Selective Separation and Preconcentration of Caffeine from Natural and Pharmaceutical Products using New Polyurethane Foams

Abstract Two polyurethane foam-based sorbents (PUF) were synthesized by imprinting and grafting techniques and examined for selective separation and preconcentration of caffeine (CAF) in some pharmaceutical products and in black tea. Molecularly imprinted PUF was synthesized based on hydrogen-bonding interactions between CAF and alizarin yellow G (AYG) and subsequent polymerization into PUF. The static experiments indicated optimum sorption conditions at pH=6.5 and 5.5 for imprinted PUF (AY-IPUF) and grafted PUF (AY-GPUF), respectively. In the online experiments, the suitable preconcentration time was found to be 40 and 20s for (AY-IPUF) and (AY-GPUF), respectively, at a flow rate of 1.75 mL.min-1. Desorption of CAF has been affected by passing 500 µL of 0.05, 0.01 mol.L−1 HCl eluent onto (AY-IPUF) and (AY-GPUF), respectively. The online methods have provided satisfactory enrichment factors of 8.4 and 10.5 for (AY-IPUF) and (AY-GPUF), respectively. The time consumed for preconcentartion, elution and determination steps was 1.48 and 1.05 min, thus, the throughput was 42 and 57 h-1, for (AY-IPUF) and (AY-GPUF), respectively. The developed sorbents were studied for the determination of CAF in pharmaceutical samples which will be helpful to minimize caffeinism. Finally, in silico bioactivity, ADMET and drug-likeness predictive computational studies of caffeine were also carried out

Clinical and genetic analysis of Verheij syndrome caused by PUF60 de novo mutation in a Chinese boy and literature review / 中华儿科杂志

Objective@#To investigate the clinical and genetic characteristics of a Chinese boy with Verheij syndrome and review the literature.@*Methods@#The clinical and genetic data of a Chinese boy with Verheij syndrome, who was admitted to the Department of Pediatrics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology in May 2017 were analyzed. Original papers on Verheij syndrome published up to January 2018 were retrieved at PubMed, Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD), Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man(OMIM), CNKI and WanFang databases by using the key words "Verheij syndrome" and "PUF60" .@*Results@#The male patient (at the age of 14 years and 3 months) visited us because of growth retardation for 13 years. Atrial septal defect was repaired at the age 3. Congenital amblyopia and hyperopia were diagnosed at the age 4. On physical examination, serious growth retardation and delayed psychomotor development was noted. His height was 142.5 cm (-3.26 SDS). He had poor academic performance at school. Facial features included: webbed neck, hypertelorism, down-slanting palpebral fissures, long philtrum, thin upper lip, and high palate. Palmar crease was found in the right hand. His bone age was 10 years. Growth hormone stimulation test indicated partial growth hormone deficiency (growth hormone (GH) peak 6.63 μg/L). The level of insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and insulin like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) was lower than normal, 73.20 μg/L and 2 500 μg/L respectively. Abdominal ultrasound showed that the volumes of bilateral kidneys were small. The size of the left and right kidney was 8.5 cm × 3.3 cm and 8.4 cm × 4.3 cm respectively. Karyotype was normal (46, XY). MRI of pituitary showed partial empty sella turcica. Ten genes associated with Noonan syndrome (PTPN11, SOS1, RASA2, KRAS, RAF1, NRAS, SHOC2, BRAF, RIT1, A2ML1) were analyzed and no genetic mutations were found. Whole exome-sequencing analysis identified a de novo heterozygous frame shift mutation of PUF60 gene (c.931_934del, P.P.T 311Qfs*47). According to ACMG guidelines in 2015, the mutation is pathogenic and has not been reported in the above databases.@*Conclusions@#This is the first case report of Verheij syndrome caused by mutation of PUF60 gene in Chinese population. It is difficult to discriminate Verheij syndrome from Noonan syndrome, both have clinical manifestations such as severe growth retardation, psychomotor retardation, and congenital heart disease. In addition to Noonan syndrome, PUF60 genetic analysis was recommended for avoiding missed diagnosis with such clinical manifestations of patients.

Relationship of potassium sensitivity test and PUF in interstitial cystitis / 中华泌尿外科杂志

Objective To discuss whether potassium sensitivity test(PST) is correlated with PUF in Interstitial Cystitis (IC). Methods The data of 14 IC patients (female 13, male 1) were an-alyzed. The mean age was 48 years (range 35-67 years). The clinical symptoms included urinary fre-quency, urgency, pelvic and peritoneal region pain after bladder filling. All the patients met the diag-nostic criteria of NIDDK for IC. Dilatations by hyponome were performed, medicine including heparin-sodium, lidocaine, NaHCO3 were used by intravesical instillation. PST and the pelvic pain and urgen-cy/frequency patient symptom (PUF) were used for evaluation. The relationship of the PST and PUF was assessed by statistics. Results PST median decreased from 4.0 to 1.0 (P<0.01). PUF medi-an decreased from 27.5 to 13.5(P<0.01). PST was directly correlated with PUF (rs=0. 868, t= 4.418, P= 0.001 before treatment, rs = 0.779, t=4.300, P = 0.001 after treatment). Conclusions PST and PUF are correlated. Both can be used as index in diagnosis, differential diagno-sis, symptom severity and treatment effectiveness evaluation of IC.