Multiphase electroextraction as a simple and fast sample preparation alternative for the digital image determination of doxorubicin in saliva

Monitoring chemotherapeutic drugs in biological fluids is, in many cases, extremely important for dose adjustment, the maintenance of therapies, and the control of side effects. In this work, a method for determining the doxorubicin in saliva by digital image analysis (DIA) was optimised and validated. Images from a paper point were obtained using a conventional and cheap flatbed scanner at a 600 ppp resolution. The RGB data channels were obtained from the images in a region of 15 × 15 pixels around the sorbent vertex. The paper point was used as sorbent material in sample preparation using a multiphase electroextraction system. Following optimisation using a Doehlert experimental design, the method was able to simultaneously extract 66 samples in 20 min. The high selectivity of the electric field associated with the sorption capacity of the cellulosic material allowed the chemotherapy drug to be pre-concentrated and quantified in a range between 50 and 500 μg L^-1 (R² > 0.98). The method also exhibited adequate parameters (limits of detection and quantification, recovery, and precision) indicating its potential application in the monitoring of doxorubicin and similar drugs in saliva.

Conjugation of folic acid with poly (NVCL-co-PEGMA)-grafted chitosan as a new doxorubicin delivery system

This paper aimed to investigate the synthesis of a novel drug delivery system (DDS) to target tumors and implement the controlled release of doxorubicin (DOX). Chitosan was modified with 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane and subjected to graft polymerization to implement grafting with the biocompatible thermosensitive copolymer of poly (NVCL-co-PEGMA). A folate receptor-targeting agent was obtained by attaching folic acid. The DDS loading capacity for DOX via physisorption was obtained to be 846.45 mg/g. The synthesized DDS showed temperature- and pH-sensitive drug release behavior in vitro. A temperature of 37 °C and a pH of 7.4 hindered the DOX release, whereas a temperature of 40 °C and a pH of 5.5 led to DOX release acceleration. In addition, the release of DOX was found to occur in a Fickian diffusion mechanism. The MTT assay tests indicated that the synthesized DDS was not detectably toxic to cell lines of breast cancer, while the toxicity of the DOX-loaded DDS was found to be substantial. The cell absorption enhancement of folic acid led to higher cytotoxicity of the DOX-loaded DDS than bare DOX. As a result, the proposed DDS could be a promising alternative for the targeted therapy of breast cancer through controlled drug release.

Designing an "all-in-one" microextraction capsule device for the liquid chromatographic-fluorescence determination of doxorubicin and its metabolites in rat plasma

In this study, an "all-in-one" microextraction device was designed and fabricated for the extraction of doxorubicin and its two metabolites from rat plasma prior to their determination by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to fluorescence detector. A sol-gel-based sorbent was synthesized in situ and incorporated within two conjoined porous polypropylene tubes together with a cylindrical magnetic bar in order to avoid the need of an external stirring bar. Among other sorbents investigated, the moderately polar sol-gel poly(tetrahydrofuran) was found to be advantageous due to its high affinity toward the target analytes. Systematic investigation of the critical parameters affecting the adsorption and the desorption step was carried out. Due to the "built-in" filtration mechanism of the porous microextraction capsules, the isolation of the analytes was performed directly in the plasma matrix without any previous sample pretreatment (i.e., protein precipitation, centrifugation, etc.). The proposed method was validated in terms of linearity, accuracy, precision, specificity, sensitivity, and stability according to the FDA guidelines. The limits of detection ranged between 1 - 2 ng mL^-1 while the lower limits of quantitation of the analytes were calculated as 10 ng mL^-1. The accuracy (% relative error) was found within -9.7 - 15.3% under both intra- and inter-day conditions. The precision was better than 13.4% in all cases. ComplexGAPI index was employed to present the green attributes of the developed protocol from the preparation of the microextraction device to the final determination of the analytes. Finally, the applicability of the fabricated stand-alone extraction device was demonstrated in the analysis of the target analytes in rat plasma after intravenous administration of doxorubicin in order to assess its pharmacokinetic profile.

Flexible electrospun nanofibrous film integrated with fluorescent carbon dots for smartphone-based detection and cellular imaging application

The dose of administered chemotherapy drugs is crucial to determine due to the potential for efficient or adverse outcomes for cancer patients. To date, no user-friendly and low-cost method of doxorubicin (DOX) detection using nontoxic and biodegradable materials has been reported. For this reason, in this work, we have developed for the first time a nanofiber-based sensing platform for sensitive and on-site DOX assay in just 10 min. This is obtained thanks to printable, porosity and embeddability features of electrospun nanofibrous films (ENFFs) combined with nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbon dots (NS-CDs) as sensing probes. The assay was done by just pipetting analyte on the hydrophilic spots of the fabricated photoluminescence water-stable ENFFs where the color intensity was being darkened. DOX quenched NS-CDs fluorescence onto ENFFs through inner filter effect. The developed sensor was either coupled with smartphone technology to provide miniaturized, portable and easy-to-use device or an ordinary spectrofluorimeter for solid-state sensing applications (detection limit of 5.4 nM). Moreover, applicability of the designed sensor was evaluated in human serum with satisfactory recoveries. It is more interesting that the fabricated NS-CDs/ENF scaffolds have a high potential to detect the intracellular DOX to enhance cell proliferation leading to be considered as a multimodal tool in biomedical research and clinical diagnostics.

A 96-Monolithic inorganic hollow fiber array as a new geometry for high throughput solid-phase microextraction of doxorubicin in water and human urine samples coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

Innovations in extraction phases, extraction modes and hyphenated instrument configurations, are the most important issues to address for progress in the solid phase microextraction (SPME) methodology. In this regard, we have embarked on the development of a novel biocompatible 96-monolithic inorganic hollow fiber (96-MIHF) array as a new configuration for high-throughput SPME on a 96-well plate system. An arrangement of highly ordered 96 titania/Hydroxyapatite (TiO₂/HAP) nanocomposite hollow fibers and corresponding stainless-steel needles on a Teflon plate holder were used as the extraction module. The inorganic hollow fibers were prepared via a rapid and reproducible template approach (Polypropylene hollow fiber) in combination with a sol-gel method in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), as a network maker. The hollow fiber-shape sorbents were obtained with excellent precision by weight (RSD% = 4.98, n = 10) and length (RSD% = 1.08, n = 10) criteria. The proposed design can overcome a number of geometrically dependent drawbacks of conventional high-throughput SPME methods, mainly the ones related to sorbent amount and surface area due to possessing inner/outer surfaces without additional internal supports. The SPME platform, for the first time, was successfully applied for the extraction and preconcentration of doxorubicin from urine and water media without requiring sample preparation and free from significant matrix effect. The extracted analyte was analyzed by liquid chromatography-ion trap tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Highly satisfactory analytical figures of merit were obtained under optimized conditions. The limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ) and linearity of determination were 0.1 ng mL^-1, 0.25 ng mL^-1 and 0.25 to 4000 ng mL^-1, respectively. The interday, intraday and inter sorbent precisions for three concentration levels ranged from 2.01 to 8.09 % (n = 3), 1.02 to 8.65 % (n = 5) and 0.99 to 1.02% (n = 15), respectively. The mean intra-well RSD value for 96 individual wells in 96-MIHF-SPME-LC-MS/MS (n = 3) at the medium concentration level was 7.81%.

In the triple-negative breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cell line, sulforaphane enhances the intracellular accumulation and anticancer action of doxorubicin encapsulated in liposomes

A new combination of sulforaphane (a natural compound obtained from Brassicaceae vegetables) and the cytostatic drug doxorubicin was entrapped in nanometer-sized liposomes. In vitro experiments were performed to investigate the cytotoxicity of these structures on the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231. Confocal microscopy studies revealed enhanced cellular endocytotic internalization, followed by the release of the examined combination from the lysosomes. The in vitro interaction analysis using the Chou-Talalay approach showed high synergistic activity of the examined combination. This synergistic activity enables a considerable reduction in cytostatic dosage and an increase in cancer treatment efficiency.

Molecular Imprinting Prevents Environmental Contamination and Body Toxicity from Anticancer Drugs: An Update

Cancer has been responsible for high morbidity and mortality globally. The treatment of cancer is possible using different kinds of therapies using anticancer drugs if it is diagnosed at the right time. Nevertheless, their appropriate administration for maximum therapeutic effect and their elimination from the patient's body causing environmental problems are two big issues which could be successfully abated using molecular imprinted polymers (MIPs) owing to their unique features. In this review, we have compiled and discussed the works on the determination and controlled release of anticancer drugs based on MIPs. We also highlighted the current challenges and remedies, and the future direction of MIPs in this area.

Bacterial cellulose hydrogel loaded with lipid nanoparticles for localized cancer treatment

The use of hybrid materials, where a matrix sustains nanoparticles controlling the release of the chemotherapeutic drug, could be beneficial for the treatment of primary tumors prior or after surgery. This localized chemotherapy would guarantee high drug concentrations at the tumor site while precluding systemic drug exposure minimizing undesirable side effects. We combined bacterial cellulose hydrogel (BC) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) including doxorubicin (Dox) as a drug model. NLCs loaded with cationic Dox (NLCs-H) or neutral Dox (NLCs-N) were fully characterized and their cell internalization and cytotoxic efficacy were evaluated in vitro against MDA-MB-231 cells. Thereafter, a fixed combination of NLCs-H and NLCs-N loaded into BC (BC-NLCs-NH) was assayed in vivo into an orthotopic breast cancer mouse model. NLCs-H showed low encapsulation efficiency (48%) and fast release of the drug while NLCs-N showed higher encapsulation (97%) and sustained drug release. Both NLCs internalized via endocytic pathway, while allowing a sustained release of the Dox, which in turn rendered IC50 values below of those of free Dox. Taking advantage of the differential drug release, a mixture of NLCs-N and NLCs-H was encapsulated into BC matrix (BC-NLCs-NH) and assayed in vivo, showing a significant reduction of tumor growth, metastasis incidence and local drug toxicities.

Highly fluorescent nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots as a green, economical and facile sensor for the determination of sunitinib in real samples

The preparation of nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs), by a simple and inexpensive synthetic procedure, is reported with blue emission and a high quantum yield of 78%.

Efficient solid phase extraction of codeine from human urine samples using a novel magnetic molecularly imprinted nanoadsorbent and its spectrofluorometric determination

From a medical or clinical point of view, to assess toxicity, adverse effects, interactions and therapeutic efficiency, monitoring drug levels in body fluids, such as urine and plasma, has become increasingly necessary.

Fe3O4@Pt/MWCNT/carbon paste electrode for determination of a doxorubicin anticancer drug in a human urine sample

In this study, a Fe₃O₄@Pt nanoparticle and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) modified carbon paste electrode was used as a fast and sensitive tool for the electrochemical determination of doxorubicin (DOX).

Design of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles for controlled release of doxorubicin under an alternative magnetic field in athermal conditions

An innovative magnetic delivery nanomaterial for triggered cancer therapy showing active control over drug release by using an alternative magnetic field is proposed. In vitro and In vivo release of doxorubicin (DOX) were investigated and showed a massive DOX release under an alternative magnetic field without temperature elevation of the medium.