Easy Fabrication of Bovine Serum Albumin/Astragalus Membranaceus Oil Microcapsules through a Sonochemical Method

Simple, green, ultrasound-assisted preparation of novel core-shell microcapsules from octyl methoxycinnamate and oligomeric proanthocyanidins for UV-stable sunscreen

Without sunscreens, UV rays in sunlight cause skin damage, ranging from dark spots and premature aging to skin cancer. Present sunscreens, however, are readily photodegraded, producing highly reactive radicals that can damage cells. To address this problem, we have now used ultrasound to prepare core-shell microcapsules, which offer improved protection against UV light and improved UV stability. The composite microcapsules have oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs), which are amphiphilic plant-derived secondary metabolites, as the shell and octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC), which is a UVB absorber, as the core. The polyphenolic flavonoid structure of OPCs improves the UV stability of OMC and thus avoids the skin damage caused by OMC photodegradation products. In the microcapsules, π-π stacking interactions between OPCs and OMC molecules enhance the ability of OMC to absorb UV radiation and extend the absorption range from the UVB region (280-320 nm) to include the UVA and UVC regions (200-400 nm). The composite microcapsules were shown to be stable on storage and to be non-irritant to human skin. The ultrasound-assisted preparation of OMC/OPCs composite microcapsules is simple, efficient and green and provides a feasible strategy for the development of novel, more effective, sunscreens.

Preparation of bovine serum albumin restricted access octadecyl/phenyl-mixed-functionalized magnetic silica nanoparticles for magnetic solid phase extraction of antidepressants in aquatic products followed by UHPLC-MS/MS

Pharmaceuticals are widespread in aquatic ecosystem, which may pose a potential threat to fish and human. In the study, a robust and reliable magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) based on bovine serum albumin (BSA) restricted access octadecyl/phenyl-mixed-functionalized magnetic silica nanoparticles (BSA-C18/Ph-Fe₃O₄@SiO₂ NPs) as sorbent was developed for the extraction of venlafaxine, paroxetine, fluoxetine, norfluoxetine, sertraline and diphenhydramine from the muscle extracts of aquatic products followed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) detection. The homemade sorbent showed appropriate compatibility in aqueous solution and good performance in reducing matrix interference of snakehead muscle tissue extracts with absolute matrix effect ranging in 95.4%-105.5%. The protocol was validated in analyte-free snakehead muscle with favorable recoveries ranging in 91.6%-103.6% and relative standard deviations (RSDs) less than 9.5%. Limits of detection (LODs) of the drugs were lower than 0.018 μg kg^-1. Short-term drug-exposure experiments at low and high doses were conducted on snakeheads, and the measured contents of analytes were in the range 0.029-9.58 μg kg^-1 with appropriate recoveries (90.0%-114.0%). The approach was extensively applied for the analysis of twelve species of market-sale aquatic products (total 37 samples), and up to 1.868 and 0.521 μg kg^-1 of diphenhydramine and venlafaxine were measured, respectively. The approach shows remarkable potential in biological complex samples.