Template-directed synthesis of three-dimensional metal organic framework 199-derived highly porous copper nano-foam fiber for solid-phase microextraction of some antibiotics prior to their quantification by High performance liquid chromatography

The in-situ preparation of three-dimensional MOF-199 (3D MOF-199) derived from the electrochemically prepared highly porous nano Cu foam on the surface of a flexible copper wire is reported. The 3D-Cu foam coating was used as a precursor and template for fabrication of MOF-199. The microextraction ability of the in-situ prepared 3D-MOF-199 fiber was evaluated using the prepared fiber for solid phase microextraction (SPME) of selected antibiotics including amoxicillin, azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, cefixime and gentamicin coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. Under the optimized condition, the calibration curves were linear in the range of 1-100 µg L ^- 1 (r² above 0.9921) for both water and urine matrices. Limits of detection and limits of quantification were 0.14-0.62 µg L ^- 1 and 0.53-2.17 µg L ^- 1 in the selected matrices, respectively. In addition, the repeatability of the method was evaluated by considering the relative standard deviation (RSD%). The intra-day and inter-day RSDs of the method with the single fiber was in the range of 2.8% to 4.9% and from 3.1% to 4.9%, respectively. Furthermore, the fiber-to-fiber reproducibility ranged from 2.9% to 5.5%. The enrichment factors were also in the range of 32 to 55. Finally, the method was successfully used for analysis of amoxicillin, azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, cefixime and gentamicin in urine samples. Relative recoveries for spiked urine samples were in the range of 90-105%.

Eggshell MembraneBased Turmeric Extract Loaded Orally Disintegrating Films

BACKGROUND

The increasing interest in using natural bioactive compounds as new drug candidates and their low solubility led to designing and developing novel drug delivery systems. Out of those, orally disintegrating films (ODFs) are a very eminent drug delivery system among pediatrics and geriatrics.

OBJECTIVE

In our study, the solvent casting method was used to prepare eggshell membrane-based and turmeric extract loaded orally disintegrating films.

METHOD

Characterization of the prepared films was done with FTIR, AFM, and SEM analysis. The release profile of the turmeric extract was determined and fitted to the mathematical models.

RESULTS

AFM results showed that the best interaction between components was achieved in Film-2. The highest cumulative release percentage was obtained for the film with 7.5 % (w/w) turmeric extract (Film-2) as 41.98% based on the HPLC measurements. The Higuchi model was the best-fitted model for Film-2.

CONCLUSION

In this study, SEP and CMCH were used for the first time as biopolymers to prepare the orally disintegrating film. Turmeric extract was successfully integrated into films prepared from SEP and CMCH.

Investigation of a QuEChERS Based Method for Determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Rat Plasma by GC/MS

Owing to their toxic effects on humans and the environment, sensitive biomonitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is essential and significant. In this work, a sensitive, simple and rapid bioanalytical method was established for the simultaneous determination of thirteen (PAHs) in rat plasma depending on QuEChERS as a preliminary step and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for identification. QuEChERS procedure was optimized where acetonitrile was employed for plasma samples extraction which was further cleaned using primary secondary amine as the sorbent material. Optimization of GC/MS conditions was performed to produce optimum selectivity of the proposed method. The method was fully validated for rat plasma samples where recoveries, matrix effects, limit of quantitation, linearity, and precision were evaluated. Linearity range was 5.0-100.0 ng/mL for most of the thirteen analytes. Average recoveries of the thirteen PAHs ranged between 85.57 % to 109.64 % in fortified rat plasma with standard deviations (SDs) less than 8.91 except for anthracene which showed 19.24. The limits of detection (LODs) and quantitation (LOQs) for the thirteen compounds ranged from 0.045 to 0.372 ppb and from 0.137 to 1.128 ppb respectively. The established method was successfully implemented to perform a minor toxicokinetic study in intraperitoneally dosed rats (0.25 and 2 mg/kg in vegetable oil). The thirteen PAHs were tracked in rat plasma samples for 6 h after administration, and most of the target compounds were recognized in plasma samples only at the higher dose.