High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of naltrexone in plasma of hemodialysis patients

A simple, sensitive, selective and reliable reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method with UV detection is described for the determination of naltrexone in plasma samples. Naltrexone and the internal standard, naloxone, were isolated from plasma either with a liquid-liquid extraction method using ethyl acetate or with a solid-phase extraction method using Sep-Pack C18 cartridge before chromatography. The extracts were dried under a stream of nitrogen and the samples were reconstituted in the mobile phase, then 20 microL were injected on a Waters Symmetry C18 column (5 microm particle size, 4.6 x 150 mm). The mobile phase consisted of 0.06% triethylamine (pH 2.8)-acetonitrile (92:8, v/v) pumped at 1 mL/min. The peak-area ratio versus plasma concentration was linear over the range of 10-500 ng/mL and the detection limit was less than 8 ng/mL. Quantification was by ultra-violet detection at 204 nm. The present method was applied to the determination of the plasma concentration of naltrexone in dialyzed patients. Patients (n = 8) with severe generalized pruritus received 50 mg of naltrexone orally per day for 2 weeks. The variability in the therapeutic response in treated patients required plasma concentration investigations of this opioid antagonist.     

Formamide Synthesis through Borinic Acid Catalysed Transamidation under Mild Conditions

A highly efficient and mild transamidation of amides with amines co‐catalysed by borinic acid and acetic acid has been reported. A wide range of functionalised formamides was synthesized in excellent yields, including important chiral α‐amino acid derivatives, with minor racemisation being observed. Experiments suggested that the reaction rely on a cooperative catalysis involving an enhanced boron‐derived Lewis acidity rather than an improved Brønsted acidity of acetic acid.     

Rapid determination by high performance liquid chromatography of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate in plasma stored in plastic bags

A rapid sensitive technique was developed for the analysis of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) in plasma stored in plastic bags by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection and a Hypersil ODS column. The compound was easily and efficiently extracted with a mixture of sodium hydroxide and acetonitrile, which allowed the deproteinization of plasma samples. The recovery was greater than 95% and the intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation were better than 6.5%. The results obtained showed that the amount of DEHP accumulated in plasma varied according to different parameters and depended on the storage conditions (time, temperature and shaking) and also on the lipid content of the stored plasma and the sterilization process of the PVC bags.     

Solution of the entropy crisis of supersymmetric theories

Most supersymmetric models possess a decoupled particle with mass of order M_W which is copiously produced in the early universe and whose decays produce huge amounts of entropy. We show how this problem is avoided in theories in which the hidden sector contains several light fields.     

A new mechanism for baryogenesis

A new mechanism for baryogenesis is proposed. It is argued that, after inflation, the scalar quarks and leptons of a supersymmetric GUT may have large expectation values. The subsequent evolution of such a system is shown to generate a significant baryon density. For typical values of the parameters, n_B/n_γ may be as large as 10³.