Analysis of primaquine and its metabolite carboxyprimaquine in biological samples: enantiomeric separation, method validation and quantification

The clinical formulation of primaquine (PQ) is a mixture of (−)‐(R)‐ and (+)‐(S)‐ primaquine enantiomers which may show different pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties. To assess the efficacy and toxicity of primaquine enantiomers, a method using LC‐MSD‐TOF has been developed. The enantiomers were well separated using a Chiralcel OD column (250 × 4.6 mm, 10 µm) with a linear gradient of mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile (0.1% formic acid) and aqueous ammonium formate (20 mm ; 0.1% formic acid) adjusted to pH 5.9 at a flow rate of 0.7 mL/min. The method was validated for linearity, precision, accuracy and limits of detection and quantification. The calibration curves were linear with all correlation coefficients being >0.999. The average recoveries of (−)‐(R)‐ and (+)‐(S)‐primaquine and (−)‐(R)‐ and (+)‐(S)‐carboxyprimaquine were 88 and 92%, respectively, in spiked human plasma and 89 and 93% respectively in spiked mouse plasma samples. The RSD of (−)‐(R)‐ and (+)‐(S)‐primaquine and (−)‐(R)‐ and (+)‐(S)‐carboxyprimaquine were 2.15, 1.74, 1.73 and 2.31, respectively, in spiked human plasma and 2.21, 1.09, 1.95 and 1.17% in spiked mouse plasma, respectively. The intra‐day and inter‐day precisions expressed as RSD were lower than 10% in all analyzed quality control levels. The method as reported is suitable for study of the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of the enantiomers of primaquine. The method was successfully applied to study plasma pharmacokinetic profile of enantiomers of primaquine and carboxyprimaquine in mice administered with primaquine in racemic form. The analytical method was found to be linear, accurate, precise and specific. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A novel acid-catalyzed C5-alkylation of oxindoles using alcohols

A novel C5-alkylation of oxindoles using alcohols as alkylating agents under acid catalysis is described for the first time. The reactions of various benzylic, allylic and propargylic alcohols are studied to obtain the corresponding 5-substituted oxindoles in good yields.     

High-pressure study of lithium azide from density-functional calculations

The structural, electronic, optical, and vibrational properties of LiN(3) under high pressure have been studied using plane wave pseudopotentials within the generalized gradient approximation for the exchange and correlation functional. The calculated lattice parameters agree quite well with experiments. The calculated bulk modulus value is found to be 23.23 GPa, which is in good agreement with the experimental value of 20.5 GPa. Our calculations reproduce well the trends in high-pressure behavior of the structural parameters. The present results show that the compressibility of LiN(3) crystal is anisotropic and the crystallographic b-axis is more compressible when compared to a- and c-axes, which is also consistent with experiment. Elastic constants are predicted, which still awaits experimental confirmation. The computed elastic constants clearly show that LiN(3) is a mechanically stable system and the calculated elastic constants follow the order C(33) > C(11) > C(22), implying that the LiN(3) lattice is stiffer along the c-axis and relatively weaker along the b-axis. Under the application of pressure the magnitude of the electronic band gap value decreases, indicating that the system has the tendency to become semiconductor at high pressures. The optical properties such as refractive index, absorption spectra, and photoconductivity along the three crystallographic directions have been calculated at ambient as well as at high pressures. The calculated refractive index shows that the system is optically anisotropic and the anisotropy increases with an increase in pressure. The observed peaks in the absorption and photoconductivity spectra are found to shift toward the higher energy region as pressure increases, which implies that in LiN(3) decomposition is favored under pressure with the action of light. The vibrational frequencies for the internal and lattice modes of LiN(3) at ambient conditions as well as at high pressures are calculated from which we predict that the response of the lattice modes toward pressure is relatively high when compared to the internal modes of the azide ion.     

Spectral studies on Ag8+ ions irradiated LAHCl·H2O and LAHBr·H2O single crystals

L-arginine hydrochloride monohydrate and L-arginine hydrobromide monohydrate single crystals are irradiated by 100 MeV Ag8+ swift heavy ions. The residual gases liberated from the irradiated samples are monitored as a function of ion fluence using quadrupole mass analyzer. The C2H3+, C2H2, N2, CO, HCl and CO2 are the dominant gases liberated. Fourier transform infrared spectra of irradiated crystals explain the breaking of bonds in a localized region of the crystals. The crystallinity of irradiated crystals is analyzed by powder X-ray diffractions.     

Synthesis of Moracin C and Its Derivatives with a 2-arylbenzofuran Motif and Evaluation of Their PCSK9 Inhibitory Effects in HepG2 Cells

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a key factor in several cardiovascular diseases, as it is responsible for the elevation of circulating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in blood plasma by direct interaction with the LDL receptor. The development of orally available drugs to inhibit this PCSK9-LDLR interaction is a highly desirable objective. Here, we report the synthesis of naturally occurring moracin compounds and their derivatives with a 2-arylbenzofuran motif to inhibit PCSK9 expression. In addition, we discuss a short approach involving the three-step synthesis of moracin C and a divergent method to obtain various analogs from one starting material. Among the tested derivatives, compound 7 (97.1%) was identified as a more potent inhibitor of PCSK9 expression in HepG2 cells than berberine (60.9%). These results provide a better understanding of the structure–activity relationships of moracin derivatives for the inhibition of PCSK9 expression in human hepatocytes.     

Lysinated Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes with Carbohydrate Ligands as an Effective Nanocarrier for Targeted Doxorubicin Delivery to Breast Cancer Cells

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are elongated, hollow cylindrical nanotubes made of sp2 carbon. MWCNTs have attracted significant attention in the area of drug delivery due to their high drug-loading capacity and large surface area. Furthermore, they can be linked to bioactive ligands molecules via covalent and noncovalent bonds that allow for the targeted delivery of anticancer drugs such as doxorubicin. The majority of methodologies reported for the functionalization of MWCNTs for drug delivery are quite complex and use expensive linkers and ligands. In the present study, we report a simple, cost-effective approach for functionalizing MWCNTs with the carbohydrate ligands, galactose (GA), mannose (MA) and lactose (LA), using lysine as a linker. The doxorubicin (Dox)-loaded functionalized MWCNTs were characterized using FT-IR, NMR, Raman, XRD and FE-SEM. The drug–loaded MWCNTs were evaluated for drug loading, drug release and cell toxicity in vitro, in breast cancer cells. The results indicated that the carbohydrate-modified lysinated MWCNTs had greater Dox loading capacity, compared to carboxylated MWCNTs (COOHMWCNTs) and lysinated MWCNTs (LyMWCNTs). In vitro drug release experiments indicated that the carbohydrate functionalized LyMWCNTs had higher Dox release at pH 5.0, compared to the physiological pH of 7.4, over 120 h, indicating that they are suitable candidates for targeting the tumor microenvironment as a result of their sustained release profile of Dox. Doxorubicin-loaded galactosylated MWCNTs (Dox-GAMWCNTs) and doxorubicin loaded mannosylated MWCNTs (Dox-MAMWCNTs) had greater anticancer efficacy and cellular uptake, compared to doxorubicin–loaded lactosylated MWCNTs (Dox-LAMWCNTs) and pure Dox, in MDA-MB231 and MCF7 breast cancer cells. However, neither the ligand conjugated multiwall blank carbon nanotubes (GAMWCNTs, MAMWCNTs and LAMWCNTs) nor the lysinated multiwalled blank carbon nanotubes produced significant toxicity in the normal cells. Our results suggest that sugar-tethered multiwalled carbon nanotubes, especially the galactosylated (Dox-GAMWCNTs) and mannosylated (Dox-MAMWCNTs) formulations, may be used to improve the targeted delivery of anticancer drugs to breast cancer cells.     

Antibacterial,Antioxidant, Larvicidal and Anticancer Activities of Silver Nanoparticles Synthesized Using Extracts from Fruits of Lagerstroemia speciose and Flowers of Couroupita guianensis

The present study aimed to analyze the in vitro antibacterial, antioxidant, larvicidal and cytotoxicity properties of green synthesized silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) using aqueous extracts from fruits of Lagerstroemia speciosa and flowers of Couropita guinensis. Synthesized Ag NPs were characterized using UV-DRS, FTIR, XRD, DLS, and High-Resolution SEM and TEM analyses. Absorption wavelength was observed at 386 nm by UV-DRS analysis and energy band gap was calculated as 3.24 eV. FTIR analysis showed the existence of various functional groups in the aqueous extract and in the NPs. DLS analysis showed the stability and particle size of the synthesized Ag NPs. SEM analysis revealed that Ag NPs are in a face centered cubic symmetry and spherical shape with a size of 23.9 nm. TEM analysis showed particle size as 29.90 nm. Ag NPs showed antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. DPPH scavenging trait of Ag NPs was ranging from 20.0 ± 0.2% to 62.4 ± 0.3% and observed significant larvicidal activity (LC50 at 0.742 ppm and LC90 at 6.061 ppm) against Culex quinquefasciatus. In vitro cytotoxicity activity of Ag NPs was also tested against human breast cancer (MCF-7) and fibroblast cells (L-929) and found that cells viabilities are ranging (500 to 25 µg/mL) from 52.5 ± 0.4 to 94.0 ± 0.7% and 53.6 ± 0.5 to 90.1 ± 0.8%, respectively. The synthesized Ag NPs have the potential to be used in the various biomedical applications.     

Recent Progress in the Multicomponent Synthesis of Pyran Derivatives by Sustainable Catalysts under Green Conditions

Pyrans are one of the most significant skeletons of oxygen-containing heterocyclic molecules, which exhibit a broad spectrum of medicinal applications and are constituents of diverse natural product analogues. Various biological applications of these pyran analogues contributed to the growth advances in these oxygen-containing molecules. Green one-pot methodologies for synthesising these heterocyclic molecules have received significant attention. This review focuses on the recent developments in synthesising pyran ring derivatives using reusable catalysts and emphasises the multicomponent reaction strategies using green protocols. The advantages of the catalysts in terms of yields, reaction conditions, and recyclability are discussed.