Biodistribution study of free and microencapsulated 6‐methylcoumarin in Wistar rats by HPLC

A sensitive, specific and reproducible HPLC method has been developed and validated for the quantitative determination of 6‐methylcoumarin (6MC) in plasma and other tissues in Wistar rats. A C₁₈ column was used with UV detection at 321 nm and a gradient system consisting of methanol‐deionized water was used as mobile phase. The retention time for 6MC was 14.921 min and no interfering peaks were observed for any of the matrices. Linear relationships (r² > 0.997) were obtained between the peak height ratios and the corresponding biological sample concentrations over the range 0.4–12.8 µg/mL. Precision and accuracy were evaluated; the coefficient of variation and the relative error for all of the organs were <2 and 7%, respectively. The limit of quantitation was 0.20 µg/mL for the heart and 0.30 µg/mL for the other tissues evaluated. This HPLC method was successfully used in the determination of 6MC in the biodistribution study after administration of 200 mg/kg of both 6MC‐free and 6MC‐loaded polymeric microparticles. In this study, extensive 6MC was found, in both free and microencapsulated forms, in all the organs tested. The 6MC‐free showed a range of between 1.7 and 11.5 µg/g, while the microencapsulated 6MC showed concentrations of between 6.35 and 17.7 µg/g, suggesting that 6MC improved absorption rate. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Preparation,Characterization and Properties of Catalase Immobilized on Crosslinked Gellan

In the present paper, the reaction of chemical immobilization of catalase on a crosslinked macromolecular carrier of a polysaccharide structure (gellan) is studied. The influence of some reaction parameters (enzyme/carrier, activator/carrier ratios, duration) on the activity of enzymatic products is analyzed. The kinetics of the biocatalytic process, stability under different pH and temperature conditions, and the inhibitors effect were studied for the immobilized enzymes.     

Novel Supports Based on Polysaccharides for Sustained‐Release of Isosorbide Dinitrate

Novel supports based on carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), crosslinked with epichlorohydrin (EPC), and microparticles based on acetylphthalylcellulose (APC), for sustained‐release of isosorbide dinitrate (Isoket, Ik), were obtained. The drug has been included into CMC hydrogels through diffusion from ethanol‐water solution. Studies about the ethanol–water ratio influence on including the drug have shown an increased amount of included drug at higher content of water in the alcohol‐water mixture. Isoket–ACP microparticles have been obtained by drug and polymer co‐precipitation from emulsified aqueous solution.

The kinetics for “in vitro” release of Ik from polymeric materials, in simulated conditions for intestinal tract medium, where the drug is preferentially absorbed, has been analyzed. The experimental data have shown a “zero” order kinetic for drug release, which is characteristic for systems controlled by diffusion.     

Equilibrium and structural characterization of ofloxacin–cyclodextrin complexation

The enantiomer-specific characterization of ofloxacin–cyclodextrin complexes was carried out by a set of complementary analytical techniques. The apparent stability constants of the ofloxacin enantiomers with 20 different cyclodextrins at two different pH values were determined to achieve good resolution capillary electrophoresis enantioseparation either to establish enantioselective drug analysis assay, or to interpret and design improved host–guest interactions at the molecular level. The cyclodextrins studied differed in the nature of substituents, degree of substitution (DS), charge and purity, allowing a systematic test of these properties on the complexation. The seven-membered beta-cyclodextrin and its derivatives were found to be the most suitable hosts. Highest stability and best enantioseparation were observed for the carboxymethylated-beta-cyclodextrin (DS ~ 3.5). The effect of substitution pattern (SP) was investigated by molecular modeling, verifying that SP greatly affects the complex stability. Induced circular dichroism was observed and found especially significant on carboxymethylated-beta-cyclodextrin. The complex stoichiometry and the geometry of the inclusion complexes were determined by ¹H NMR spectroscopy, including 2D ROESY techniques. Irrespective of the kind of cyclodextrin, the complexation ratio was found to be 1:1. The alfa-cyclodextrin cavity can accommodate the oxazine ring only, whereas the whole tricyclic moiety can enter the beta- and gamma-cyclodextrin cavities. These equilibrium and structural information offer molecular basis for improved drug formulation.     

Nucleation and Growth Synthesis of Siloxane Gels to Form Functional,Monodisperse, and Acoustically Programmable Particles

Nucleation and growth methods offer scalable means of synthesizing colloidal particles with precisely specified size for applications in chemical research, industry, and medicine. These methods have been used to prepare a class of silicone gel particles that display a range of programmable properties and narrow size distributions. The acoustic contrast factor of these particles in water is estimated and can be tuned such that the particles undergo acoustophoresis to either the pressure nodes or antinodes of acoustic standing waves. These particles can be synthesized to display surface functional groups that can be covalently modified for a range of bioanalytical and acoustophoretic sorting applications.     

Evaluation of Redox Activity of Human Myocardium‐derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells by Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy

In this study the redox activity of human myocardium‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (hmMSC) were investigated by redox‐competition (RC‐SECM) and generation‐collection (GC‐SECM) modes of scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM), using 2‐methylnaphthalene‐1,4‐dione (menadione, MD) as a redox mediator. The redox activity of human healthy and dilated hmMSCs was evaluated by measuring reduction of MD. Measurements were performed by approaching and retracting the UME from the surface of growing hmMSC cells. The current study shows that the RC‐SECM mode can be applied to investigate integrity of cell membranes, whereas the most promising results were observed by using the GC‐SECM mode and applying the Hill's equation for the calculation/fitting of dependencies of electrical current vs menadione concentration. The calculated apparent Michaelis constant (K_M) for the production of menadiol (MDH₂) in the pathological hmMSC cells was 14.4 folds higher compared to that of the healthy hmMSC revealing the lover redox activity of pathological cells. Moreover, the calculated Hill's coefficient n shows a negative cooperative binding between MD and healthy hmMSC and positive cooperative binding between MD and pathological hmMSC. It means that healthy hmMSC is of lower affinity to MD, which is also related to the better membrane integrity of healthy cells. Data of this study demonstrate that SECM can be applied to investigate intracellular redox and membrane changes ongoing in human dilated myocardium‐derived hmMSC in order to improve their functioning and further regenerative potential.     

Measuring spatial coherence by using a mask with multiple apertures

A simple method to measure the complex degree of spatial coherence of a partially coherent quasi-monochromatic light field is presented. The Fourier spectrum of the far-field interferogram generated by a mask with multiple apertures (small circular holes) is analyzed in terms of classes of aperture pairs. A class of aperture pairs is defined as the set of aperture pairs with the same separation vector. The height of the peaks in the magnitude spectrum determines the modulus of the complex degree of spatial coherence and the corresponding value in the phase spectrum determines the phase of the complex degree of spatial coherence. The method is illustrated with experimental results.     

Structural characterization of poly(amino)ester dendrimers and related impurities by electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

An acid‐terminated poly(amino)ester dendrimer was studied by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry to establish its fragmentation pathways, with the aim of using them to investigate the structure of any defective molecules generated during the dendrimer synthesis. This poly(amino)ester dendrimer could be ionized in both polarities but the most structurally relevant dissociation pathways were found from the deprotonated molecule in negative ion mode. The dissociation pattern of this dendrimer is fully described and supported by accurate mass measurements. The main dissociation reactions of the negatively charged polyacidic dendrimer were shown to consist of (i) the release of carbon dioxide and ethene within a branch, which proceeds as many times as intact neutral branches are available; and (ii) the elimination of an entire dendrimer arm. Monitoring the occurrence of these reactions together with any deviation from these two main routes allowed six major dendritic impurities to be structurally characterized. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.