A sensitive LC-MS/MS method for the determination of potential genotoxic impurities in Cinnarizine.

A highly sensitive LC-MS/MS method for the trace level determination of genotoxic impurities, Cinnamyl chloride and Benzhydryl chloride, in Cinnarizine drug substance was developed and validated. Chromatographic separation was successfully achieved on Atlantis d C18 column with dimensions 150× 4.6mm and particle size: 5µm. 0.1% Trifluoroacetic acid in water and 100% acetonitrile was used as mobile phases with gradient mode of elution at 1.0mL/min flow rate. Mass spectroscopic detection was carried out with selective ion monitoring (SIM) technique in positive mode at m/z 117 and 167 for Cinnamyl chloride and Benzhydryl chloride respectively. Developed method was proven to be selective, sensitive, and precise for the quantification of potential genotoxic impurities in Cinnarizine by validating as per the regulatory guidelines. The LOD and LOQ values observed for Cinnamyl chloride were 0.49 and 1.47ppm and for Benzhydryl chloride 0.55 and 1.67ppm respectively. Precision of the method at LOQ level was shown with good % RSD of 4.21. Method was proven linear from LOQ to 150% level with a correlation of 0.996 and accurate with a range of recovery from 86.4 to 100.8%. This highly sensitive method can be used to control both the genotoxic impurities in Cinnarizine drug substance by LC-MS/MS.

Removal of lead and fluoride from contaminated water using exhausted coffee grounds based bio-sorbent.

Water pollution by industrial and anthropogenic actives has become a serious threat to the environment. World Health Organization (WHO) has identified that lead and fluoride amid the environmental pollutants are most poisonous water contaminants with devastating impact on the human race. The present work proposes a study on economical bio-adsorbent based technique using exhausted coffee grounds in the removal of lead and fluoride contaminants from water. The exhausted coffee grounds gathered from industrial wastes have been acid-activated and examined for their adsorption capacity. The surface morphology and elemental characterization of pre-and-post adsorption operations by FESEM, EDX and FTIR spectral analysis confirmed the potential of the exhausted coffee ground as successful bio-sorbent. However, thermodynamic analysis confirmed the adsorption to be spontaneous physisorption with Langmuir mode of homogenous monolayer deposition. The kinetics of adsorption is well defined by pseudo second order model for both lead and fluoride. A significant quantity of lead and fluoride is removed from the synthetic contaminated water by the proposed bio-sorbent with the respective sorption capabilities of 61.6 mg/g and 9.05 mg/g. However, the developed bio-sorbent is also recyclable and is capable of removing the lead and fluoride from the domestic and industrial waste-water sources with an overall removal efficiency of about 90%.

Removal of Lead from Water Using Calcium Alginate Beads Doped with Hydrazine Sulphate-Activated Red Mud as Adsorbent.

Calcium alginate beads doped with hydrazine sulphate-treated red mud are investigated as adsorbent for extracting lead ions from water using batch methods of extraction. Different extraction conditions are optimised for maximum lead extraction. Substantial amount of lead is removed, and the adsorption ability is found to be 138.6 mg/g. Surface characterization using FTIR, EDX, and FESEM confirms that lead is "onto" the surface of the adsorbent. Thermodynamic parameters, adsorption isotherms, and kinetics of adsorption are analysed. Adsorption is "physisorption" in nature and spontaneous. The adsorbent developed can be regenerated using 0.1 M HCl. Thus regenerated adsorbent can be used as the adsorbent for further removal of lead at least 10 times, and this enables the complete removal of lead from water by repetitive use of the regenerated adsorbent. The beads facilitate the easy filtration. The methodology developed is successfully applied for removing lead from industrial waste waters.

Rh antigen expression during erythropoeisis: Comparison of cord and adult derived CD34 cells.

OBJECTIVES: Concentrations of O(2) and CO(2) in the fetal circulation differ to that in maternal blood. Previous studies done in algae demonstrate the functional role of Rh antigen as CO(2) transporter. As a preliminary study, it was the aim of this project to compare the expression of Rh polypeptides on cord and adult red blood cell progenitors during ex vivo proliferation and differentiation of CD34(+) cells during erythropoeisis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CD34 positive hematopoeitic progenitor cells were isolated from umbilical cord blood and adult peripheral blood using an immunomagnetic system and cultured in serum free medium containing erythropoietin in order to compel them along the erythroid lineage. Cultured cells were analyzed for cell surface marker expression by flow cytometry, using monoclonal antibodies to RhAG, Glycophorin A, Rh polypeptides, CD47 and Band 3. Cytospin analysis was also done to study the morphology of cultured cells. RESULTS: The appearance of cell surface markers analyzed on different days of culture varied slightly between samples. There was no evidence to suggest that RhAG, GPA, CD47 and Band 3 expression was any different between adult and cord derived cells. Nevertheless, the results of Rh antigenic expression suggest a reasonable difference between the two groups with adult sample derived cells showing higher and earlier expression than cord blood derived cells. These preliminary findings require further investigation. CONCLUSION: Comparing the expression of cell surface markers especially Rh polypeptides between adult and cord blood derived erythroid progenitors might assist in discerning their functions and could be valuable in the study of erythropoeisis.