The trend of growing population of 60+ years old people is visible in most of the highly developed European countries. Recently researchers have shown an increased interest in aging-associated diseases including neurological disorders. Neurodegenerative diseases are a very important clinical problem for several reasons. One of the key aspects are: frequency of occurrence as well as difficulties in the diagnosis, therapeutic problems and care of elderly patients. Furthermore, the very important point is the significant decrease of quality of life of untreated patients and late-stage diagnosis of the disease. It is crucial to develop a new, faster, high specificity and more sensitive diagnostic technology. Metabolomic profiling is a new, promising field of systems biology which may be applied in screening, diagnosis, disease typing and monitoring of treatment. It is a biochemical approach for biomarker discovery. Amino acids (AA) play very integral roles in the central nervous system as neurotransmitters, regulators of metabolism and neuromodulators. Research presented in this publication is focused on patients with Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer disease, and elderly patients. In all analyzed cases significant changes in the amino acid profile in patients comparing to healthy controls were observed. This study indicates potential of amino acid profiling as a method for diagnosis.

The present review summarizes scientific reports from between 2010 and 2019 on the use of capillary electrophoresis to quantify active constituents (i.e., phenolic compounds, coumarins, protoberberines, curcuminoids, iridoid glycosides, alkaloids, triterpene acids) in medicinal plants and herbal formulations. The present literature review is founded on PRISMA guidelines and selection criteria were formulated on the basis of PICOS (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Study type). The scrutiny reveals capillary electrophoresis with ultraviolet detection as the most frequently used capillary electromigration technique for the selective separation and quantification of bioactive compounds. For the purpose of improvement of resolution and sensitivity, other detection methods are used (including mass spectrometry), modifiers to the background electrolyte are introduced and different extraction as well as pre-concentration techniques are employed. In conclusion, capillary electrophoresis is a powerful tool and for given applications it is comparable to high performance liquid chromatography. Short time of execution, high efficiency, versatility in separation modes and low consumption of solvents and sample make capillary electrophoresis an attractive and eco-friendly alternative to more expensive methods for the quality control of drugs or raw plant material without any relevant decrease in sensitivity.

The article is a summary of scientific reports from the last 16 years (2005–2021) on the use of capillary electrophoresis to analyze polyphenolic compounds, coumarins, amino acids, and alkaloids in teas or different parts of plants used to prepare aqueous infusions, commonly known as “tea” or decoctions. This literature review is based on PRISMA guidelines and articles selected in base of criteria carried out using PICOS (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Study type). The analysis showed that over 60% of articles included in this manuscript comes from China. The literature review shows that for the selective electrophoretic separation of polyphenolic and flavonoid compounds, the most frequently used capillary electromigration technique is capillary electrophoresis with ultraviolet detection. Nevertheless, the use of capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry allows for the sensitive determination of analytes with a lower limit of detection and gives hope for routine use in the analysis of functional foods. Moreover, using the modifications in electrochemical techniques allows methods sensitivity reduction along with the reduction of analysis time.

Indandione is a hydrocarbon classified as bicyclic aromatic β-diketone. It can be applied in many fields of science and industry. It is successfully used as a substrate in organic synthesis, pharmaceutical sciences and as a substrate for the production of dyes. Indandione derivatives and analogs are useful in medicine, chemistry and the judiciary. Among the indandione derivatives can find compounds that have interesting properties and many of them have biological activity (incl. anticancer, anticoagulation, anti-inflamatory, antimicrobial activities). Based on the indan-1,3-dione structure created acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. Indan-1,3-dione derivatives are also used as a derivating agent for the analysis of fatty aldehydes and a substance that is an element of dye-sensitized solar cells. This work presents a brief overview of construction, properties and activities of indandione and its derivatives. This work describes selected indandione derivatives that have properties useful in medicine and industry with particular regard to the anticoagulants and neuroprotective activities in AD.