Fabrication of Alginate-Based O/W Nanoemulsions for Transdermal Drug Delivery of Lidocaine: Influence of the Oil Phase and Surfactant

Transdermal drug delivery of lidocaine is a good choice for local anesthetic delivery. Microemulsions have shown great effectiveness for the transdermal transport of lidocaine. Oil-in-water nanoemulsions are particularly suitable for encapsulation of lipophilic molecules because of their ability to form stable and transparent delivery systems with good skin permeation. However, fabrication of nanoemulsions containing lidocaine to provide an extended local anesthetic effect is challenging. Hence, the aim of this study was to address this issue by employing alginate-based o/w nanocarriers using nanoemulsion template that is prepared by combined approaches of ultrasound and phase inversion temperature (PIT). In this study, the influence of system composition such as oil type, oil and surfactant concentration on the particle size, in vitro release and skin permeation of lidocaine nanoemulsions was investigated. Structural characterization of lidocaine nanoemulsions as a function of water dilution was done using DSC. Nanoemulsions with small droplet diameters (d < 150 nm) were obtained as demonstrated by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and cryo-TEM. These nanoemulsions were also able to release 90% of their content within 24-h through PDMS and pig skin and able to the drug release over a 48-h. This extended-release profile is highly favorable in transdermal drug delivery and shows the great potential of this nanoemulsion as delivery system.     

含乳糖酸修饰的多壁碳纳米管复合载药体系的合成及表征

以聚乙烯亚胺(PEI)修饰的多壁碳纳米管(PEI-CNT)为模板,利用异硫氰酸荧光素(FITC)和乳糖酸(LA)对其表面进行修饰,合成乳糖酸修饰的PEI-CNT复合载体,并负载抗肿瘤药物盐酸阿霉素(DOX),使其成为具有靶向功能的新型抗肿瘤药物载体。采用核磁共振(1 HNMR)、透射电镜、共聚焦显微镜及流式细胞仪等测试手段分析载体的结构和性质。载药复合体系在酸性条件下的体外药物释放速率明显高于中性条件下的,同时该复合载药体系对肝癌细胞(SMMC-7721)具有一定的靶向性。     

二氯苯染毒对小鼠组织中Zn、Cu、Fe含量的影响

采用亚急性试验,探讨对二氯苯（P—DCB）对小鼠组织中Zn、Cu、Fe的影响。选用36只小鼠,雌雄各半,随机分成3组,每组12只,分别给予P—DCBO（对照组）、450、900mg·kg^-1,每天灌胃染毒1次,连续7d,染毒结束后24h处死动物并称体质量、肝、肾质量,计算脏器系数。用火焰原子吸收法测定肝脏、血液和肾脏中Zn、Cu、Fe含量。与对照组相比,各染毒组体质量无明显变化。各组肝体系数无差异,但染毒组肾体系数明显高于对照组（P〈O．05）。900mg·kg^-1组肝脏中Zn含量及w（Zn）／w（Cu）值较450mg·kg^-1组有明显升高。与对照组相比,各染毒组血液中Zn含量呈现下降趋势,900nag·kg^-1组较对照组明显下降（P〈0．05）。900mg·kg^-1组肾脏中Cu质量分数明显低于450mg·kg^-1组,Fe质量分数则较对照组及450mg·kg^-1组均有降低,P—DCB可影响小鼠组织中元素Zn、Cu、Fe的含量及不同器官的再分布,提示微量元素失衡可能是P—DCB毒作用的重要机制。     

反相液相色谱-串联质谱法检测猪肝中26种β2-受体激动剂类药物残留

建立了一种猪肝中26种β2-受体激动剂药物残留的反相液相色谱-串联质谱(HPLC-MS/MS)检测方法。样品经β-葡萄糖苷酸酶/芳基硫酸酯酶酶解12 h后,加入HClO4调至pH 1,去除蛋白,残渣经过0.1 mol/L HClO4再次提取后,合并提取液,调节混合提取液至pH 4,过混合阳离子(MCX)固相萃取柱净化。采用0.1%甲酸(A)和0.1%甲酸-乙腈(B)作为流动相进行梯度洗脱,质谱(ESI+)采用多离子检测模式(MRM)对β2-受体激动剂的定量离子和定性离子进行监测,本方法在15 min内完成26种目标化合物的分离分析。26种β2-受体激动剂在5、10和20μg/L添加水平的回收率为64.0%~112.7%,相对标准偏差小于15.2%,方法检出限为0.15~1.35μg/kg。     

Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller as a source of bioactivity compounds for health and nutrition

Plants with beneficial properties are known in traditional medicine. Nowadays, in spite of widespread availability of synthetic compounds, the search goes towards natural compounds to lower cost and few side effects. The increasing interest in preventive medicine encourages use of nutraceuticals, bioactive compounds of vegetable origin with important nutritional values. Among the medicinal plants, Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller (Family Cactaceae, subfamily Opuntiodeae, Genus Opuntia, subgenus Platyopuntia, species Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Miller) is widely known for its beneficial properties. The aim of the present review is to stress the major classes of Opuntia components and their medical interest through emphasis on some of their biological effects, particularly those having the most promising expected health benefits and therapeutic impacts on fish and mammals.     

Chromatographic determination of some biomarkers of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in Egyptian patients

Metabolomics has been shown to be an effective tool for disease diagnosis, biomarker screening and characterization of biological pathways. A total of 140 subjects were included in this study; urine metabolomes of patients with liver cirrhosis (LC, n = 40), patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC; n = 55) and healthy male subjects (n = 45) as a control group were studied. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry‐based urine metabolomics profiles were investigated for all participants. Diagnostic models were constructed with a combination of marker metabolites, using principal components analysis and receiver operator characteristic curves. A total of 57 peaks could be auto‐identified of which 13 marker metabolites (glycine, serine, threonine, proline, urea, phosphate, pyrimidine, arabinose, xylitol, hippuric acid, citric acid, xylonic acid and glycerol) were responsible for the separation of HCC group from healthy subjects. Also, eight markers metabolites (glycine, serine, threonine, proline, citric acid, urea, xylitol and arabinose) showed significant differences between the LC group and healthy subjects. No significant difference was detected between HCC and LC groups regarding all these metabolites. Metabolomic profile using GC–MS established an optimized diagnostic model to discriminate between HCC patients and healthy subjects; also it could be useful for diagnosis of LC patients. However, it failed to differentiate between HCC and LC patients.     

Metabolic characterization of the early stage of hepatic fibrosis in rat using GC‐TOF/MS and multivariate data analyses

The aim of this study was to explore the changes in the urine metabolic spectrum in rats with the early stage of liver fibrosis using gas chromatography–time of flight/mass spectrometry (GC‐TOF/MS), try to search for potential biomarkers and elucidate the probably metabonomic pathogenesis. The early stage of liver fibrosis was established with a single subcutaneous injection of carbon tetrachloride twice each week for 4 weeks continuously. At the end of the experiment, GC‐TOF/MS technology with multivariate statistical approaches such as principal component analysis, partial least squares‐discriminant analysis and orthogonal partial least squares‐discriminant analysis was used to analyze the changes in the metabolic spectrum trajectory and identify potential biomarkers. Twelve potential biomarkers in the model group, such as succinic acid, threonine and lactose, were selected, which indicate that the metabonomic pathogenesis of the early stage of liver fibrosis may be related to disorders of energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism and fatty acid metabolism.     

Flow dynamics analyses of pathophysiological liver lobules using porous media theory

Blood flow inside the liver plays a key role in hepatic functions, and abnormal hemodynamics are highly correlated with liver diseases. To date, the flow field in an elementary building block of the organ, the liver lobule, is difficult to determine experimentally in humans due to its complicated structure, with radially branched microvas-culature and the technical difficulties that derive from its geometric constraints. Here we established a set of 3D com-putational models for a liver lobule using porous media theory and analyzed its flow dynamics in normal, fibrotic, and cirrhotic lobules. Our simulations indicated that those approximations of ordinary flow in portal tracts (PTs) and the central vein, and of porous media flow in the sinusoidal network, were reasonable only for normal or fibrotic lobules. Models modified with high resistance in PTs and collateral vessels inside sinusoids were able to describe the flow fea-tures in cirrhotic lobules. Pressures, average velocities, and volume flow rates were profiled and the predictions compared well with experimental data. This study furthered our under-standing of the flow dynamics features of liver lobules and the differences among normal, fibrotic, and cirrhotic lobules.     

Nuclear magnetic resonance study of iron overload in liver tissue

Whole-tissue and homogenized samples of human liver were studied in a NMR spectrometer, T1 and T2 relaxation times were measured as a function of added inorganic or organic iron. When inorganic iron (Fe+3) was added, pronounced T1 and T2 shortening was noted. However, when organic iron, in the form of ferritin, was added, the amount of T1 and T2 relaxation enhancement was much reduced for the same amount of added iron. The in vitro ferritin results model the situation found in clinical studies of hemochromatosis. Only in cases of severe iron overload were significant decreases in relaxation times observed. The T2 relaxation time was the more reliable indicator of excessive levels of iron in the liver. The large range of T1 and T2 values encountered in normal volunteers precludes the use of MR to quantitatively measure iron levels in the liver. The T1 and T2 relaxation times measured at intervals for one individual tend to fluctuate as well, making the use of MR to follow the course of treatment of iron overload disorders unreliable.