The history of pharmacy studies in Croatia.

The first study of pharmacy on Croatian territory was founded in the early 19th century (1806-1813). Vicencio Dandolo (1758-1819), a pharmacist from Venice who was Napoleon's governor of Dalmatia, established a lyceum in Zadar in 1806. It included education for pharmacists. The Lyceum (later the Central School) was closed in 1811. The founding of the modern University of Zagreb (1874) and its Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (1876) created the conditions for the development of university education for pharmacists. The study of pharmacy was introduced at the University of Zagreb in 1882 through the efforts of the Croatian-Slavonian Pharmaceutical Association and the professors of the Faculty of Philosophy. The study went through a series of reforms. The most significant one came with the introduction of the four-year study of pharmacy and the establishment of the Pharmacy Department of the Faculty of Philosophy (1928). The independent Faculty of Pharmacy (today's Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry) was founded at the University of Zagreb in 1942. Since 1989, it has had two separate studies (Pharmacy and Medical Biochemistry).

The original Croatian pharmacopoeia from 1901.

The second edition of the Croato-Slavonian Pharmacopoeia was published in Zagreb in 1901. As the original scientific work of two university professors, Gustav Janecek and Julije Domac, the Pharmacopoeia had strong scientific foundations and introduced a number of innovations. For the first time, a pharmacopoeia prescribed optical rotation for the examination of essential oils, introduced the quantitative analysis of active ingredients in galenic preparations, standardized the boiling points at the atmospheric pressure of 760 mm Hg, and was the only one to prescribe antidotes for herbal drugs and preparations which may cause poisoning. It received extremely positive reviews from the most prominent European pharmaceutical experts. It was written in two languages, Latin and Croatian, and had a wider significance, since it reflected the aspirations of the Croatian people for independence.

The first independent pharmacognosy institute in the world and its founder Julije Domac (1853-1928).

The aim of this article is to describe the foundation and development of the first distinct Institute of Pharmacognosy in the world and to provide a biography of its founder Julije Domac. The Institute was founded in 1896 as a separate institution at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time. In other European university centers, pharmacognosy institutes were founded together with pharmacology, botany, pharmaceutical or general chemistry. Julije Domac (1853-1928) graduated pharmacy from the University of Vienna (1874) and received his Ph.D. from the University of Graz (1880) with a paper elucidating the structure of hexene and mannitol obtained from manna. He lectured pharmacognosy at the University of Zagreb (1887-1924), wrote chemistry and pharmacognosy textbooks, and co-wrote the Croatian-Slavonian Pharmacopoeia.

Kinetics and mechanism of the reduction of horse heart ferricytochrome c by glutathione.

A detailed investigation of the reduction of cytochrome c by glutathione has shown that the reaction proceeds through several steps. A rapid combination of the reducing agent with the cytochrome leads to the formation of a glutathione-cytochrome intermediate in which the glutathione most likely interacts with the edge of the heme moiety. The electron transfer takes place in a subsequent slower step. Since cytochrome c(III) exists in two conformational forms at neutral pH [Kujundzic, N., & Everse, J. (1978) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 82, 1211], the reduction of cytochrome c by glutathione may be represented by cyt c(III) + GS- reversible K1 cyt c(III) ... GS- reversible k1 products cyt c*(III) + GS- reversible K2 cyt c*(III) ... GS- reversible k2 products At 25 degrees C, pH 7.5, and an ionic strength of 1.0 (NaCl), k1 = 1.2 X 10(-3) S-1, k2 = 2.0 X 10(-3) S-1, k1 = 2.9 X 10(3) M-1, and K2 = 5.3 X 10(3) M-1. The reaction is catalyzed by trisulfides, and second-order rate constants of 4.55 X 10(3) and 7.14 X 10(3) M-1 S-1 were obtained for methyl trisulfide and cysteine trisulfide, respectively.

Stability of (pyrrolidone-5-hydroxamato)iron (III) chelates.

Overall stability constants of mono-, bis-, and tris(pyrrolidone-k-hydroxamato)iron(III) chelates were determined in aqueous solutions at 25 degrees as log beta1=1.49, log beta11=1.55, and log betaIII=0.21, respectively, where beta1=[Fe(C5H7O3N2)2+][H+]/[F=E3+][HC5H7O3N2], betaII=[Fe(C5H7O3N2)2+][H+]2/[Fe3+][hc5h7o3n2]2, and betaIII=[Fe(C5H7O3N2)3][H+]3/[Fe3+][HC5H7O3N2]3. Stability constants of all three chelates were determined potentiometrically in the 3.00-3.23 pH region. The stability constant of the mono chelate also was determined spectrophotometrically at 25 degrees as log beta1-1.52 by measuring absorbance at 500 nm (absorbance maximum), where the molar absorptivity was epsilon=1124 liters/(mole cm). Biological implications of hydroxamic acid-containing compounds are discussed.

Aqueous mixture of pyrrolidone-5-hydroxamic acid-iron (III) complexes: isolation and characterization of tris (pyrrolidone-5-hydroxamato) iron (III).

The published procedure for the synthesis of pyrrolidone-5-hydroxamic acid was improved. The acidity constant of the pyrrolidone-5-hydroxamic acid was determined as pKa = 8.65. In an aqueous solution of iron (III) ions, pyrrolidone-5-hydroxamic acid binds ferric ion, forming a mixture of mono-, bis-, and tris(pyrrolidone-5-hydroxamato)iron (III) complexes. These complexes were studied by potentiometric and spectrophotometric methods. The tris compound was isolated as dark orange-red crystals and identified according to elemental analysis and IR spectral data as C15H21FeN6O9.6H2O, having the magnetic moment of 5.67 B.M.