Assessment of the nutritional value and quality of diets offered in popular apps.

OBJECTIVE: People commonly use new technologies to promote a healthy lifestyle and help them lose weight through nutritional programs. This study evaluated the quality of individualized meal plans offered by dietary apps. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten apps that offer personalized meal plans were selected for the study, weekly meal plans were generated, and the nutritional values of the diets were calculated. The Healthy Diet Indicator and the Diet Quality Index were estimated. RESULTS: Significant differences between apps were observed in the calculated energy values (p<0.0001) and macronutrients (p<0.05), the content of vitamins (vitamin A, E, K, B1, B3, B6, folates, C: p<0.05) and minerals (potassium, calcium, phosphor, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese: p<0.05), as well as diet quality (p<0.05) and food group consumption (vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy products, vegan products, meat, nuts, fats, sweets, beverages: p<0.05). Most diets covered the demand for the required nutrients, but the percentage of energy from fats, proteins and carbohydrates differed from the recommendations. Moreover, the nutritional values of the diets provided in the apps significantly differ from the values calculated using the nutritional databases. CONCLUSIONS: The meal plans from apps significantly differ in nutrients and food group intake. The quality of the diets offered in the app should be improved.

Atorvastatin as a Promising Crystallization Inhibitor of Amorphous Probucol: Dielectric Studies at Ambient and Elevated Pressure.

The aim of this article was to check the physical stability of the amorphous form of probucol at both standard storage and manufacturing conditions. Our studies clearly show that disordered form of the examined, cholesterol lowering, agent stored at ambient pressure does not reveal any tendency toward recrystallization. The physical stability of neat probucol stored at ambient pressure has been investigated (i) at room temperature by means of X-ray diffraction technique (XRD) as well as (ii) at T = 333 K by means of broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS). Due to the fact that compression is an important stage of drugs manufacturing we additionally performed physical stability tests of amorphous probucol at elevated pressure. The recrystallization tendency of the examined pharmaceutical has been tracked online from the initial and further up to a few hours after compression by means of the high pressure BDS technique. These experiments indicate that even very small pressure applied during the sample compression immediately induce its recrystallization. Since, the sensitivity on pressure eliminates probucol from the group of physically stable amorphous APIs, its stabilization is required. Taking into account that there are many scientific reports describing the positive effect of coadministration of probucol with the drug atorvastatin, we used the latter as probucol's crystallization inhibitor.

Amorphous Protic Ionic Systems as Promising Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients: The Case of the Sumatriptan Succinate Drug.

In this article, we highlight the benefits coming from the application of amorphous protic ionic systems as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Using the case of the sumatriptan (STR) drug, we show that the conversion of nonionic API to partially ionized amorphous protic succinate salt (STR SUCC) brings a substantial improvement in apparent solubility. Since in general the disordered systems reveal a tendency to self-arrangement during storage, the dominant part of this article is dedicated to the physical stability issue of sumatriptan and its ionic counterpart. To recognize the crystallization tendency of the studied systems, the calorimetric measurements were performed. Additionally, the role of ion dynamics in spontaneous nucleation of amorphous sumatriptan succinate is discussed. The differential scanning calorimetry analysis of ionic and nonionic sumatriptan reveals many similarities in thermal properties of these APIs as well as distinct differences in their resistance against crystallization in the supercooled liquid state. To determine the long-term physical stability of STR SUCC at room temperature conditions, the time scale of structural relaxation below their glass transition temperatures is estimated. We show that in contrast to nonionic materials, τα predictions of STR SUCC are much more complex and require aging experiments.

Radiation sterilization of anthracycline antibiotics in solid state.

The impact of ionizing radiation generated by a beam of electrons of 25-400 kGy on the stability of such analogs of anthracycline antibiotics as daunorubicin (DAU), doxorubicin (DOX), and epidoxorubicin (EPI) was studied. Based on EPR results, it was established that unstable free radicals decay exponentially with the half-time of 4 days in DAU and DOX and 7 days in EPI after irradiation. Radiation-induced structural changes were analyzed with the use of spectrophotometric methods (UV-Vis and IR) and electron microscope imaging (SEM). A chromatographic method (HPLC-DAD) was applied to assess changes in the contents of the analogs in the presence of their impurities. The study showed that the structures of the analogs did not demonstrate any significant alterations at the end of the period necessary for the elimination of unstable free radicals. The separation of main substances and related substances (impurities and potential degradation products) allowed determining that no statistically significant changes in the content of particular active substances occurred and that their conversion due to the presence of free radicals resulting from exposure to an irradiation of 25 kGy (prescribed to ensure sterility) was not observed.

The use of UV, FT-IR and Raman spectra for the identification of the newest penem analogs: solutions based on mathematic procedure and the density functional theory.

The application of ultraviolet, FT-IR and Raman spectra was proposed for identification studies of the newest penem analogs (doripenem, biapenem and faropenem). An identification of the newest penem analogs based on their separation from related substances was achieved after the application of first derivative of direct spectra in ultraviolet which permitted elimination of overlapping effects. A combination of experimental and theoretical studies was performed for analyzing the structure and vibrational spectra (FT-IR and Raman spectra) of doripenem, biapenem and faropenem. The calculations were conducted using the density functional theory with the B3LYP hybrid functional and 6-31G(d,p) basis set. The confirmation of the applicability of the DFT methodology for interpretation of vibrational IR and Raman spectra of the newest penem analogs contributed to determination of changes of vibrations in the area of the most labile bonds. By employing the theoretical approach it was possible to eliminate necessity of using reference standards which - considering the instability of penem analogs - require that correction coefficients are factored in.

An application of high performance liquid chromatographic assay for the kinetic analysis of degradation of faropenem.

An isocratic RP-HPLC-DAD procedure was developed and validated for kinetic analysis of degradation of faropenem in bulk drug substance and in tablets. It involved the use of a C-18 analytical column (5 microm particle size, 250 mm x 4.6 mm), flow rate 1.3 ml/min and 50 microl injection volume. The mobile phase consisted of acetate buffer (pH 3.5) - acetonitrile (70:30 v/v). The determination was carried out at the wavelength of 323 nm. Kinetic studies of faropenem degradation in aqueous solutions included hydrolysis, oxidation, photolysis and thermal degradation. A derivative spectrophotometry was used as an alternative method to compare the observed rate constants.

The UV-derivative spectrophotometry for the determination of doripenem in the presence of its degradation products.

A spectrophotometric method was developed for the quantitative determination of doripenem in pharmaceutical dosage form (DORIBAX) in the presence of its degradation products. The first-derivative with or without the substration technique, depending on formed products degradation was applied (lambda=324 nm). The method was linear in the range concentration (0.42-11.30)x10(-2)mg L(-1) (r=0.9981), the limits of detection and quantification were 7.60 and 45.0 microg L(-1), respectively. Recovery of doripenem ranged from 99.85 to 102.97% in pharmaceutical dosage form. This method had a good precision (RDS from 0.35 to 2.93%). The observed rate constants for doripenem degradation were comparable to those obtained in recommended HPLC method.

A comparison of the stability of doxorubicin and daunorubicin in solid state.

The degradation of doxorubicin and daunorubcin in the solid state was studied using an HPLC method with UV detection (LiChrospher RP-18, 5 microm, 250 mm x 4 mm; mobile phase: acetonitrile-solution A 1:1, v/v (solution A: 2.88 g of laurisulfate sodium and 1.6 ml of phosphoric acid(V) in 1000 ml); flow rate - 1.4 ml min(-1); UV detection - 254 nm). The degradation of doxorubicin was a first-order reaction depending on the substrate concentration and daunorubicin degraded according to the kinetic model of autocatalysis. The dependence lnk(i)=f(1/T) was described by the equations lnk(DOX)=40.0+/-15.6-(19804+/-5682) (1/T) and lnk(DAU)=35.9+/-11.3-(16581+/-3972) (1/T) at 76.4% RH. The dependence lnk(i)=f(RH%) was described by the equations lnk(DOX)=(8.80+/-3.60) x10(-2) (RH%)-(21.50+/-2.57) and lnk(DAU)=(6.63+/-1.22)x10(-2) (RH%)-(13.35+/-1.68). The thermodynamic parameters (E(a,) DeltaH(not = a), DeltaS(not = a)) of the degradation of doxorubicin and daunorubicin were calculated. Although the degradation of doxorubicin was slower at increased temperature (353-373 K) and relative air humidity (50.9-90.0%), the differences between the influence of temperature and relative air humidity on the stability doxorubicin and of daunorubicin were not significant.