F. Zehra Küçükbay

Serum zinc, copper, and magnesium levels in obese children.

Serum zinc, copper and magnesium levels were measured using atomic absorption spectrophotometry in 41 obese and 41 healthy (control) children (between 7 and 11 years of age) who were living in Malatya (Turkey). Serum zinc levels of obese children (mean value 102.40 ± 2.78 μg/dL) were found to be significantly higher than those of the control group (mean value 80.49 ± 2.98 μg/dL; P < 0.01). Serum copper concentrations were also found to be significantly higher in obese children (mean value 132.34 ± 1.79 μg/dL) than the healthy controls (mean value 107.58 ± 1.62 μg/dL; P < 0.01). On the other hand, serum magnesium levels were found to be significantly lower in obese children (mean value 1.78 ± 0.03 mg/dL) than in the healthy children (mean value 2.14 ± 0.04 mg/dL; P < 0.01).

Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oil of Achillea cretica L. (Asteraceae) from Turkey

Hydrodistilled volatile oil from the aerial parts of Achillea cretica L. (Asteraceae) was analysed by a combination of GC and GC/MS. Seventy-six components were identified, constituting 86.4% of the oil. The main constituents of the essential oil were caryophylladienol-II (13.4%), β-maaliene (6.1%), neo-intermedeol (6.0%), carvone (4.9%), spathulenol (4.5%), palmitic acid (3.3%) and selina-3,11-dien-6α-ol (3.2%). The antimicrobial activity was evaluated by the broth-dilution method on nine microbial strains and showed to be quite strong against the Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus. The antibacterial properties of A. cretica justify its use in traditional medicine for the treatment of wounds, contaminated through bacterial infections.

Synthesis and carbonic anhydrase inhibitory properties of amino acid – coumarin/quinolinone conjugates incorporating glycine, alanine and phenylalanine moieties

Abstract N-Protected amino acids (Gly, Ala and Phe) were reacted with amino substituted coumarin and quinolinone derivatives, leading to the corresponding N-protected amino acid–coumarin/quinolinone conjugates. The carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) inhibitory activity of the new compounds was assessed against various human (h) isoforms, such as hCA I, hCA II, hCA IV and hCA XII. The quinolinone conjugates were inactive as enzyme inhibitors, whereas the coumarins were ineffective hCA I/II inhibitors (KIs > 50 μM) but were submicromolar hCA IV and XII inhibitors, with inhibition constants ranging between 92 nM and 1.19 μM for hCA IV, and between 0.11 and 0.79 μM for hCA XII. These coumarin derivatives, as many others reported earlier, thus show an interesting selective inhibitory profile for the membrane-bound over the cytosolic CA isoforms.

The essential oil of Achillea boissieri

0009-3130/10/4605-0824 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 1) Inonu University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences, Division of Analytical Chemistry, 44280, Malatya, Turkey, fax: +90 422 341 10 71, e-mail: zkucukbay@inonu.edu.tr; 2) Inonu University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology, 44280 Malatya, Turkey. Published in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 5, pp. 695–696, September–October, 2010. Original article submitted May 14, 2009. Chemistry of Natural Compounds, Vol. 46, No. 5, 2010

Synthesis, characterization and carbonic anhydrase inhibitory activity of novel benzothiazole derivatives.

Abstract N-protected amino acids were reacted with substituted benzothiazoles to give the corresponding N-protected amino acid-benzothiazole conjugates (60–89%). Their structures were confirmed by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR), IR and elemental analysis. Their carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) inhibitory activities were determined against two cytosolic human isoforms (hCA I and hCA II), one membrane-associated (hCA IV) and one transmembrane (hCA XII) enzyme by a stopped-flow CO2 hydrase assay method. The new compounds showed rather weak, micromolar inhibitory activity against most of these enzymes.

Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of three Turkish Thyme Essential Oils

Abstract The aim of present study was to compare the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of three Thymus kotschyanus varieties on the basis of the chemical compositions of oils obtained by hydrodistillation. GC-MS analysis of the isolated essential oils from aerial parts of Thymus kotschyanus Boiss. & Hohen. var. eriophorus (Ronniger) Jalas, Thymus kotschyanus Boiss. & Hohen. var. kotschyanus and Thymus kotschyanus Boiss. & Hohen. var. glabrascens resulted in the identification of 55,, 34 and 57 constituents, respectively. The major components in the essential oils of T. kotschyanus Boiss. & Hohen. var. eriophorus (Ronniger) Jalas and T. kotschyanus Boiss. & Hohen. var. kotschyanus were described as geraniol (55.0–59.1 %) and geranyl acetate (27.1–28.8 %). The oil of T. kotschyanus Boiss. & Hohen. var. glabrascens is characterized by the high monoterpene fraction (86.5 %) and especially by the presence of carvacrol (57.2 %) and its precursor p-cymene (11.0 %). The essential oils were studied in vitro for antimicrobial activity (as inhibition zone and MIC) against fourteen bacteria strains using agar disc diffusion and broth micro-dilution methods. The oils exhibited moderate zone of inhibitions against bacteria when compared to standard antibiotics ketoconazol and chloramphenicol used as controls. The samples were subjected to a screening for their possible antioxidant activities by using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). When compared with the antioxidative potentials of the standard compound used in this study (BHA), essential oils of the T. kotschyanus varieties studied exerted remarkable antioxidant activity.

Chemical composition and antimicrobial activities of the essential oils of Teucrium orientale var. orientale and Teucrium orientale var. puberulens

0009-3130/11/4705-0833 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 1) Inonu University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences, Division of Analytical Chemistry, 44280 Malatya, Turkey, fax: +90 422 341 10 71, e-mail: zkucukbay@inonu.edu.tr; 2) Balikesir University Faculty of Science and Arts, Department of Biology, 10100 Balikesir, Turkey; 3) Inonu University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Microbiology, 44280 Malatya, Turkey. Published in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 5, pp. 729–731, September–October, 2011. Original article submitted June 8, 2010. Chemistry of Natural Compounds, Vol. 47, No. 5, November, 2011 [Russian original No. 5, September–October, 2011]

Synthesis of novel dipeptide sulfonamide conjugates with effective carbonic anhydrase I, II, IX, and XII inhibitory properties

Twenty-four novel sulfonamide derivatives incorporating dipeptide tails were synthesized by facile acylation reactions of homosulfanilamide through benzotriazole or dicyclohexyl carbodiimide (DCC) mediated coupling reactions. The carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) inhibitory activity of the new compounds was assessed against four human (h) isoforms, hCA I, hCA II, hCA IX and hCA XII. Most of the synthesized compounds showed good in vitro carbonic anhydrase inhibitory properties, with inhibition constants in the low nanomolar range. Particularly, the new dipeptide-sulfonamide conjugates incorporating Ala, Phe and Met in the dipeptide sequence, showed the most effective inhibitory activity against to CA IX and XII.