Phytochemical and Biological Evaluation of a Newly Designed Nutraceutical Self-Nanoemulsifying Self-Nanosuspension for Protection and Treatment of Cisplatin Induced Testicular Toxicity in Male Rats

The incorporation of cisplatin (CP) as a cytotoxic antineoplastic agent in most chemotherapeutic protocols is a challenge due to its toxic effect on testicular tissues. Natural compounds present a promising trend in research, so a new nutraceutical formulation (NCF) was designed to diminish CP spermatotoxicity. A combination of three nutraceutical materials, 250 mg Spirulina platensis powder (SP), 25 mg Tribulus terrestris L. extract (TT), and 100 mg fish oil (FO) were formulated in self-nanoemulsifying self-nanosuspension (SNESNS). SP was loaded into the optimized self-nanoemulsifying system (30% FO, 50% span 80/cremophor EL and 20% isopropanol) and mixed with TT aqueous solution to form SNESNS. For the SP, phytochemical profiling revealed the presence of valuable amounts of fatty acids (FAs), amino acids, flavonoids, polyphenols, vitamins, and minerals. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and particle size analysis confirmed the formation of nanoemulsion-based nanosuspension upon dilution. Method validation of the phytochemical constituents in NCF has been developed. Furthermore, NCF was biologically evaluated on male Wistar rats and revealed the improvement of spermatozoa, histopathological features, and biochemical markers over the CP and each ingredient group. Our findings suggest the potential of NCF with SNESNS as a delivery system against CP-induced testicular toxicity in male rats.     

Development and Validation of a High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatographic Method for the Assay of Ternary Mixtures Containing Cetirizine Dihydrochloride in Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - A highly validated and selective high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) method was developed for the determination of...     

Pyrolysis of aminonitriles,cyanohydrazones, and cyanoacetamides. Part I. Elimination reaction of 1-arylmethyleneamino-1,2-dihydro-4,6-dimethyl-2-oxopyridine-3-carbonitriles and substituted benzaldehyde cyanoacetylhydrazones

Pyrolysis of the Schiff bases of 1-arylmethyleneamino-1,2-dihydro-4,6-dimethyl-2-oxopyridine-3-carbonitriles (1–5) has been studied. These compounds eliminate via a six-membered transition state to produce substituted benzonitriles and 2-hydroxy-4,6-dimethylpyridine-3-carbonitrile. These eliminations are unimolecular first-order reactions. The kinetic data gave a good correlation with σ⁰ values of the substituents on the aryl group with ρ = 0.83 at 520 K. Utilization of the pyrolytic reaction in synthesis of various benzonitriles is considered, and mechanistic information has been obtained by comparing the kinetic data and product analysis of the Schiff bases with their open-chain substituted benzaldehyde cyanoacetylhydrazones (6–9) analogues. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Spectra of europium-doped yttrium oxide and yttrium vanadate phosphors

The spectral distributions of the visible absorption and fluorescence emission under electron beam excitation of Eu³⁺-doped (Y₂O₃) and (YVO₄) powders have been detected and analyzed. (Y₂O₃: Eu³⁺) has a cubicC crystal structure with a unit cell dimension a=10·61 Å. Its observed transitions from⁷ F ₀ to many upper states have been recognized; the observed number of Stark components is in agreement with that based on theC ₂ site symmetry of the Eu³⁺ ion in Y₂O₃. Eu³⁺-doped yttrium vanadate has a typical zircon tetragonal crystal structure with unit cell dimensions ofc=6·29 Å anda=7·11 Å. The observed transitions in (Eu³⁺: YVO₄) have been identified and assigned in accordance with theD _2d site symmetry of the Eu³⁺ ion in this lattice.The authors would like to express their deep gratitude to Professor G. F. J.Garlick, University of Hull, England, for offering experimental facilities in his Physics Department.     

Role of A-site deficiency in the magneto-transport properties of Pr<Subscript>0.7</Subscript>Sr<Subscript>0.3</Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript> relaxed films

The magneto-transport properties of thick relaxed A-site deficient films having the composition Pr Sr_0.3MnO₃ (P_□SMO with the □ symbol for the Pr vacancy) and Pr_0.7Sr MnO₃ (PS_□MO) are studied. A direct comparison with a Pr_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ (PSMO)completely relaxed film, deposited under the same growth conditions, shows a reduction of the in-plane parameter a₁₀₀ associated to an enhancement of the out-plane parameter. The strains (bulk strain ε_B and biaxial Jahn-Teller strain ε_J-T) do vary with the nature of the cationic vacancy. For example, an enhancement of ε_B of 9% in the PS_□MO film (Sr deficient) produces a decrease of T_C of 30 K, whereas the Pr deficient P_□SMO film exhibits a large reduction of both ε_B (-16%) and ε_J-T (divided by a factor of 5), which enhances T_C of 12 K, similarly to previous observations on bulk ceramics. With a reduced resistivity (ρ<0.02 Ω cm), the obtained Pr-deficient film, P_□SMO, exhibits the best magneto-transport properties with a decreasing magnetoresistance sensitivity at low field.     

Kinetic investigation of aquation of some Fe(II) Schiff base amino acid complexes

Kinetics of aquation of some Fe(II) Schiff base amino acid complexes was followed spectrophotometrically. The Schiff base ligands were derived from salicylaldehyde and isoleucine, leucine, serine, methionine, tryptophan, or histidine. The reaction was studied in aqueous media, aqua–propanol mixtures, and in the presence of different concentrations of KBr. Moreover, the activation parameters were calculated and discussed for structures and other physical properties observed. The reaction was acid catalyzed and the general rate equation was suggested as follows: rate = k_obs [complex], where k_obs = k₂ [H⁺]. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 42: 372–379, 2010     

Electrophoreted Zn-TiO2-ZnO nanocomposite coating films for photocatalytic degradation of 2-chlorophenol

TiO₂-ZnO nano-powders with different TiO₂/ZnO ratios have been synthesized by hydrothermal method. Nanocomposite coating films consisting of TiO₂-ZnO and Zn with thickness of 20 μm have been electrophoreted on steel plates by rapid plating from a ZnO-based alkaline bath. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis were used to investigate the structure, the size distribution, and the composition of prepared nano-powders and plated materials. The effect of the operating parameters such as powder contents, pH and current density on the electrophoresis process has been investigated and optimum conditions of coating process were determined. Corrosion properties of plated samples have been studied by salt spray test. The catalytic activity of the prepared nanocomposite Zn-TiO₂-ZnO films for the photocatalytic degradation of 2-chlorophenol (2-CP) was measured.