Investigation of Microemulsion System for Transdermal Drug Delivery of Amphotericin B

In order to solve the drawback of poor bioavailability by the oral route and infusion-related side effect for Amphotericin B(AmB), microemulsion vehicles composed of isopropyl myristate(IPM), Tween 80, isopropyl alcohol and water for transdermal delivery of AmB were designed. The pseudo-ternary phase diagrams were constructed by the H2O titration method and the structures of the microemulsion were determined by measuring electrical conducti-vities(σ). The diffusion studies of AmB microemulsion were performed via excised rabbit skin on a drug diffusion apparatus. To obtain a high solubization of AmB, three different methods were tested to incorporate AmB into mi-croemulsion. The result suggests adding AmB in the shape of NaOH solution to the O/W blank microemulsion over the phase inversion temperature(PIT) of the emulsifier obtains the maximum drug content(2.96 mg/mL). The pH value of the system could be adjusted to pH8.5 or pH<5.2, in this range AmB molecules converts from aqueous to the hydrophilic shell of the microemulsion droplets, drug precipitate is no more than 5%, and the formulations were corresponding to the characterizations of microemulsion. At pH 5.14, AmB microemulsion with Km 1:1, O/SC 1:9(mass ratio ofoil phase to surfactant/cosurfactant blend), water content 64.6%, drug content (2.93±0.08) mg/mL,showed the maximum permeation rate(3.255±0.64)μg·cm-2·h-1,which is stable for a long time.     

Facilitated Transport of Ions and Glucose by Amphotericin B Across Lipid Bilayers in the Presence or Absence of Cholesterol

The transport of ions and glucose across bilayer lipid membranes (BLM) facilitated by amphotericin B (AmB) is studied by use of planar BLMs and liposomal membranes. The transport characteristics change with time in the presence of cholesterol, while it is independent of time in the absence of cholesterol. The carrier‐type transport is observed immediately after the addition of AmB. In the presence of cholesterol, AmB forms a 1 : 1 complex with cholesterol and the channel is formed by aggregation of AmB‐cholesterol complexes. It is concluded that the number of the channels increases with time and that the carrier‐type transport decreases instead.     

A new fluorescent probe of rhodamine B derivative for the detection of copper ion

A new fluorescent probe, rhodamine B hydrazide oxalamide (RBHO), which shows very weak fluorescence, was synthesized, and its fluorescence could be substantially enhanced by the addition of copper ion. The probe shows a high selectivity and sensitivity to copper ion by forming a 1:1 complex in acetonitrile, and the chelating is reversible. Limit of detection for copper ion in acetonitrile was found to be 3.7 × 10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹. It was also found that copper ion could catalyze the hydrolysis of the probe in 50% (v/v) buffered (10 mM Tris–HCl, pH 7.0) water/acetonitrile giving a highly fluorescent product, and the fluorescence detection of copper ion was developed in this neutral buffered media with a detection limit of 6.4 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹. Determination of copper ion in water and synthetic samples in the presence of different interfering metal ions was successfully carried out with the new probe RBHO.     

Transformation of “Masked” 1,3-Diols of 1,2-O-Isopropylidene-α-D-Erythro-Hexofuranose into Acyclic Forms. Chirons for Amphotericin B

3,5-Dideoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-α-D-erythro-hexofuranose 1 was readily converted to dithianyl amide 8, which is a convenient acyclic form of 1,3-diol, in high yield.     

Chemical Modification of Hydrophobic Block in Poly(Ethylene Oxide) Poly(Caprolactone) Based Nanocarriers: Effect on the Solubilization and Hemolytic Activity of Amphotericin B

The aim of this study was to develop methoxy poly(ethylene oxide)‐b‐poly(ε‐caprolactone) (MePEO‐b‐PCL) containing stearyl (St) substituents on PCL, and assess the efficacy of nanocarriers formed from this structure in comparison to unmodified MePEO‐b‐PCL and those with carboxyl substitutes on PCL on the solubilization and delivery of Amphotericin B (AmB). Prepared block copolymers were characterized for their molecular weight by ¹H NMR and gel permeation chromatography. The self‐assembly of synthesized MePEO‐b‐PStCL to spherical particles of nanometer size range was shown by dynamic light scattering as well as electron and atomic force microscopy. Encapsulated AmB showed a reduction in its hemolytic activity against rat red blood cells in comparison to the commercial formulation of AmB, Fungizone.

     

Elaboration and use of a double channel detection ion chromatographic method for determination of ions in aqueous samples

Summary In this paper we report our research in developing a simple and reliable method for determination of various anions in aqueous samples. Among the several methods existing for determining ions in aqueous samples, ion chromatography is becoming more and more important, due to its reliability and ability to determine the concentration of more ions from one sample. Although several detection methods are available, in this work we used conductivity detection, and indirect UV photometric detection. Because in some cases it can be important to gather more detailed information on the composition of a sample, we present a way to meet this demand by using double channel detection. Presented at Balaton Symposium on High Performance Separation Methods, Siófok, Hungary, September, 1–3, 1999     

Transformation of “Masked” 1,3-Diols of Protected α-D-Erythro-Hexopyranoside into Acyclic Forms. Chirons for Amphotericin B and Tetrin A

Methyl 3-O-benzyl-2,4-dideoxy-D-erythro-hexopyranoside 1a, a chiron for the C1-C6 segment of amphotericin B and tetrin A, has been successfully converted to aldehyde 3; chloride 5d and iodide 7c in high yields, which are the acyclic forms of 1,3-diols.     

Modulating ion current rectification generating high energy output in a single glass conical nanopore channel by concentration gradient

Inspired by biological systems that have the inherent skill to generate considerable bioelectricity from the salt content in fluids with highly selective ion channels and pumps on cell membranes,herein,a fully abiotic,single glass conical nanopores energy-harvesting is demonstrated.Ion current rectification(ICR)in negatively charged glass conical nanopores is shown to be controlled by the electrolyte concentration gradient depending on the direction of ion diffusion.The degree of ICR is enhanced with the increasing forward concentration difference.An unusual rectification inversion is observed when the concentration gradient is reversely applied.The maximum power output with the individual nanopore approaches10~4pW.This facile and cost-efficient energy-harvesting system has the potential to power tiny biomedical devices or construct future clean-energy recovery plants.     

Oil-in-water lecithin-based microemulsions as a potential delivery system for amphotericin B

In this work the structural features of microemulsions (MEs) containing the pharmaceutical biocompatible Soya phosphatidylcholine/Tween 20 (1:1) as surfactant (S), Captextrade mark 200 as oil phase (O), and phosphate buffer 10mM, pH 7.2 as aqueous phase (W) were studied. Systems obtained with different proportions of the components were described by pseudo-ternary phase diagrams in order to characterize the microemulsions studied here. MEs were prepared with and without the polyene antifungal drug amphotericin B (AmB). The maximum AmB incorporation into the ME system was dependent on both the oil phase and surfactant proportions with 6.80 and 5.7mg/mL in high contents, respectively. The incorporation of AmB into the ME systems significantly increased the profile of the droplet size of the ME for all ranges of surfactant proportions used in the formulations. The microstructures of the system were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and rheological behavior. The DLS results showed that the size of the oil droplets increases 4.6-fold when AmB is incorporated into the ME system. In all cases the increase in the proportion of the oil phase of the ME leads to a slight increase in the diameter of the oil droplets of the system. Furthermore, for both the AmB-loaded and AmB-unloaded MEs, the size of the oil droplets decrease significantly with the increase of the S proportion in the formulations, demonstrating the efficiency of the surfactant in stabilizing the ME. Depending on the ME composition, an anti-thixotropic behavior was found. The maximum increases of the consistency index caused by the increase of the oil phase of the ME were of 17- and 25-times for the drug-loaded and drug-unloaded MEs, respectively. However, the observed effect for the drug-loaded ME was about 4.6 times higher than that for the drug-unloaded one, demonstrating the strong effect of the drug on the rheological characteristics of the ME system. Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the investigated ME can be used as a very promising vehicle for AmB.     

Ion channels of N-terminally linked alamethicin dimers: enhancement of cation-selectivity by substitution of Glu for Gln at position 7

Alamethicin forms voltage-gated ion channels that have moderate cation-selectivity. The enhancement of the cation-selectivity by introducing negatively charged residues at positions 7 and 18 has been studied using the tethered homodimers of alamethicin with Q7 and E18 (di-alm-Q7E18) and its analog with E7 and Q18 (di-alm-E7Q18). In the dimeric peptides, monomer peptides are linked at the N-termini by a disulfide bond. Both the peptides formed long lasting ion channels at cis-positive voltages when added to the cis-side membrane. Their long open duration enabled us to obtain current-voltage (I-V(m)) relations and reversal potentials at the single-channel level by applying a voltage ramp during the channel opening. The reversal potentials measured in asymmetric KCl solutions indicated that ionized E7 provided strong cation-selectivity, whereas ionized E18 little influenced the charge selectivity. This was also the case for the macroscopic charge selectivity determined from the reversal potentials obtained by the macroscopic I-V(m) measurements. The results are accounted for by stronger electrostatic interactions between permeant ions and negatively charged residues at the narrowest part of the pore than at the pore mouth.     

Chemical standards for ion mobility spectrometry: a review

Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS), using stand-alone instrumentation and hyphenated with mass spectrometry (IM-MS), has recently undergone significant expansion in the numbers of users and applications, particularly in sectors outside its established user base; predominantly military and security applications. Although several IMS reference standards have been proposed, there are no currently universally recognised reference standards for the calibration and evaluation of mobility spectrometers. This review describes current practices and the literature on chemical standards for validating IMS systems in positive and negative ion modes. The key qualities and requirements an ‘ideal’ reference standard must possess are defined, together with the instrumental and environmental factors such as temperature, electric field, humidity and drift gas composition that may need to be considered. Important challenges that have yet to be resolved are also identified and proposals for future development presented.     

Intramolecular dimers: a new design strategy for fluorescence-quenched probes

Fluorogenic probes dual-labeled with reporter and quencher dyes use a change in fluorescence to monitor biochemical events (e.g., substrate binding or enzyme digestion). Such events change the reporter-quencher distance, which affects fluorescence. Recently, it is has been shown that static quenching through intramolecular dimers is an important mechanism that can sometimes be more efficient than F?rster resonance energy transfer (FRET).     

Ion mobility–mass spectrometry: a new paradigm for proteomics

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) coupled with ion mobility–mass spectrometry (IM–MS) provides a rapid (μs–ms) means for the two-dimensional (2D) separation of complex biological samples (e.g., peptides, oligonucleotides, glycoconjugates, lipids, etc.), elucidation of solvent-free secondary structural elements (e.g., helices, β-hairpins, random coils, etc.), rapid identification of post-translational modifications (e.g., phosphorylation, glycosylation, etc.) or ligation of small molecules, and simultaneous and comprehensive sequencing information of biopolymers. In IM–MS, protein-identification information is complemented by structural characterization data, which is difficult to obtain using conventional proteomic techniques. New avenues for enhancing the figures of merit (e.g., sensitivity, limits of detection, dynamic range, and analyte selectivity) and optimizing IM–MS experimental parameters are described in the context of deriving new information at the forefront of proteomics research.     

Development of a tetramethylrhodamine-labeled probe for a capillary electrophoresis-based competitive immunoassay of staphylococcal enterotoxin B

Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) was labeled with tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate (TRITC) and used as a probe for a competitive immunoassay. Labeling conditions such as solution pH and time were varied to observe the effect on the fluorescent product. It was found that solution pH of the labeling reaction had little effect on the fluorescence signal of the resulting products. However, labeling at pH 7.0 produced a probe that had a higher affinity for the antibody used in this study than the probes produced at pH 8.0 and 9.0. The fluorescent probes were used to perform a competitive assay for SEB in model skim milk samples. Detection limit was approximately 300 fg of SEB. Quantitation was achieved by curve fitting of fluorescent signals for bound/free probe versus log[SEB] with logarithmic functions. Accuracy in the model skim milk samples was acceptable for 3 and 5 nM SEB, but decreased considerably for a concentration of less than 1 nM SEB. The error was attributed to deviation in linearity in the standard curve at lower concentrations. Reproducibility for the analysis of both standard solutions used for the calibration curves and the model skim milk samples was excellent, with standard deviations of approximately 10% from data collected over a 3-week period. No cross-reactivity was found when the assay was tested with a 700 nM sample of staphylococcal enterotoxin A. Although competitive immunoassays are usually used for small molecules, such as therapeutic drugs, the results demonstrate that relatively large molecules (SEB, 27 kDa) can also be assayed with the technique.     

Micro-plasma: a novel ionisation source for ion mobility spectrometry

Ion mobility spectrometry is an analytical method for identification and quantification of gas-phase analytes in the ppb_v-ppt_v range. Traditional ionisation methods suffer from low sensitivity (UV light), lack of long-term stability (partial discharge), or legal restrictions when radioactive sources are used. A miniaturised helium plasma was applied as ionisation source in an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS). Experiments were carried out to compare plasma IMS with β-radiation IMS. It could be demonstrated that the plasma IMS is characterised by higher sensitivity and selectivity than β-radiation ionisation. Plasma IMS is approximately 100 times more sensitive than the β-radiation IMS. Furthermore, variable sensitivity can be achieved by variation of the helium flow and the electric field of the plasma, and variable selectivity can be achieved by changing the electric field of the IMS. The experimental arrangement, optimisation of relevant conditions, and a typical application are presented in detail. Figure Micro-plasma used in ion mobility spectrometry     

A new tool for inorganic nitrogen speciation study: simultaneous determination of ammonium ion, nitrite and nitrate by ion chromatography with post-column ammonium derivatization by Nessler reagent and diode-array detection in rain water samples

The paper presents a new method for a simultaneous determination of inorganic nitrogen species in the oxidized (NO₂⁻, NO₃⁻) and reduced (NH₄⁺) form in rain water samples. The method is based on a system of nitrogen species separation employing ion exchange and diode-array detection. The ions are separated in a strong ion-exchanger, nitrites and nitrates are determined directly at 208 and 205 nm, respectively, while the ammonium ions are determined in the column hold-up time after a post-column derivatization by the Nessler reagent, at 425 nm. The use of a diode-array detector permits a simultaneous identification of the inorganic nitrogen species in 8 min. The detection limits obtained are: NO₂⁻, 0.1 mg L⁻¹; NO₃⁻, 0.05 mg L⁻¹; NH₄⁺, 1 mg L⁻¹. The method proposed has been successfully used for speciation analysis of inorganic nitrogen in precipitation.     

Novel H-bonded base dimers as repeat units for information-bearing self-associative duplexes: a B3LYP/6-31G* search

Density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-31G* level with counterpoise correction has been employed to study six sets of nitrogenous bases for the capacity of each to form H-bonded dimers restricted to a chosen pairing configuration. These results are augmented by MP2/6-311++G(d,p) single point calculations on the B3LYP/6-31G* optimized geometries. Each set has two bases, including substituted azoles, imidazoles, pyrimidines, and fused ring systems. This study aims to determine the suitability of each set to furnish H-bonded base pairs which may serve as repeat units for self-associative H-bonded macromolecular duplexes with the capacity to store and replicate information at the molecular level. Out of the various possibilities tested here, a set of two substituted pyrimidines best satisfies the prescribed criteria and may be put forward as a good candidate to yield isomorphic repeat units for designing such synthetic information-bearing macromolecular duplexes. The optimized configurations of these chosen base pairs as calculated at the B3LYP/6-31G* level compare well with those calculated at the B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p) and MP2/6-31G(d,p) levels, and indicate that isomorphism of the two base pairs is independent of method used. Assuming a one-to-one correspondence for encoding information in the macromolecule, such a set of two bases can allow the macromolecule to encode up to 8 types of encrypted species.     

Direct differentiation of herbal medicine for volatile components by a multicapillary column with ion mobility spectrometry method

In this work, a headspace system coupled to a gas chromatographic column and ion mobility spectrometry was applied as a screening system to differentiate the crude and processed “atractylodis macrocephalae rhizoma” samples. The obtained ion mobility data were consecutively processed by principal component analysis and Radar fingerprint chart methods. From the principal component analysis for the initial solution to original variables, the two principal components accounted for 68 and 13% of the total variance, respectively. The established method was proven to be valuable for classification, discrimination between herbal medicines from different processing procedures.     

Sarcanolides A and B: two sesquiterpenoid dimers with a nonacyclic scaffold from Sarcandra hainanensis

Two novel lindenane-type sesquiterpenoid dimers, sarcanolides A (1) and B (2), were isolated from the whole plants of Sarcandra hainanensis. These compounds feature a new nonacyclic scaffold in which the bond formation of C-11-C-7′ imposed the five-membered lactone ring in a full β-direction. Their structures, including the absolute configuration, were determined by NMR analysis, CD exciton chirality method, and ECD calculation.     

Chlorahololides C-F: a new class of potent and selective potassium channel blockers from Chloranthus holostegius

Four unusually fused polycyclic sesquiterpenoid dimers, chlorahololides C-F (1-4), were isolated from the whole plant of Chloranthus holostegius. Their structures and absolute configurations were established by spectroscopic methods, including 2D NMR and CD spectra. Chlorahololides C-F (1-4) exerted potent and selective inhibition on the delayed rectifier (I_K) K⁺ current with the IC₅₀ values of 3.6±10.1, 2.7±0.3, 27.5±5.1 and 57.5±6.1 μM, respectively.