Determination of fexofenadine in Hank's balanced salt solution by high‐performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection: application to Caco‐2 cell permeability studies

The drug‐transporting proteins can affect the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodymanics of many drugs, resulting in an erratic and unpredictable pharmacological response. The Caco‐2 monolayer is routinely applied to investigate the carrier‐mediated transport of drugs. Therefore, the selection of a marker compound able to characterize the activity of such transporters is crucial. Fexofenadine (FEX), a P‐gp/OATP substrate, can be considered a suitable probe. However, in order to use be used as a marker compound, it is mandatory to develop an analytical method able to quantify this drug during the in vitro permeability assay. An HPLC method with ultraviolet detection was developed; the mobile phase consisted of phosphate buffer (pH 3.2) containing 10 m m of sodium octanosulphonate and acetonitrile (60:40) and the flow rate was set at 1.2 mL/min. Fexofenadine was eluted at 40°C, the retention time was about 4.6 min. The LOD and LOQ values were 1.9 and 6.2 ng/mL, respectively. Verapamil and ketoconazole, the most common P‐gp inhibitors, were eluted as distinct peaks of that corresponding to fexofenadine The method was successfully applied to quantify the amount of FEX transported across the Caco‐2 monolayer and could be an additional tool for those investigating the role of membrane transporters on drug absorption. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of interparticle interactions on the kinetics of self-assembly and mechanical strength of nanoparticulate aggregates

Computer simulations based on Discrete Element Method have been performed in order to investigate the influence of interparticle interactions on the kinetics of self-assembly and the mechanical strength of nanoparticle aggregates.Three different systems have been considered.In the first system the interaction between particles has been simulated using the JKR (Johnson,Kendall and Roberts) contact theory,while in the second and third systems the interaction between particles has been simulated using van der Waals and electrostatic forces respectively.In order to compare the mechanical behaviour of the three systems,the magnitude of the maximum attractive force between particles has been kept the same in all cases.However,the relationship between force and separation distance differs from case to case and thus,the range of the interparticle force.The results clearly indicate that as the range of the interparticle force increases,the self-assembly process is faster and the work required to produce the mechanical failure of the assemblies increases by more than one order of magnitude.     

Raman Spectroscopic Characterization of the Alkaloid Dihydrochelerytrine Extracted from Roots of Zanthoxylum stelligerum (Turcz)

ABSTRACT

Raman spectroscopy has been used successfully in the identification of the alkaloid dihydrochelerytrine due to the assignment of specific key marker bands in the region between 1000 and 1600 cm^?1. The Raman spectrum obtained from the crude hexane extract of the roots of Zanthoxylum stelligerum, and excited with 1064 nm, provides very good molecular information, as can be seen by the comparison between the Raman spectra of the standard dihydrochelerytrine and the crude extract, where the keymarker bands are present in both spectra.     

Performance of slotted pores in particle manufacture using rotating membrane emulsification

This paper addresses the use of different slotted pores in rotating membrane emulsification technology.Pores of square and rectangular shapes were studied to understand the effect of aspect ratio (1-3.5) and their orientation on oil droplet formation.Increasing the membrane rotation speed decreased the droplet size,and the oil droplets produced were more uniform using slotted pores as compared to circular geometry.At a given rotation speed,the droplet size was mainly determined by the pore size and the fluid velocity of oil through the pore (pore fluid velocity).The ratio of droplet diameter to the equivalent diameter of the slotted pore increased with the pore fluid velocity.At a given pore fluid velocity and rotation speed,pore orientation significantly influences the droplet formation rate: horizontally disposed pores (with their longer side perpendicular to the membrane axis) generate droplets at double the rate of vertically disposed pores.This work indicates practical benefits in the use of slotted membranes over conventional methods.     

Chemistry and biological activity of essential oils from Piper claussenianum (Piperaceae)

Analyses of essential oils obtained from fresh and dried leaves and inflorescences of Piper clausenianum were performed using GC-FID, GC-MS and NMR techniques. Forty compounds were detected for these four oils with the total of identified constituents ranging from 88.7% for the dried inflorescences to 97.7% for the dried leaves. Sesquiterpenes were the main constituents in the volatile fraction from leaves with a high percentage of (E)-nerolidol (up to 83%). However, monoterpenes were identified in greater amount in the inflorescences, with linalool percentages from 50% up. The essential oils from fresh leaves and inflorescences were submitted to anti-parasitic activity against a strain of Leishmania amazonensis. Both samples showed biological activity, but the essential oil from P. claussenianum fresh leaves, which was rich in (E)-nerolidol, showed effective growth inhibition of L. amazonensis due to the high percentage of this metabolite in the mixture.     

Entropy in the cusp and phase transitions for geodesic flows

In this paper we study the geodesic flow for a particular class of Riemannian non-compact manifolds with variable pinched negative sectional curvature. For a sequence of invariant measures we are able to prove results relating the loss of mass and bounds on the measure entropies. We compute the entropy contribution of the cusps. We develop and study the corresponding thermodynamic formalism. We obtain certain regularity results for the pressure of a class of potentials. We prove that the pressure is real analytic until it undergoes a phase transition, after which it becomes constant. Our techniques are based on the one hand on symbolic methods and Markov partitions, and on the other on geometric techniques and approximation properties at the level of groups.     

Predicting thermal conductivity of liquid suspensions of nanoparticles (nanofluids) based on rheology

A methodology is proposed for predicting the effective thermal conductivity of dilute suspensions of nanoparticles (nanofluids) based on rheology.The methodology uses the rheological data to infer microstructures of nanoparticles quantitatively,which is then incorporated into the conventional Hamilton-Crosser equation to predict the effective thermal conductivity of nanofluids.The methodology is experimentally validated using four types of nanofluids made of titania nanoparticles and titanate nanotubes dispersed in water and ethylene glycol.And the modified Hamilton-Crosser equation successfully predicted the effective thermal conductivity of the nanofluids.     

New quinolizidine and diaza-adamantane alkaloids from Acosmium dasycarpum (Vog.) Yakovlev—Fabaceae

The phytochemical investigation of the methanol crude extract obtained from Acosmium dasycarpum (Vog.) Yakovlev root bark led to the isolation of the quinolizidine alkaloids lupanine, acosmine, acosminine and lupanacosmine, as well as the diaza-adamantane alkaloids panacosmine and dasycarpumine. Lupanacosmine (4) and dasycarpumine (6) have been described for the first time herein.     

Nanoporous metal organic framework materials for hydrogen storage

Hydrogen is expected to play an important role in future transportation as a promising alternative clean energy source to carbon-based fuels.One of the key challenges to commercialize hydrogen energy is to develop appropriate onboard hydrogen storage systems,capable of charging and discharging large quantities of hydrogen with fast enough kinetics to meet commercial requirements.Metal organic framework (MOF) is a new type of inorganic and organic hybrid nanoporous particulate materials.Its diverse networks can enhance hydrogen storage through tuning the structure and property of MOFs.The MOF materials so far developed adsorb hydrogen through weak disperston interactions,which allow significant quantity of hydrogen to be stored at cryogenic temperatures with fast kinetics.Novel MOFs are being developed to strengthen the interactions between hydrogen and MOFs in order to store hydrogen under ambient conditions.This review surveys the development of such candidate materials,their performance and future research needs.