Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / There is a great interest in the study of antioxidants, mainly due to the findings on the effect of radicals in the body. These radicals are needed in many biological processes, but also may be related to processes harmful to our body, such as oxidative stress, which is associated with diseases such as neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, and aging. The phenolic compounds eugenol, isoeugenol and dehydrodieugenol are phenylpropanoids that have properties antibacterial, anesthetic, analgesic, antiallergic and anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties, preventing oxidative damage cumulative character. To better understand the behavior of these antioxidants, this study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant activity of eugenol, isoeugenol and dehydrodieugenol against the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH), as well as the radical scavenging activity of these compounds front of the hydroxyl radical (photochemically generated from the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide), prepare nanocarrier with different structural organizations (nanocapsules and nanoemulsions), and verify the ability of these nanostructures to increase the photostability under UV-C compared to the free compounds in solution in the presence and absence of hydroxyl radical (HO ). The dispersion of nanocapsules (NC) and nanoemulsions (NE) were prepared by the method of interfacial deposition of preformed polymer (poly-ε-caprolactone) and spontaneous emulsification, respectively. All formulations presented high encapsulation efficiency, nanometric size, low polydispersity index, negative zeta potential and acid pH values, remaining stable after 7 of storage months. In the kinetic study of the photodecomposition, the compounds showed the following stability (in the absence of the radical HO ): eugenol > dehydrodieugenol > isoeugenol. The nanostructured formulations antioxidants promoted the protection against UV-C photodegradation when compared to a hydroethanolic solution. The increased stability NC compared to the free solution can be attributed to the high absorption of polyester poly-ε-caprolactone in the UV-C. In the presence of HO radical, the dehydrodieugenol was antioxidant the most active antirradicalar, followed by eugenol and isoeugenol. Antioxidants encapsulated in nanocapsules and nanoemulsions have a prolonged radical scavenging activity compared with the solution of eugenol and its derivatives. Cell viability test shows that the nanostructured systems (NC and NE) were not toxic for antioxidant concentration at up to 1mg mL-1. This low cytotoxicity of the samples indicates that the nanocapsules and nanoemulsions prepared in this work may be considered favorable substrate for viable cell. / Atualmente existe um grande interesse no estudo dos antioxidantes devido, principalmente, às descobertas sobre o efeito dos radicais no organismo. Esses radicais são necessários em muitos processos biológicos, mas também podem estar relacionados a processos prejudiciais ao nosso organismo, tais como o estresse oxidativo, o qual está associado a doenças, tais como as neurodegenerativas e cardiovasculares, e ao envelhecimento. Os compostos fenólicos eugenol, isoeugenol e dehidrodieugenol, são fenilpropanóides que apresentam propriedades antibacterianas, anestésicas, analgésicas, antialérgicas e anti-inflamatórias, além de possuírem propriedades antioxidantes, evitando lesões oxidativas de caráter cumulativo. Visando compreender melhor o comportamento desses antioxidantes, este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a atividade antioxidante do eugenol, isoeugenol e dehidrodieugenol frente ao radical 1,1-difenil-2-picrilhidrazil (DPPH), bem como a atividade antirradicalar destes compostos frente ao radical hidroxil (gerado fotoquimicamente pela decomposição do peróxido de hidrogênio), preparar nanocarreadores com diferentes organizações estruturais (nanocápsulas e nanoemulsões), e verificar a capacidade destas nanoestruturas em aumentar a fotoestabilidade (radiação UV-C) quando comparadas aos compostos livres em solução, na presença e na ausência do radical hidroxil (HO ). As dispersões de nanocápsulas (NC) e nanoemulsões (NE) foram preparadas pelo método da deposição interfacial do polímero pré-formado (poli-ε-caprolactona) e emulsificação espontânea, respectivamente. Todas as formulações apresentaram uma alta eficiência de encapsulamento, tamanho médio nanométrico, baixo índice de polidispersão, potencial zeta negativo e valores de pH ácido, permanecendo estáveis após 7 meses de armazenamento. No estudo cinético da fotodecomposição, as soluções dos antioxidantes apresentaram a seguinte estabilidade (na ausência do radical HO ): eugenol > dehidrodieugenol > isoeugenol. As formulações nanoestruturadas protegeram os antioxidantes contra a fotodegradação UV-C, quando comparadas à solução hidroetanólica. A maior estabilidade das nanocápsulas comparada à solução livre pode ser atribuída à alta absorção do poliéster poli-ε-caprolactona na região do UV-C. Na presença do radical HO , o dehidrodieugenol foi o antioxidante com maior atividade antirradicalar, seguido do eugenol e do isoeugenol. Os antioxidantes encapsulados em nanocápsulas e nanoemulsões apresentaram uma prolongada atividade antirradicalar quando comparada com a solução de eugenol e seus derivados. Os testes de viabilidade celular mostraram que os sistemas nanoestruturados (NC e NE) não foram tóxicos para a concentração de antioxidante de até 1mg mL-1. Esta baixa citotoxicidade das amostras indica que as nanocápsulas e nanoemulsões preparadas neste trabalho podem ser consideradas substratos favoráveis para as células vivas.

In 1997, a phytoremediation program began at a creosote-contaminated former railroad tie yard in Oneida, Tennessee with the planting of over 1000 hybrid poplar trees onsite. Creosote, a mixture of hazardous chemicals composed of 85% polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) had entered the site soil and ground water. After planting, a seasonal ground water testing program began that monitored the progress of remediation by measuring the concentration of the 10 predominant PAHs in the contaminant plume: naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene, and benzo(b)fluoranthene. The concentrations of these compounds steadily decreased over time, but the role the trees played in the remediation was unclear. In order to gain a clearer understanding of the role the trees played in contaminant remediation, chemical analysis of tree tissue began. It was not known whether the trees were taking up PAH contaminants or their metabolites or if the rhizosphere zone created by the trees simply enhanced the ability of the site microflora to degrade the PAH. The objectives of this research were to (1) develop a suitable method for the chemical analysis of tree tissue collected from a field site, (2) determine if there were any chemicals not usually found in poplar trees that occurred in the trees growing over contamination, (3) determine if bud, bark, and twig tissue differed in their ability to predict ground water contamination, and (4) determine if a spatial correlation existed between the aromatic compounds in the tree tissue and the ground water total PAH plume. Two types of tree tissue/ground water comparisons were performed: spatial distribution of isoeugenol concentration in tree tissue with spatial distribution of total PAH in ground water over the area of interest; and the spatial distribution of the quantity of aromatic compounds in tree tissue with the spatial distribution of total PAH concentration in ground water. Due to unit discrepancies between the quantities of interest, all comparisons were made on a percentile basis. Initial tree sampling revealed that several compounds not usually present in poplar trees occurred only in those trees growing over contamination. In the first part of this study, the concentration of one of these chemicals, the substituted phenol isoeugenol, was compared with the concentration of total PAH in ground water from samples collected from February-March 2002. The bark tissue percentiles fell within 20 percentiles of ground water total PAH concentrations in 60% of the study area. The twig tissue showed slightly better agreement, with 67% of the study area differing from ground water by twenty percentiles or less. The second comparison took place over three sampling events: March 2001, July 2001, and February-March 2002. The number of unique aromatic compounds in bark, bud, and twig tissue was compared with the total PAH concentration in ground water. Twig tissue aromatic compound content was the most accurate predictor of ground water contamination among the tissue types. After excluding those chemicals likely to be interferences from consideration, twig tissue aromatic content agreed with ground water total PAH concentration to within 20 percentiles over 2/3 or more of the study area during each sampling event, suggesting the potential uptake of PAHs or their microbial metabolites as a mechanism of phytoremediation at the site. / Master of Science

Submitted by JÚLIO HEBER SILVA (julioheber@yahoo.com.br) on 2017-06-08T20:21:50Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - James Oluwagbamigbe Fajemiroye - 2015.pdf: 1734029 bytes, checksum: c1790bce6e7eace236dd1d68cec686a8 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2017-06-09T11:42:36Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - James Oluwagbamigbe Fajemiroye - 2015.pdf: 1734029 bytes, checksum: c1790bce6e7eace236dd1d68cec686a8 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-09T11:42:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - James Oluwagbamigbe Fajemiroye - 2015.pdf: 1734029 bytes, checksum: c1790bce6e7eace236dd1d68cec686a8 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-10-16 / Depression and anxiety are widely acclaimed as psychiatric disorders of global concern. These disorders are among the leading causes of disability worldwide. Unsatisfactory responses of patients to the available pharmacotherapy make the search for new drugs a necessity. Medicinal plants remain important source of new drugs and new chemical entities. The ethnopharmacological knowledge and previous data have revealed calming and anxiolytic like effects of the organic leaf extract of Pimenta pseudocaryophyllus (Gomes) L.R. Landrum. The present study sought to investigate antidepressive like effect of dichloromethane fraction (DF) of the ethanolic leaf extract of Pimenta pseudocaryophyllus as well as anxiolytic and antidepressive like effects of oleanolic acid (OA), (E) methyl isoeugenol (MIE) and possible mechanisms of action that are involved. Animal models like barbiturate-induced sleep, light dark box test (LDB), elevated plusmaze (EPM), open field (OF), wire hanging test, pentylenetetrazol-induced convulsion test, forced swimming test (FST), tail suspension test (TST) were conducted to evaluate behavioural alterations that were elicited by the administrations of vehicle, DF, OA, MIE or reference drugs. Bioassays (ex vivo and in vitro) of monoamine oxidase (MAO) and quantification of hippocampal level of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were conducted in an attempt to elucidate possible mechanisms of action. Oral administration of DF 125, 250 or 500 mg/kg (potentiated the hypnotic effect of sodium pentobarbital). In the TST and FST, DF 125 or 250 mg/kg induced antidepressant-like response. The data obtained in the OF suggest sedative effect of DF at 500 mg/kg. Pretreatment (i.p) with pchlorophenylalanine methyl ester (PCPA) 100 mg/kg (serotonin depletor) or 𝛼-methyl-ptyrosine (AMPT) 100 mg/kg (catecholamine depletor) blocked anti-immobility effect of DF viii in the FST. The enzymatic activity of MAO remained unaltered by DF. Oral administration of OA (5-20 mg/kg) increased the duration of barbiturate - induced sleep and demonstrated anxiolytic like effect in both LDB and EPM. In the FST and TST, OA 5-20 mg/kg elicited antidepressant like effect without altering locomotion activity of the animals. The antidepressant like effect of OA was attenuated by NAN-190 (non-selective antagonist of 5-HT1A), AMPT, PCPA, WAY and PRAZ. Chronic administration of OA increased hippocampal level of BDNF. Oral administration of MIE 250 or 500 mg/kg potentiated hypnotic effect of sodium pentobarbital without protecting mice against PTZ - induced convulsion. The parameters evaluated in the LDB, EPM and OF demonstrated anxiolytic like property of MIE. This effect was blocked by WAY (selective antagonist of 5-HT1A) pretreatment. MIE 125 or 250 mg/kg showed antidepressant like effect in the FST. Locomotion activity of the animal in the OF remained unaltered by MIE administration at 125 or 250 mg/kg. Pretreatment of mice with PCPA attenuated antidepressant like property of MIE. In conclusion, our findings demonstrated anxiolytic and/or antidepressant like effects of dichloromethane fraction, oleanolic acid and (E) methyl isoeugenol, thereby suggesting the involvement of monoaminergic pathway. / Ansiedade e depressão são transtornos psiquiátricos de interesse global. Estes transtornos estão entre as principais causas da incapacidade laboral das pessoas. Apesar de uma gama de farmacoterapias disponíveis, os resultados clínicos mostram que os fármacos não produziram efeitos terapêuticos desejados e se faz necessário a busca de novos fármacos. As plantas medicinais continuam sendo uma das fontes mais importantes para a descoberta de novos fármacos e entidades químicas. Estudos anteriores mostraram efeito calmante e ansiolítico da fração orgânica do extrato das folhas de Pimenta pseudocaryophyllus (Gomes) L. R. Landrum (Myrtaceae). O presente estudo buscou investigar a atividade tipo antidepressiva da fração diclorometano (FD) do extrato etanólico das folhas desta espécie, bem como antidepressiva e ansiolítica do ácido oleanólico (AO), (E)-metilisoeugenol (MIE) e os possíveis mecanismos de ações envolvidos. Modelos experimentais como o sono induzido por barbitúricos, caixa claro escuro (CCE), labirinto em cruz elevado (LCE), campo aberto (CA), teste de arame, teste de convulsão induzida por pentilenotetrazol, teste de natação forçada (TNF) e teste de suspensão pela cauda (TSC) foram realizados para avaliar alterações comportamentais induzidas pela administração do veículo, FD, AO, MIE ou fármacos de referência. Na tentativa de elucidar os possíveis mecanismos de ação, foram realizados bioensaios (ex vivo e in vitro) da monoamina oxidase (MAO) e do fator neurotrófico derivado do cérebro (BDNF do hipocampo). A administração oral da FD 125, 250 ou 500 mg/kg potencializou o efeito hipnótico de pentobarbital sódico. No TNF e TSC, a FD 125 ou 250 mg/kg induziu efeito tipo antidepressivo. Os dados obtidos no campo aberto sugerem efeito sedativo da fração vi diclorometano na dose de 500 mg/kg. O pré-tratamento (i.p) com p - clorofenilalanina metil éster (PCPA) 100 mg/kg (depletor de serotonina) ou α - metil - p - tirosina (AMPT) 100 mg/kg (depletor de catecolamina) bloqueou o efeito tipo antidepressivo da FD no TNF. O bioensaio da atividade enzimática mostrou que a FD não alterou a atividade da MAO. A administração oral do AO (5-20 mg/kg) aumentou a duração do sono induzido por pentobarbital sódico e demonstrou efeito tipo ansiolítico no CCE e LCE. O AO 5-20 mg/kg demonstrou efeito tipo antidepressivo no TNF e TSC sem alterar a atividade locomotora dos animais. O efeito tipo antidepressivo do AO foi atenuado por prétratamento com NAN-190 (antagonista não-seletivo do receptor 5-HT1A), AMPT, PCPA e PRAZ-prazosin (antagonista do receptor α1 adrenérgico). A administração crônica do AO aumentou o nível de BDNF no hipocampo. A administração oral do MIE 250 ou 500 mg/kg potencializou o efeito hipnótico de pentobarbital sódico sem proteger os animais contra a convulsão induzida por PTZ. Os parâmetros avaliados na CCE e LCE sugerem que MIE têm efeito tipo ansiolítico. Este efeito foi bloqueado pelo pré-tratamento com WAY100635 (antagonista seletivo do receptor 5-HT1A). MIE 125 ou 250 mg/kg apresentou efeito tipo antidepressivo no TNF. Não houve alteração na atividade locomotora dos animais no CA após a administração do MIE 125 ou 250 mg/kg. O prétratamento com PCPA atenuou o efeito tipo antidepressivo do MIE no TNF. Os resultados demonstraram efeito tipo ansiolítico e/ou antidepressivo da fração diclorometano, ácido oleanólico e (E)-metilisoeugenol, sugerindo o envolvimento de vias monoaminérgicas nestes efeitos.