• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.328-333
• /
• 2011

Melatonin has been known as an animal hormone. However, melatonin exists in diverse organisms including higher plants. The biosynthesis and physiological roles for melatonin in plants is still largely unknown, although both dicot and monocot plants have melatonin and some medicinal plants even contain large amounts of melatonin. In this study we detected melatonin in diverse Viola plants, in which melatonin had not been examined so far, by reverse phase HPLC analysis, demonstrating the wide existence of melatonin in the genus of Viola. We then fed tryptophan (Trp) and tryptamine (TAM) to the incubation medium for Viola leaf sections to test their effects on melatonin formation. Trp is also the hypothesized starting material of melatonin in plants, and TAM is the following intermediate produced by the decarboxylation of Trp. Trp feeding did not affect the contents of melatonin. In contrast, TAM feeding clearly increased the level of melatonin in Viola leaves. Because TAM is derived from Trp, we concluded that the Trp-TAM pathway exists in Viola plants as well. Ineffectiveness of Trp feeding to the change of melatonin contents supports the hypothesis that the decarboxylation step from Trp to TAM is the rate-limiting step in plant melatonin biosynthesis.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.13-16
• /
• 2014

Five compounds were isolated from the stem of Zea mays. Based on spectral data, they were identified as 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (1), N-trans-p-coumaryl tyramine (2), N-trans-ferulyl tryptamine (3), N-(p-coumaryl) serotonine (4), and N-(p-coumaryl)-tryptamine (5). All isolates were evaluated in vitro for their inhibitory activity on acetylcholinesterase. Among tested compounds, compounds 2 - 5 exhibited acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity, with $IC_{50}$ values of 125, 60.4, 183.5 and 53.3 ${\mu}M$, respectively. Compound 1 did not show acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity in the present study.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.713-716
• /
• 2002

Biogenic amine levels in irradiated doenjang, Korean fermented soybean paste, were investigated during fermentation at $25^{\circ}C$ for 12 weeks. Biogenic amines detected in doenjang were putrescine, cadaverine, tryptamine, $\beta$-phenylethylamine, spermidine, spermine, histamne, tyramine and agmatine. Agmatine showed the most highest level among biogenic amines detected in doenjang during fermentation. Most biogenic amines, such as putrescine, cadaverine, tryptamine, $\beta$-phenylethylamine, spermidine, histamne and tyramine, significantly decreased 20~60% by gamma irradiation during fermentation, while spermine and agmatine did not. Therefore, gamma irradiation can be applied to inhibit the biogenic amines formation in doenjang during fermentation.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.200-206
• /
• 2014

N-(p-Coumaryol) tryptamine (CT), a phenolic amide, has been reported to exhibit anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. However, the underlying mechanism by which CT exerts its pharmacological properties has not been clearly demonstrated. The objective of this study is to elucidate the anti-inflammatory mechanism of CT in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-challenged RAW264.7 macrophage cells. CT significantly inhibited LPS-induced extracellular secretion of pro-inflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide (NO) and $PGE_2$, and protein expressions of iNOS and COX-2. In addition, CT significantly suppressed LPS-induced secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-$1{\beta}$. To elucidate the underlying anti-inflammatory mechanism of CT, involvement of MAPK and Akt signaling pathways was examined. CT significantly attenuated LPS-induced activation of JNK/c-Jun, but not ERK and p38, in a concentration-dependent manner. Interestingly, CT appeared to suppress LPS-induced Akt phosphorylation. However, JNK inhibition, but not Akt inhibition, resulted in the suppression of LPS-induced responses, suggesting that JNK/c-Jun signaling pathway significantly contributes to LPS-induced inflammatory responses and that LPS-induced Akt phosphorylation might be a compensatory response to a stress condition. Taken together, the present study clearly demonstrates CT exerts anti-inflammatory activity through the suppression of JNK/c-Jun signaling pathway in LPS-challenged RAW264.7 macrophage cells.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.46 no.2
• /
• pp.244-250
• /
• 2017

Dimethylamine (DMA), nitrate, nitrite, and biogenic amines (BA) are precursors of carcinogenic N-nitrosamines. This study investigated contamination levels of DMA, nitrate, nitrite, and BA in various types of Korean commercial kimchi such as Baechu kimchi, Kkakduki, Chonggak kimchi, Matkimchi, ripened Baechu kimchi, and Baek kimchi. The average DMA, nitrate, and nitrite levels in Baechu kimchi were 29.7, 2,178.8, and 3.0 mg/kg, respectively. Low levels of DMA and nitrate were detected in Kkakduki. Tryptamine, putrescine, cadaverine, tyramine, and spermidine were detected in kimchi with exclusion of Baek kimchi and Chonggak kimchi. Tryptamine in Baek kimchi was only present in trace amount, and spermidine was not detected in Chonggak kimchi. The average tryptamine, putrescine, cadaverine, tyramine, and spermidine levels in Baechu kimchi were 15.0, 64.6, 18.0, 44.0, and 7.8 mg/kg, respectively. A low level of tyramine was detected in Kkakduki. In addition, contamination of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) was detected in Kkakduki at a level of $1.38{\mu}g/kg$. Daily exposure to NDMA in the consumer only group was estimated using average daily Kkakduki consumption and average body weight of the total population. The estimated daily intake of NDMA by Kkakduki was $2.31{\times}10^{-7}mg/kg\;b.w./d.$ The margin of exposure to NDMA for the general population was 259,924. Accordingly, the health risk from NDMA caused by intake of Kkakduki was considered to be very low.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.1127-1129
• /
• 2002

Fourteen commercial beers (eight domestic and six imported) were investigated for their biogenic amine contents. In all products, six biogenic amines, putrescine, cadaverine, tryptamine, ${\beta}-phenylethylamine$, spermine, and tyramine, were detected at different contents among the products, with the spermine content being the highest. Contents of cadaverine and ${\beta}-phenylethylamine$ in domestic beers, and ${\beta}-phenylethylamine$ and tyramine in imported ones were not significantly different. Results indicate that continuous monitoring of biogenic amine levels in commercial beers is needed to maintain chemical safety and qualities.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.121-126
• /
• 1984

The charge transfer complex formations between indole derivatives and methylviologen were investigated spectroscopically. In aqueous solutions near room temperature, the order of complex stability was tryptamine < tryptophan < indole < indole acetate, which is the reverse order of the magnitude of molar absorptivities. This was interpreted as involvement of contact charge transfer. The decrease of enthalpy of complex formation (-${\Delta}$H) was highest in tryptamine, and lowest in indole acetate. ${\Delta}$H and entropy of complex formation (${Delta}$S) varied nearly in a linear fashion with isokinetic temperature $242^{\circ}$K. These results were attributed to the hydration-dehydration properties of the side chains in indole derivatives. Except indole acetate, the complex formations were greatly enhanced by the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate(SDS). However, the direct relationship between the enhanced complex formation and SDS micelle formation was not found. The enhanced charge transfer interaction inSDS solutions was attributed to the increased ${\Delta}$S by interaction between methylviologen and SDS in premicellar level. The order of complex stability in SDS solutions was indole acetate < tryptophan < trypamine < indole, which reflects the hydrophobicity of indole derivatives as well as electrostatic interaction between indole derivatives and methylviologen associated with SDS.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.24-30
• /
• 1976

Rhizomes of the common reed (Phragmites communis Trin.) were incubated for three days in the dark. Methanol extract of the shoots was thin layer chromatographed with several solvent systems and visualized with five reagents. The results may be summarized as follows: 1. Serotonin, tryptophan, and tryptamine were identified by cochromatography with the respective authentic compounds. Bufotenine, N-methylserotonin, and N,N-dimethyltryptamine were tentatively identified by their Rf values and colour reactions. The presence of skatole and gramine was suggested. 2. It was esteemed that the common reed might have an active methylation/hydroxylation system of indole compounds at least for a period of time. 3. The presently devised 'overlap' thin layer chromatographic technique may be a useful tool for the identification of a compound whose Rf value was diverse from that of the authentic one by the interferance containing in a sample material.

• Natural Product Sciences
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.25-29
• /
• 2015

In a continuation of our studies to discover bioactive secondary metabolites from marine sources, we further investigated samples from a tryptamine and phenyl-alkane producing sponge, which resulted in the isolation of four uncommon small molecules and five nucleosides. Their structures were determined to be 7,8-dihydroimidazo[1,5-c]pyrimidin-5(6H)-one (1), 5-chlorocavernicolin (2), maleimide-5-oxime (3), 3-methylmaleimide-5-oxime (4), uridine (5), 2'-deoxyuridine (6), thymidine (7), adenine (8), and adenosine (9) by spectroscopic analyses. The isolated compounds were evaluated for inhibitory activity against soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) as well as the Wnt/${\beta}$-catenine signaling pathway.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.127-130
• /
• 1993

Lipophilic Fraction (LF) from Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer strongly inhibited human platelet aggregations induced by thrombin. When platelets were prelabeled with 5-hydroxy[G-$^3$H]-tryptamine (serotonin) and then stimulated by thrombin, LF inhibited the release of serotonin in a dose-dependent manner. From this result, we suggest that LF have antiplatelet and antimigraine functions by inhibiting the release of serotonin.