Improved Dermal and Transdermal Delivery of Curcumin with SmartFilms and Nanocrystals

Poor aqueous solubility of active compounds is a major issue in today’s drug delivery. In this study the smartFilm-technology was exploited to improve the dermal penetration efficacy of a poorly soluble active compound (curcumin). Results were compared to the dermal penetration efficacy of curcumin from curcumin bulk suspensions and nanocrystals, respectively. The smartFilms enabled an effective dermal and transdermal penetration of curcumin, whereas curcumin bulk- and nanosuspensions were less efficient when the curcumin content was similar to the curcumin content in the smartFilms. Interestingly, it was found that increasing numbers of curcumin particles within the suspensions increased the passive dermal penetration of curcumin. The effect is caused by an aqueous meniscus that is created between particle and skin if the dispersion medium evaporates. The connecting liquid meniscus causes a local swelling of the stratum corneum and maintains a high local concentration gradient between drug particles and skin. Thus, leading to a high local passive dermal penetration of curcumin. The findings suggest a new dermal penetration mechanism for active compounds from nano-particulate drug delivery systems, which can be the base for the development of topical drug products with improved penetration efficacy in the future.     

Diffusion of Acetic Acid Across Oil/Water Interface in Emulsification-Internal Gelation Process for Preparation of Alginate Gel Beads

Alginate has been widely used in cell microencapsulation and drug delivery systems in the form of gel beads or microcapsules.Although an alternative novel emulsification-internal gelation technology has been established and both the properties and the potential applications of the beads in drug delivery systems have been studied,the mechanism has not been well understood compared with the traditional droplet method(external gelation technology).On the basis of our previous knowledge that the novel technology is composed of complicatedly consecutive processes with multistep diffusion and reaction,and the diffusion of acetic acid across oil/water interface being the prerequisite that determines the occurrence and rate for the reactions and the structures and properties of final produced gel beads,a special emphasis was placed on the diffusion process.With the aid of diffusion modeling and simple experimental design,the diffusion rate constant and diffusion coefficient of acetic acid across oil/water interface were determined to be in the orders of magnitude of 10-6 and 10-16,respectively.This knowledge will be of particular importance in understanding and interpreting the formation,structure of the gel beads and the relationship between the structure and properties and guiding the preparation and quality control of the gel beads.     

The glucocorticoid derivative with the phthalimide group cationic nanocrystal for ophthalmic application: a design space development approach

The glucocorticoid derivative of budesonide with a phthalimide group is a drug candidate to treat inflammatory eye diseases; nevertheless, it presents low water solubility. Drug nanocrystals have been proposed to overcome this hurdle. The development of an innovative ophthalmic anti-inflammatory nanosuspension was performed using a design space approach. We obtained the particle size reduction of this glucocorticoid derivative on a nanometer scale (approximately 165.0 nm), applying wet bead milling on a super reduced scale. The design of experiment supported the optimization of the formula evaluating the parameters that influence reducing the particle size and also allowed determining the design space. Considering the two statistical models developed and the size range obtained, we proposed that the optimized formulation for the glucocorticoid derivative nanosuspension may be 1.0 wt% glucocorticoid derivative and 0.092 wt% cetylpyridinium chloride. This formulation was characterized by the morphological, physical–chemical, and mucoadhesive in vitro test and showed potential for ophthalmic use with reduced frequency of product application, improved efficiency, and safety, which may promote better patient compliance.     

基于间接竞争原理的流式微球技术快速检测麦芽中赭曲霉毒素A

建立了一种快速、灵敏检测中药麦芽中赭曲霉毒素A(Ochratoxin A,OTA)含量的间接竞争流式微球方法.麦芽样品经60％甲醇/PBS提取,加入20％甲醇/PBS溶液稀释5倍后,离心取上清液制备样品.在编码荧光微球上偶联牛血清白蛋白-OTA(BSA-OTA)复合物,与样品中OTA竞争结合抗OTA特异性抗体,然后加入FITC-IgG孵育,离心洗涤后,用流式细胞仪检测微球表面的平均荧光强度,实现样品中OTA的准确定性定量测定.本方法检测OTA的半数抑制浓度IC50为1.20 ng/mL,相关系数R2=0.9892,检出限(IC10)为0.12 ng/mL,加样回收率为93.9％ ～ 97.4％,RSD＜3.6％.16份实际麦芽样品中检测到2个阳性样品,OTA的最高含量为3.83 μg/kg,未超出欧盟的OTA限量标准,与液相色谱-串联质谱(LC-MS/MS)法检测结果相一致.本方法简单、快速、灵敏、可靠,可拓展用于其它复杂基质中多种真菌毒素的定性与定量检测.     

Li2B4O7坩埚内预氧化熔融铸片XRF法测定含还原物耐火材料中主量和次量组分

在四硼酸锂坩埚中,以碳酸锂和硝酸铵为氧化剂,在铂金坩埚外对含还原物耐火材料进行预氧化和烧结。在高温氧化过程中,由于样品表面包裹有含氧化剂为主的烧结物,在继续熔融氧化产生的气体浮力作用下,样品在未被氧化前,不与铂金坩埚接触。因此,避免了熔融过程中铂金坩埚腐蚀问题。实验结果表明,氧化温度控制在730℃以下,时间15min内,含还原物耐火材料样品与氧化剂发生氧化烧结反应,四硼酸锂坩埚不会熔穿。确定的预氧化温度为720℃,时间为5~15min。结合现有的报道,确定了熔融铸片所需氧化剂和脱模剂的用量、熔融温度和时间。按拟定的方法,用国家和行业标准样品绘制工作曲线,对含还原物耐火材料样品进行了测定。与湿法分析结果进行比较表明,准确度与湿法分析相当。     

硼砂珠实验的改进研究

硼砂珠实验是硼的元素及其化合物实验中的一个很重要的实验,但此实验用传统的镍丝载体不容易做成功,且不同教材对不同金属的硼砂珠颜色的描述不一致。对硼砂珠实验从载体的选择、用量、比例、温度、机理,常见金属盐的硼砂珠颜色的实验验证等多方面进行了详细的研究。     

X-射线荧光光谱法(XRF)测定钼精矿中多种元素

详细论述了压片法及熔融片法测定钼精矿的分析条件。其中压片法通过大量采用同一矿区的生产样品经化学定值后作为校准样品建立校准曲线,因此粒度效应和矿物效应基本上可忽略。详细地讨论了元素之间谱线干扰、背景和脉冲高度选择。使用经验系数法校正基体效应,可准确测定钼精矿中的钼、硫、铁、铜、铅、锌等11种元素。在熔融片法中主要讨论了元素谱线的选择及其相互之间的干扰,经理论α系数校正后,可准确测定不同钼矿中的多种元素,其适用范围更广。     

Development and characterization of a magnetic bead-quantum dot nanoparticles based assay capable of Escherichia coli O157:H7 quantification

The development and characterization of a magnetic bead (MB)-quantum dot (QD) nanoparticles based assay capable of quantifying pathogenic bacteria is presented here. The MB-QD assay operates by having a capturing probe DNA selectively linked to the signaling probe DNA via the target genomic DNA (gDNA) during DNA hybridization. The signaling probe DNA is labeled with fluorescent QD₅₆₅ which serves as a reporter. The capturing probe DNA is conjugated simultaneously to a MB and another QD₆₅₅, which serve as a carrier and an internal standard, respectively. Successfully captured target gDNA is separated using a magnetic field and is quantified via a spectrofluorometer. The use of QDs (i.e., QD₅₆₅/QD₆₅₅) as both a fluorescence label and an internal standard increased the sensitivity of the assay. The passivation effect and the molar ratio between QD and DNA were optimized. The MB-QD assay demonstrated a detection limit of 890 zeptomolar (i.e., 10⁻²¹ mol L⁻¹) concentration for the linear single stranded DNA (ssDNA). It also demonstrated a detection limit of 87 gene copies for double stranded DNA (dsDNA) eaeA gene extracted from pure Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 culture. Its corresponding dynamic range, sensitivity, and selectivity were also presented. Finally, the bacterial gDNA of E. coli O157:H7 was used to highlight the MB-QD assay's ability to detect below the minimum infective dose (i.e., 100 organisms) of E. coli O157:H7 in water environment.     

剪切对玻璃珠填充聚丙烯结晶行为的影响

应用Linkam CSS450剪切仪、广角X射线衍射仪(WAXD)和小角X射线散射仪(SAXS)等研究了剪切对玻璃珠填充聚丙烯结晶行为的影响, 结果表明, 与纯聚丙烯相比, 填加玻璃珠的聚丙烯体系中, 玻璃珠起到成核剂的作用, 不利于β晶的生成. 玻璃珠直径较小(4 μm)时, 剪切对聚丙烯β晶的生成影响较小; 当玻璃珠直径增加到35 μm时, 剪切速率为20 s-1左右最有利于β晶生成; 剪切速率和玻璃珠直径的增加, 有利于聚丙烯片晶的取向, 而且玻璃珠含量越高, 片晶的取向程度越大.     

基于磁珠分离的酶联适配体检测痕量蛋白质的新型比色分析方法

以核酸适配体作为高效专一的识别/传感元件, 构建了一种新型的磁性分离和特异性捕获的检测方法. 两个适配体通过简单的生物素化修饰, 利用其与凝血酶不同位点的高亲和力形成夹心结构, 其中连接适配体的磁珠可捕获蛋白质, 加入另一个适配体及链霉亲和素标记的辣根过氧化物酶后, 通过比色法实现靶蛋白检测. 该法操作简单, 分析时间短, 对凝血酶的线性响应范围为 10~80 nmol/L, 检出限为 10 nmol/L.