Albatrellus confluens (Alb. & Schwein.) Kotl. & Pouz.: Natural Fungal Compounds and Synthetic Derivatives with In Vitro Anthelmintic Activities and Antiproliferative Effects against Two Human Cancer Cell Lines

Wild Mushrooms: A Hidden Treasure of Novel Bioactive Compounds

Secondary metabolites are hidden gems in mushrooms. Understanding these secondary metabolites' biological and pharmacological effects can be aided by identifying them. The purpose of this work was to profile the mycochemical components of the extracts of Auricularia auricula judae, Microporus xanthopus, Termitomyces umkowaani, Trametes elegans, and Trametes versicolor to comprehend their biological and pharmacological capabilities. Mushroom samples were collected from Kenya's Arabuko-Sokoke and Kakamega National Reserved Forests and identified using morphological and molecular techniques. Chloroform, 70% ethanol, and hot water solvents were used to extract the mycochemical components. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to analyze the chloroform, 70% ethanol, and hot water extracts of all the species examined. A total of 51 compounds were isolated from all extracts and classified as carboxylic acids, esters, phenols, fatty acids, alcohol, epoxides, aldehydes, fatty aldehydes, isoprenoid lipids, and steroids. Tetracosamethyl-cyclododecasiloxane (18.90%), oleic acid (72.90%), phenol, 2, 6-bis (1, 1-dimethylethyl)-4-methyl-, and methylcarbamate (26.56%) were all found in high concentrations in A. auricular judae, M. xanthopus, T. umkowaani, T. elegans, and T. versicolor, respectively. Fatty acids make up the majority of the compounds isolated from the T. elegans chloroform extract and the T. umkowaani 70% ethanol extract, respectively. Particularly, these fatty acids play crucial roles in the anti-inflammatory, hypocholesterolemic, anticancer, and antibiofilm formation activities. These bioactive elements indicate that the extracts of five wild mushrooms may be reliable sources of secondary metabolites for therapeutic development. Therefore, additional research is required to comprehend the usefulness of these chemicals in many functional areas and to improve the present understanding of macrofungi.

Chemical Constituents of Macaranga occidentalis, Antimicrobial and Chemophenetic Studies

Medicinal plants are known as sources of potential antimicrobial compounds belonging to different classes. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the antimicrobial potential of the crude extract, fractions, and some isolated secondary metabolites from the leaves of Macaranga occidentalis, a Cameroonian medicinal plant traditionally used for the treatment of microbial infections. Repeated column chromatography of the ethyl acetate and n-butanol fractions led to the isolation of seventeen previously known compounds (1-17), among which three steroids (1-3), one triterpene (4), four flavonoids (5-8), two stilbenoids (9 and 10) four ellagic acid derivatives (11-14), one geraniinic acid derivative (15), one coumarine (16), and one glyceride (17). Their structures were elucidated mainly by means of extensive spectroscopic and spectrometric (1D and 2D NMR and, MS) analysis and comparison with the published data. The crude extract, fractions, and isolated compounds were all screened for their antimicrobial activity. None of the natural compounds was active against Candida strains. However, the crude extract, fractions, and compounds showed varying levels of antibacterial properties against at least one of the tested bacterial strains, with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ranging from 250 to 1000 μg/mL. The n-butanol (n-BuOH) fraction was the most active against Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, with an MIC value of 250 μg/mL. Among the isolated compounds, schweinfurthin B (10) exhibited the best activity against Staphylococcus aureus NR 46003 with a MIC value of 62.5 μg/mL. In addition, schweinfurthin O (9) and isomacarangin (6) also exhibited moderate activity against the same strain with a MIC value of 125 μg/mL. Therefore, pharmacomodulation was performed on compound 6 and three new semisynthetic derivatives (6a-c) were prepared by allylation and acetylation reactions and screened for their in vitro antimicrobial activity. None of the semisynthetic derivatives showed antimicrobial activity against the same tested strains. The chemophenetic significance of the isolated compounds is also discussed in this paper.