustained stability was performed. The liposome conjugates were also characterized via critical in vitro experiments. The encapsulation efficiency of the thioctic acid conjugates was found to be almost 70%. In addition, the vesicle size and zeta potential were also measured for the formulated thioctic acid conjugates. The chromatographic evaluation of the encapsulated conjugates revealed that the liposomes seem to protect the thioctic acid conjugates when incubated in simulated body fluid, preventing ester hydrolysis, thereby offering chemical stability to the thioctic acid conjugates. The liposome loaded conjugates were also determined to be potent agents for MPO mediated atherosclerotic CVD in relevant preclinical in vitro tests. This is the first report of a highly efficient and sustainable chemical method for the liposomal encapsulation of thioctic acid conjugates of apocynin and sesamol that has been substantiated using relevant in vitro assays, and it could be useful for MPO-mediated atherosclerotic CVD treatment.

Novel methylenedioxyphenyl-based amides, especially N-(4-methoxybenzyl)-6-nitrobenzo-[1,3]-dioxole-5-carboxamide (MDC) and N-(3-acetylphenyl)-6-nitrobenzo-[1,3]-dioxole-5-carboxamide (ADC), potential cardiovascular preventive agents, are successfully synthesized, and their chemical structures are verified by ¹H and ¹³C NMR, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD) analyses. Data obtained from SC-XRD reveal that MDC and ADC are both monoclinic molecules with Z = 2 and 4, respectively. From density functional theory (DFT) calculations, 3.54 and 3.96 eV are the energy gaps of the optimized MDC and ADC structures, respectively. MDC and ADC exhibit an electrophilicity index value of more than 1.5 eV, suggesting that they can act as an electrophile, facilitating bond formation with biomolecules. Hirshfeld surface analysis demonstrates that more than 25% of atomic interactions in both MDC and ADC are from H···H interactions. Based on pharmacokinetic predictions, MDC and ADC exhibit drug-like properties, and molecular docking simulations revealed favorable interactions with active site pockets. Both MDC and ADC achieved higher docking scores of -7.74 and -7.79 kcal/mol, respectively, with myeloperoxidase (MPO) protein. From docking results, MPO was found to be most favorable followed by dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) and α-glucosidase (α-GD). Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and in vitro enzymatic studies of MDC and ADC indicate that MDC is more selective toward MPO and more potent than ADC. The application of MDC to inhibit myeloperoxidase could be ascertained to reduce the cardiovascular risk factor. This can be supported from the results of computational docking (based on hydrogen bonding and docking score), in vitro antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and MPO enzymatic inhibition (based on the percentage of inhibition and IC₅₀ values).