Fast detection of sildenafil in adulterated commercial products using differential scanning calorimetry

Adulteration of drugs is a serious issue and can have a great impact on human health. It is mainly done with the intention of boosting the effects of products. For many years, the enforcement officers in Malaysia have had difficulty deciding whether some products should be confiscated as they have not been able to produce fast reliable evidence of adulteration. For that reason, we explored the use of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) as a potential fast detection method of commercial products marketed in Malaysia that may be adulterated. We confirmed the outcomes qualitatively with high pressure liquid chromatography. DSC was set at a heating rate of 10 °C min^?1 and within a temperature range of 100–250 °C with nitrogen as a purge gas at a flow rate of 20 mL min^?1 to analyse a sildenafil reference standard (RS), sildenafil tablets and sildenafil adulterated commercial products. Four sildenafil adulterated commercial products were analysed. Since the melting point of sildenafil in the mixture tended to shift, the presence of sildenafil in three of these adulterated commercial products was confirmed using the spiking method and was re-analysed using DSC. The re-analysed results indicated that the enthalphy of fusion (?H) and the resolution peak of sildenafil increased accordingly depending upon the amount of spiked sildenafil RS. Apart from these results, the DSC curves also showed different patterns for sildenafil RS and the mixtures. Therefore, we concluded that DSC can potentially be used to detect sildenafil in adulterated commercial products.     

Voltammetric Label‐free Immunosensors for the Diagnosis of Cystic Echinococcosis

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) or hydatid disease is a parasitic infection caused by Echinococcus granulosus. Early serodiagnosis and continuous monitoring of the disease is very important for medical treatment. Here, we report the detecting of both echinococcus antigen and antibody for the diagnosis of hydatid disease using square wave voltammetry (SWV)‐based immunosensors. The gold electrodes were functionalized using cysteamine/phenylene diisothiocyanate linkers and used for the immunosensors fabrication. The hydatid antigen and antibody immunosensors were constructed by the immobilization of either purified rabbit polyclonal antibody or recombinant antigen B (AgB), respectively on the functionalized gold electrodes surfaces. The detection in both cases was achieved by following the change in the SWV reduction peak current of the ferro/ferricyanide redox couple upon antibody or antigen binding. These immunosensors enabled the detection of echinococcus antigen and antibody within a concentration range of 1 pg.mL^?1 to 1 μg.mL^?1 with detection limits of 0.4 pg.mL^?1 and 0.3 pg.mL^?1, respectively. A preliminary application of the developed immunosensor was performed in spiked serum sample showing good recovery percentages ranging from 102 to 110 % for both hydatid antibody and antigen detection. This easy‐to‐use, sensitive, and low cost quantitative method holds great promise for the early diagnosis of hydatid disease and thus, better managements and treatment outcomes.     

Analytical method development and validation of anticancer agent, 5-fluorouracil,and its metabolites in biological matrices: An updated review

Abstract

5-fluorouracil (5-FU) refers to a fluorinated pyrimidine analogue that has been widely used as an anticancer agent for colon, head, and neck cancers. Detection of 5-FU and its metabolites; 5-fluorouridine and 5-fluoro-2-deoxyuridine in biological samples allows optimization of pharmacotherapy and encourages fundamental investigations of this medication. The development of accurate and reliable sample preparation, as well as analytical methods, is critical to isolate targeted analytes from complex matrices, apart from increasing detection sensitivity of analytes. With that, this paper presents a review of prior studies pertaining to chromatographic and electrophoretic methods that focused on the analysis of 5-FU and its metabolites in biological matrices such as plasma and urine. This paper concentrates on HPLC, GC and CE systems, which are the most commonly used strategies for analytical separation of 5-FU and its metabolites from samples. Detection of these antineoplastic agents at trace level demands highly sensitive and selective analytical methodologies. Application of these analytical techniques to biological matrices is reviewed with a focus on method development strategies, including types of mobile phases and background electrolytes employed in LC and CE systems.     

Fluid Flow Analysis of Integrated Porous Bone Scaffold and Cancellous Bone at Different Skeletal Sites: In Silico Study

The dynamic characteristic of bone is its ability to remodel itself through mechanobiological responses. Bone regeneration is triggered by mechanical cues from physiological activities that generate structural strain and cause bone marrow movement. This phenomenon is crucial for bone scaffold when implanted in the cancellous bone as host tissue. Often, the fluid movement of bone scaffold and cancellous bone is studied separately, which does not represent the actual environment once implanted. In the present study, the fluid flow analysis properties of bone scaffold integrated into the cancellous bone at different skeletal sites are investigated. Three types of porous bone scaffolds categorized based on pore size configurations: 1 mm, 0.8 mm and hybrid (0.8 mm interlaced with 0.5 mm) were used. Three different skeletal sites of femoral bone were selected: neck, lateral condyle and medial condyle. Computational fluid dynamics was utilized to analyze the fluid flow properties of bone scaffold integrated cancellous bone. The results of this study reveal that the localization and maximum value of shear stress in an independent bone scaffold are significantly different compared to the bone scaffold integrated with cancellous bone by about 160% to 448% percentage difference. Low shear stress and high permeability were found across models that have higher Tb.Sp (trabecular separation). Specimen C and femoral lateral condyle showed the highest permeability in their respective category.

     

Thermostability and polymorphism of theobroma oil and palm kernel oil as suppository bases

Thermal stability of pharmaceutical ingredients is an important aspect. In this study, we adopted differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to investigate thermal stability of suppository bases, theobroma oil (cocoa butter) and a palm kernel oil (PKO) blend. The study shows theobroma oil possesses six polymorphic forms whilst the palm kernel oil blend has three. Upon rescanning, the PKO blend does not show changes in the enthalpy of fusion and the melting point with time, whilst the theobroma oil shows significant reduction, and only regained its thermal stable state after 10 days. This indicates that PKO blend possesses better thermal stability.     

Stability study of the gastric floating dosage form of capecitabine

Since administration of capecitabine tablets leading to dose limiting makes the unfavorable toxicity, preparation of sustained-release tablets will overcome most of these side effects. The aim of this study was to prepare and study the stability of capecitabine sustained-release tablets. Sustained-release tablets of capecitabine were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and infrared and ultraviolet spectroscopy techniques to determine the stability of the tablets. All tests carried out for tablets upon preparation as well as 6 and 12 months after preparation. The gradual decomposition of capecitabine sustained-release tablets stored at accelerated conditions (40 °C in 75 % of relative humidity) was indicated by decreasing values of peak purity and melting temperature, calculated from the Van’t Hoff equation. Except for the occurrence of one sharp peak for long-term stability and some sharp peaks in the accelerated condition, all peaks showed a crystallized nature. But the FTIR and UV results showed that there were no changes between the initial sustained-release tablets and stored tablets. Although the XRD results showed more peaks in the accelerated condition tablets, the crystalline form of capecitabine was maintained. These findings demonstrate that the capecitabine sustained-release tablet has excellent stability in normal and long-term storage conditions, with slight changes in the accelerated condition.     

A comprehensive study of optimization algorithm for wireless coverage in indoor area

Coverage optimization using minimum number of transmitters is critical to service providers and vendors that need to control the coverage as well as the huge costs involved. In this regards, an existing coverage algorithm for determining the minimum number of transmitting antennas as well as their appropriate locations to provide the optimized wireless coverage for indoor environment is studied in this paper. The algorithm uses ray-tracing to predict the signal distribution from the transmitter to the sampling points (receivers) and genetic algorithm to determine the minimum number of transmitters and their corresponding locations to achieve the optimum wireless coverage. The complexity and performance of the algorithm are also analyzed and it is found that it has exponentially increasing complexity of $2^{n}$ and the change of computation time is greater with small change of the number of receiving points. Moreover, under the multi-transmitter scenario (real case), the accuracy achieved by fading, coverage ability, and signal to noise ratio is in the range of 96–99 %.     

Real Time Anti-<em>Toxoplasma gondii </em>Activity of an Active Fraction of <em>Eurycoma longifolia</em> Root Studied by <em>in Situ</em> Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy

The inhibitory effect of active fractions of Eurycoma longifolia (E. longifolia) root, namely TAF355 and TAF401, were evaluated against Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). In our previous study, we demonstrated that T. gondii was susceptible to TAF355 and TAF401 with IC₅₀ values of 1.125 μg/mL and 1.375 μg/mL, respectively. Transmission (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations were used to study the in situ antiparasitic activity at the IC₅₀ value. Clindamycin was used as positive control. SEM examination revealed cell wall alterations with formation of invaginations followed by completely collapsed cells compared to the normal T. gondii cells in response to the fractions. The main abnormality noted via TEM study was decreased cytoplasmic volume, leaving a state of structural disorganization within the cell cytoplasm and destruction of its organelles as early as 12 h of treatment, which indicated of rapid antiparasitic activity of the E. longifolia fractions. The significant antiparasitic activity shown by the TAF355 and TAF401 active fractions of E. longifolia suggests their potential as new anti-T. gondii agent candidates.      

Plant-Based Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles and Theranostic Applications: A Review

Bionanotechnology is a branch of science that has revolutionized modern science and technology. Nanomaterials, especially noble metals, have attracted researchers due to their size and application in different branches of sciences that benefit humanity. Metal nanoparticles can be synthesized using green methods, which are good for the environment, economically viable, and facilitate synthesis. Due to their size and form, gold nanoparticles have become significant. Plant materials are of particular interest in the synthesis and manufacture of theranostic gold nanoparticles (NPs), which have been generated using various materials. On the other hand, chemically produced nanoparticles have several drawbacks in terms of cost, toxicity, and effectiveness. A plant-mediated integration of metallic nanoparticles has been developed in the field of nanotechnology to overcome the drawbacks of traditional synthesis, such as physical and synthetic strategies. Nanomaterials′ tunable features make them sophisticated tools in the biomedical platform, especially for developing new diagnostics and therapeutics for malignancy, neurodegenerative, and other chronic disorders. Therefore, this review outlines the theranostic approach, the different plant materials utilized in theranostic applications, and future directions based on current breakthroughs in these fields.     

Detection of immunogenic parasite and host-specific proteins in the sera of active and chronic individuals infected with Toxoplasma gondii

Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women may result in abortion and foetal abnormalities, and may be life-threatening in immunocompromised hosts. To identify the potential infection markers of this disease, 2-DE and Western blot methods were employed to study the parasite circulating antigens and host-specific proteins in the sera of T. gondii-infected individuals. The comparisons were made between serum protein profiles of infected (n=31) and normal (n=10) subjects. Antigenic proteins were identified by immunoblotting using pooled sera and monoclonal anti-human IgM-HRP. Selected protein spots were characterised using mass spectrometry. Prominent differences were observed when serum samples of T. gondii-infected individuals and normal controls were compared. A significant up-regulation of host-specific proteins, α(2)-HS glycoprotein and α(1)-B glycoprotein, was also observed in the silver-stained gels of both active and chronic infections. However, only α(2)-HS glycoprotein and α(1)-B glycoprotein in the active infection showed immunoreactivity in Western blots. In addition, three spots of T. gondii proteins were detected, namely (i) hypothetical protein chrXII: 3984434-3 TGME 49, (ii) dual specificity protein phosphatase, catalytic domain TGME 49 and (iii) NADPH-cytochrome p450 reductase TGME 49. Thus, 2-DE approach followed by Western blotting has enabled the identification of five potential infection markers for the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis: three are parasite-specific proteins and two are host-specific proteins.