Determination of ibuprofen in pharmaceutical formulations using time-resolved terbium-sensitized luminescence

Recent advances of novel technologies for quality consistency assessment of natural herbal medicines and preparations

Quality consistency is one of the basic attributes of medicines, but it is also a difficult problem that natural medicines and their preparations must face. The complex chemical composition and comprehensive pharmacological action of natural medicines make it difficult to simply apply the commonly used evaluation methods in chemical drugs. It is thus urgent to explore the novel evaluation methods suitable for the characteristics of natural medicines. With the rapid development of analytical techniques and the deepening understanding of the quality of natural herbs, increasing numbers of researchers have proposed many new ideas and technologies. This review mainly focuses on the basic principles, technical characteristics and application examples of the chemical evaluation, biological evaluation methods and their combination in quality consistency evaluation of natural herbs. On the bases of chemical evaluation and clinical efficacy, new methods reflecting their pharmacodynamic mechanism and safety characteristics will be developed, and gradually towards accurate quality control, to achieve the goal of quality consistency. We hope that this manuscript can provide new ideas and technical references for the quality consistency of natural drugs and their preparations, thus better guarantee their clinical efficacy and safety, and better promote industrial development.

Terbium(III) Luminescence-Based Assay for Esterase Activity

Esterases catalyze the hydrolysis of esters to form a carboxylic acid and alcohol. These enzymes play a key role in both the detoxification of xenobiotic compounds and the metabolism of drugs and prodrugs. Numerous fluorogenic probes have been developed to monitor esterase activity. Most are based on an aromatic alcohol, and the others are based on an aromatic acid. These restrictions leave unexplored the specificity of esterases for aliphatic esters. Here, we report on the use of esters of thiopheneacetic acid coupled with the luminescence of terbium(III) as the basis for a continuous assay of esterase activity. This probe allows for a wide variation of the alcohol moiety and the detection of its hydrolysis at submicromolar concentrations. The assay verifies steady-state kinetic parameters for catalysis by pig liver esterase from either initial rates or the integration of progress curves, and its utility is evident with unpurified esterases in bacterial and human cell lysates.

Graphene quantum dots-terbium ions as novel sensitive and selective time-resolved luminescent probes

We propose an alternative approach for the development of analytical methods based on terbium-sensitized luminescence (TSL). TSL is based on the complexation between Tb(III) ions and fluorescent organic compounds that have appropriate functional groups to complex with Tb(III). We report the use of graphene quantum dot (GQDs) nanoparticles to improve the sensitivity and selectivity of TSL detection. GQDs can react with terbium ions through the carboxylic groups present in their structure. These Tb(III)-GQD complexes, formed in situ in aqueous solution, can be used as time-resolved luminescent probes. Ascorbic acid was selected as a target analyte to demonstrate the suitability of the proposed method. The selectivity of the TSL method was highly improved for most of the interferences tested. Under the optimum conditions [Tb(III) concentration 5 × 10^-4 mol L^-1, GQD concentration 4 mg L^-1], a minimum 100% increase in selectivity was observed for several vitamins and common cations that may be present in the samples to be analyzed. In addition, the analytical signal showed a 30% enhancement with the use of GQDs compared with the use of merely Tb(III) ions, with a detection limit of 0.12 μg mL^-1. The repeatability and intermediate precision were lower than 3% and 5%, respectively. From the results obtained, the implementation of GQDs in TSL can lead to the development of novel time-resolved luminescent probes with high analytical potential. Graphical abstract Quenching of Tb(III)-graphene quantum dot (GQD) luminescence by ascorbic acid (AA). TBL terbium-sensitized luminescence.

Chemiluminescence of the reaction system Ce(IV)-non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs containing europium(III) ions and its application to the determination of naproxen in pharmaceutical preparations and urine

The chemiluminescence (CL) of oxidation of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) by Ce(IV) ions, was recorded in the presence and absence europium(III) ions, in solution of pH ~ 4 of solution. Kinetic curves and CL emission spectra of the all studied systems were discussed. CL of measurable intensity was observed in the Ce(IV)–NP–Eu(III) reaction system only in acidic solutions. The CL spectrum rcegistered for this system shows emission bands, typical of Eu(III) ions, with maximum at λ ~ 600 nm. The chemiluminescent method, based on Eu(III) emission in reaction system of NP-Ce(IV)–Eu(III) in acid solution was therefore used for the determination of naproxen in mixture of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Properties of ibuprofen ion-selective electrodes based on the ion pair complex of tetraoctylammonium cation

Ibuprofen membrane electrodes based on different plasticizers: diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP), o-nitrophenyloctyl ether (o-NPOE), dioctyl sebacate (DOS) and tetraoctylammonium 2-(4-isobutylphenyl)propionate were prepared. All electrodes show: a near Nernstian slope of characteristic (58.3–60.9 mV decade−1) in the measurement range (10−4–10−1 mol L−1), limit of detection (5.0×10−5 mol L−1), really long lifetime (12 months), dependence of the electrode potential on pH (5.5–9.0), reproducibility of potential (0.6–1.2 mV) and selectivity coefficients in relation to some organic and inorganic anions. The electrodes were applied for the determination of ibuprofen in tablets by the calibration curve method and the standard addition method.