Neuroprotective and Antioxidant Enhancing Properties of Selective Equisetum Extracts.

The sterile stems belonging to the Equisetum species are often used in traditional medicine of various nations, including Romanians. They are highly efficient in treating urinary tract infections, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory tract infections, and medical skin conditions due to their content of polyphenolic derivatives that have been isolated. In this regard, this study aimed to provide the chemical composition of the extracts obtained from the Equisetum species (E. pratense, E. sylvaticum, E. telmateia) and to investigate the biological action in vitro and in vivo. For the chemical characterization of the analyzed Equisetum species extracts, studies were performed by using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC-DAD). In vitro evaluation of the antioxidant activity of the plant extracts obtained from these species of Equisetum genus was determined. The neuroprotective activity of these three ethanolic extracts from the Equisetum species using zebrafish tests was determined in vivo. All obtained results were statistically significant. The results indicate that E. sylvaticum extract has a significant antioxidant activity; whereas, E. pratense extract had anxiolytic and antidepressant effects significantly higher than the other two extracts used. All these determinations indicate promising results for the antioxidant in vitro tests and neuroprotective activity of in vivo tests, particularly mediated by their active principles.

Development of Solid Lipid Nanoparticles for Controlled Amiodarone Delivery.

In various drug delivery systems, solid lipid nanoparticles are dominantly lipid-based nanocarriers. Amiodarone hydrochloride is an antiarrhythmic agent used to treat severe rhythm disturbances. It has variable and hard-to-predict absorption in the gastrointestinal tract because of its low solubility and high permeability. The aims of this study were to improve its solubility by encapsulating amiodarone into solid lipid nanoparticles using two excipients-Compritol® 888 ATO (pellets) (C888) as a lipid matrix and Transcutol® (T) as a surfactant. Six types of amiodarone-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (AMD-SLNs) were obtained using a hot homogenization technique followed by ultrasonication with varying sonication parameters. AMD-SLNs were characterized by their size distribution, polydispersity index, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency, and drug loading. Based on the initial evaluation of the entrapment efficiency, only three solid lipid nanoparticle formulations (P1, P3, and P5) were further tested. They were evaluated through scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry, near-infrared spectrometry, thermogravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, and in vitro dissolution tests. The P5 formulation showed optimum pharmaco-technical properties, and it had the greatest potential to be used in oral pharmaceutical products for the controlled delivery of amiodarone.

Aromatherapeutic and Antibacterial Properties of Cotton Materials Treated with Emulsions Containing Peppermint Essential Oil (Menthae piperitae aetheroleum).

The objective of the work was to obtain materials with aromatherapeutic and antibacterial properties by applying emulsions based on peppermint essential oil (PEO) onto cotton fabric. For this purpose, some emulsions based on PEO incorporated in various matrices (chitosan + gelatin + beeswax; chitosan + beeswax; gelatin + beeswax and gelatin + chitosan) were prepared. Tween 80 was used as a synthetic emulsifier. The influence of the nature of matrices and of the concentration of Tween 80 on the stability of the emulsions was evaluated by the creaming indices. The materials treated with the stable emulsions were analyzed in terms of sensory activity, of the comfort characteristics, and of the gradual release of the PEO in the artificial perspiration solution. The sum of volatile components retained by samples after exposure to air was determined by GC-MS. The results regarding antibacterial activity showed that materials treated with emulsions have a good inhibitory effect on S. aureus (diameters of the inhibition zones between 53.6 and 64.0 mm) and on E. coli (diameters of the inhibition zones between 38.3 and 64.0 mm). Our data suggest that by applying peppermint-oil-based emulsions on a cotton support, aromatherapeutic patches, bandages and dressings with antibacterial properties can be obtained.

Implementation of QbD Approach to the Analytical Method Development and Validation for the Estimation of Metformin Hydrochloride in Tablet Dosage Forms by HPLC.

The current studies entail quality by design (QbD)-enabled development of a simple, rapid, precise, accurate, and cost-effective high-performance liquid chromatographic method for estimation of metformin hydrochloride (M-HCl). Design of experiments (DoE) was applied for multivariate optimization of the experimental conditions of the HPLC method. Risk assessment was performed to identify the critical method parameters (CMPs) using Ishikawa diagram. The factor screening studies were performed using a two-factor three-levels design. Two independent factors, buffer pH and mobile phase composition, were used to design mathematical models. Central composite design (CCD) was used to study the response surface methodology and to study in depth the effects of these independent factors, thus evaluating the critical analytical attributes (CAAs), namely, retention time, peak area, and symmetry factor as the parameters of method robustness. Desirability function was used to simultaneously optimize the CAAs. The optimized and predicted data from contour diagram consisted of 0.02 M acetate buffer pH = 3/methanol in a ratio of 70/30 (v/v) as the mobile phase with a flow rate 1 mL/min. The separation was made on a Thermoscientific ODS HypersylTM chromatographic column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 µm) with oven temperature 35 °C and UV detection at 235 nm. The optimized assay conditions were validated according to ICH guidelines. Hence, the results clearly showed that QbD approach could be successfully applied to optimize HPLC method for estimation of M-HCl. The method was applied both for the evaluation of M-HCl content in tablets, and for in vitro dissolution studies of M-HCl from conventional and prolonged-release tablets.

The chemical composition of essential oils isolated from sweet fennel fruits available as herbal tea products.

UNLABELLED: Sweet fennel fruits (Foeniculum vulgare subsp. vulgare var. dulce Mill.) are a spice with various uses in medicine, but also in food, pharmaceutic and cosmetic industries. Their biological activities as well as the flavoring properties are due to the essential oil. AIM: In this paper, the essential oils obtained from seven Romanian fennel herbal tea products were comparatively characterized in terms of their chemical composition. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The volatile oils obtained by hydrodistillation, according to the Ph. Eur. 6th edition, were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. RESULTS: The volatile oil content of fennel herbal tea products varies widely (28.10-101.00 mL/kg dried fruits), but all the samples meet the requirements of the Ph Eur. 6th edition (min. 20 mL/kg dried fruits). Phenylpropanoid derivatives (52.12%-57.66%) and monoterpenes (39.25%-45.28%) represent the bulk of the fennel volatile oils. Trans-anethole, estragole, limonene, fenchone, a-pinene, y-terpinene and myrcene were the main compounds in all samples, but their levels vary greatly. CONCLUSIONS: The Romanian fennel herbal tea products showed important differences in terms of volatile oil content. The qualitative and quantitative differences in the chemical composition of fennel volatile oils were also observed. The most striking variations concern trans-anethole and estragole phenylpropanoid derivatives. Furthermore, these variations could have a significant impact on the flavouring and biological effects of fennel volatile oils.

[High levels of sterigmatocystin in patients with chronic liver diseases]. / Detectarea sterigmatocistinei la pacientii cu boala ii hepatica cronica.

UNLABELLED: Sterigmatocystin (STC) is a wide spread mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus fungi, with hepatotoxic and carcinogenetic proprieties. OBJECTIVES: To determine the STC concentration in blood and urine from patient with liver cirrhosis (LC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with correlation with liver function parameters. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study enrolled 166 patients divided in three groups: control--55 patients (27M, 28F); LC--58 patients (31M, 27F); HCC--53 patients (26M, 27F). 20 ml of blood and 50 ml of urine were collected from each patient and liver enzymes and alfa-fetoprotein (AFP) were measured. STC was determined by high performance liquid chromatography, with concomitant detection in ultraviolet and fluorescence. RESULTS: STC was detected in 26.2% of samples, more frequently in LC and HCC groups (p < 0.001). STC mean values were 0.014 ng/ml and 0.005 ng/ml in blood, respective urine of controls, rising to 0.626 ng/ml (p = 0.003) respective 1.053 ng/ml (p = 0.049) in LC and 2.02 ng/ml in blood (p < 0.0001) and 9.39 ng/ml in urine (p = 0.003) in patients with HCC. There is a perfect correlation between serum and urinary levels of STC in controls (r = 1), that become weak in patients with LC (r = 0.48) and insignificant in HCC (r = 0.15). AFP values were significantly correlated with STC concentration in patient with HCC, in both blood (r = 0.31) and urine (r = 0.84). CONCLUSIONS: STC values in patients with LC and HCC were significantly higher compared to controls. Strong positive correlation of STC with AFP in patients with liver cancer suggested a possible role of this mycotoxin in pathogenesis of the disease.