A stereotaxic atlas of the rat brain

A status review on the medicinal properties of essential oils

Chlorogenic acid (CGA): A pharmacological review and call for further research.

Antioxidant activities of rosemary (Rosmarinus Officinalis L.) extract, blackseed (Nigella sativa L.) essential oil, carnosic acid, rosmarinic acid and sesamol

Several plant bioactive compounds have exhibited functional activities that suggest they could play a remarkable role in preventing a wide range of chronic diseases. The largest group of naturally-occurring polyphenols are the flavonoids, including apigenin. The present work is an updated overview of apigenin, focusing on its health-promoting effects/therapeutic functions and, in particular, results of in vivo research. In addition to an introduction to its chemistry, nutraceutical features have also been described. The main key findings from in vivo research, including animal models and human studies, are summarized. The beneficial indications are reported and discussed in detail, including effects in diabetes, amnesia and Alzheimer’s disease, depression and insomnia, cancer, etc. Finally, data on flavonoids from the main public databases are gathered to highlight the apigenin’s key role in dietary assessment and in the evaluation of a formulated diet, to determine exposure and to investigate its health effects in vivo.

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The Therapeutic Potential of Apigenin.

Hot peppers are a good source of dietary antioxidants, encompassing, apart from widespread compounds (flavonoids, phenolic acids, carotenoids, vitamin A, ascorbic acid, tocopherols), also specific constituents such as the pungent capsaicinoids (capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin, and related analogues). We have shown that capsinoids also show remarkable antioxidant activity. These benign analogues of capsaicin could protect linoleic acid against free radical attack in simple in vitro systems, inhibiting both its autoxidation and its iron- or EDTA-mediated oxidation. These properties were retained in some simple synthetic analogues (vanillyl nonanoate and its dimerization products). Capsiate, dihydrocapsiate, and their analogues were devoid of pro-oxidant activity and showed a highly significant antioxidant activity in all systems investigated. Vanillyl nonanoate, a simple capsinoid mimic, was also tested on cell cultures for cytotoxic activity and the capacity to inhibit FeCl(3)-induced oxidation.

Antioxidant activity of capsinoids.

Quantitative ethnopharmacological study of the Campidano Valley and Urzulei district, Sardinia, Italy.

The dimeric nonprenylated acylphloroglucinol semimyrtucommulone (6) was obtained from the leaves of myrtle (Myrtus communis) as a 2:1 mixture of two rotamers. The known trimeric phloroglucinol myrtucommulone A (1) was also isolated and characterized spectroscopically as a silylated cyclized derivative (5). Myrtucommulone A showed significant antibacterial activity against multidrug-resistant (MDR) clinically relevant bacteria, while semimyrtucommulone was less active.

Mauro Ballero

Papers

Antioxidant activity of capsinoids.

Quantitative ethnopharmacological study of the Campidano Valley and Urzulei district, Sardinia, Italy.

Oligomeric acylphloroglucinols from myrtle (Myrtus communis)

Ethnobotanical research in the territory of Fluminimaggiore (south-western Sardinia).

Ethnopharmacology of ogliastra (villagrande strisaili, sardinia, Italy).