Avaliação química e toxicológica de derivados de lipídeos naturais e esteroidais sintéticos

Abstract

Lipids comprise a wide class of molecules that include fatty acids (FAs), acylglycerols, waxes and steroids, for example. These compounds can be naturally derived from plants, animals and macroalgae as well as synthetic counterparts including anabolic androgenic steroids (AASs). The knowledge of these molecules can assist in the development of bioactives, understanding of biochemical pathways and probable toxicological mechanisms. In this sense, the aims of this work were to evaluate the FAs and other bioactives present in subAntarctic and Antarctic macroalgae as well as to characterize samples and identify potential degrees of cytotoxicity of seized AASs formulations. Results showed that macroalgae are rich in FAs that include, for example, palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids. In turn, the presence of bioactives in the form of volatile organic compounds including hexanal, heptadecane and furans, for example, were also observed. Analysis of AASs’ formulations indicated that most of the samples were falsified, being composed of their oily component and various types of anabolic agents such as testosterone and nandrolone esters. Throughout the application of AASs in cell culture, it could be observed that there was a cytotoxic effect that may be related not only to the active chemical substance, but also to the other components of the formulation. Therefore, the study of natural lipids could show potential pharmaceutical, biochemical and biotechnological applications in the development of novel bioactive compounds while the analysis of AASs allowed a probable correlation between degrees of falsification and cytotoxicity.