Electroanalytical investigation and voltammetric quantification of antiviral drug favipiravir in the pharmaceutical formulation and urine sample using a glassy carbon electrode in anionic surfactant media.

This work describes the electrochemical investigation of a promising antiviral agent, favipiravir (FAV) utilizing a nonmodified glassy carbon (GC) electrode, along with a unique voltammetric approach that can determine FAV with a good degree of accuracy, speed, and cost-effectiveness. Using cyclic voltammetry, the compound demonstrated a single well-defined and an irreversible oxidation peak at approximately +1.12 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in Britton-Robinson (BR) buffer at pH 10.0. The synergistic effect of anionic surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on the adsorption ability of GC electrode remarkably increased the sensitivity of the stripping voltammetric measurements of FAV. Employing square-wave adsorptive stripping voltammetry at +1.17 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) (after 60 s accumulation at open-circuit condition) in BR buffer (pH 10.0) containing 3 × 10-4 M SDS, the linear relationship is found for FAV quantification in the concentration from 1.0 to 100.0 µg mL-1 (6.4 × 10-6-6.4 × 10-4 M) with a detection limit of 0.26 µg mL-1 (1.7 × 10-6 M). The proposed approach was used successfully to determine FAV in pharmaceutical formulations and model human urine samples.

Does a psychoeducational approach reach targeted patients with bipolar disorder?

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this paper was to determine factors which are related to motivation of bipolar patients to attend a psychoeducation program. METHODS: Patients with bipolar disorder which had at least four years of prospective follow-ups were invited to a 6-week psychoeducation program. Patients who accepted and those who refused the participation were compared using several clinical characteristics. RESULTS: Of the 173 patients who were invited, 84 participated in the program. Participants had significantly more family history of bipolar disorder and suicide, good response to prophylactic treatment, full medication adherence, therapeutic blood levels of mood stabilizers, regular follow-up visits, mixed episodes, and significantly less total number of episodes. Presence of mixed episodes, full medication adherence and therapeutic blood level of mood stabilizers were found predictive for attendance in logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest motivation and participation rates of patients who attended a psychoeducation program were constrained. Factors associated with a poor response to psychopharmacologic treatments also seem valid for non-attendance to the psychological interventions.