Preparation of magnetic ODS-PAN thin-films for microextraction of quetiapine and clozapine in plasma and urine samples followed by HPLC-UV detection.

In this study, conventional thin-film microextraction (TFME) was endowed with magnetic by introducing superparamagnetic SiO2@Fe3O4 nanoparticles in thin-films. Novel magnetic octadecylsilane (ODS)-polyacrylonitrile (PAN) thin-films were prepared by spraying, and used for the microextraction of quetiapine and clozapine in plasma and urine samples, followed by the detection of HPLC-UV. The influencing factors on the extraction efficiency of magnetic ODS-PAN TFME, including pH, extraction time, desorption solvent, desorption time, and ion strength were investigated systematically. Under the optimal conditions, both analytes showed good linearity over ranges of 0.070-9.000µgmL(-1) and 0.012-9.000µgmL(-1) in plasma and urine samples, respectively, with correlation coefficients (R(2)) above 0.9990. Limits of detection (LODs) for quetiapine in plasma and urine samples were 0.013 and 0.003µgmL(-1), respectively. LODs for clozapine in plasma and urine samples were 0.015 and 0.003µgmL(-1), respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for quetiapine and clozapine were less than 9.23%. After the validation, the protocol was successfully applied for the determination of quetiapine and clozapine in patients' plasma and urine samples with satisfactory recoveries between 99-110%. The proposed magnetic ODS-PAN TFME was very simple, fast and easy to handle. It showed high potential as a powerful pretreatment technology for routine therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in plasma and urine samples.

Neuroprotective effect of peptides extracted from walnut (Juglans Sigilata Dode) proteins on Aß25-35-induced memory impairment in mice.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the major neurodegenerative disorders of the elderly, which is characterized by the accumulation and deposition of amyloid-beta (Aß) peptide in human brains. Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation induced by Aß in brain are increasingly considered to be responsible for the pathogenesis of AD. The present study aimed to determine the protective effects of walnut peptides against the neurotoxicity induced by Aß25-35 in vivo. Briefly, the AD model was induced by injecting Aß25-35 into bilateral hippocampi of mice. The animals were treated with distilled water or walnut peptides (200, 400 and 800 mg/kg, p.o.) for five consecutive weeks. Spatial learning and memory abilities of mice were investigated by Morris water maze test and step-down avoidance test. To further explore the underlying mechanisms of the neuroprotectivity of walnut peptides, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), acetylcholine esterase (AChE), and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) as well as the level of nitric oxide (NO) in the hippocampus of mice were measured by spectrophotometric method. In addition, the levels of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin 1ß (IL-1ß) and IL-6 in the samples were determined using ELISA. The hippocampal expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) were evaluated by Western blot analysis. The results showed that walnut peptides supplementation effectively ameliorated the cognitive deficits and memory impairment of mice. Meanwhile, our study also revealed effective restoration of levels of antioxidant enzymes as well as inflammatory mediators with supplementation of walnut peptides (400 or 800 mg/kg). All the above findings suggested that walnut peptides may have a protective effect on AD by reducing inflammatory responses and modulating antioxidant system.

Comparison of two thin-film microextractions for the analysis of estrogens in aqueous tea extract and environmental water samples by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection.

Two thin-film microextractions (TFME), octadecylsilane (ODS)-polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-TFME and polar enhanced phase (PEP)-PAN-TFME have been proposed for the analysis of bisphenol-A, diethylstilbestrol and 17ß-estradiol in aqueous tea extract and environmental water samples followed by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection. Both thin-films were prepared by spraying. The influencing factors including pH, extraction time, desorption solvent, desorption volume, desorption time, ion strength and reusability were investigated. Under the optimal conditions, the two TFME methods are similar in terms of the analytical performance evaluated by standard addition method. The limits of detection for three estrogens in environmental water and aqueous tea extract matrix ranged from 1.3 to 1.6 and 2.8 to 7.1 ng mL(-1) by the two TFME methods, respectively. Both approaches were applied for the analysis of analytes in real aqueous tea extract and environmental water samples, presenting satisfactory recoveries ranged from 87.3% to 109.4% for the spiked samples.

Preparation of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers for selective isolation and determination of kaempferol and protoapigenone in Macrothelypteris torresiana.

Novel uniform-sized magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (MMIPs) were synthesized for selective recognition of active antitumor ingredients of kaempferol (KMF) and protoapigenone (PA) in Macrothelypteris torresiana (M. torresiana) by surface molecular imprinting technique in this study. Super paramagnetic core-shell nanoparticles (γ-MPS-SiO2@Fe3O4) were used as seeds, KMF as template molecule, acrylamide (AM) as functional monomer, and N, N'-methylene bisacrylamide (BisAM) as cross-linker. The prepared MMIPs were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. The recognition capacity of MMIPs was 2.436 times of non-imprinted polymers. The adsorption results based on kinetics and isotherm analysis were in accordance with the pseudo-second-order model (R (2)=0.9980) and the Langmuir adsorption model (R (2)=0.9944). The value of E (6.742 kJ/mol) calculated from the Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm model suggested that the physical adsorption via hydrogen-bonding might be predominant. The Scatchard plot showed a single line (R (2)=0.9172) and demonstrated the homogeneous recognition sites on MMIPs for KMF. The magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) based on MMIPs as sorbent was established for fast and selective enrichment of KMF and its structural analogue PA from the crude extract of M. torresiana and then KMF and PA were detected by HPLC-UV. The established method showed good performance and satisfactory results for real sample analysis. It also showed the feasibility of MMIPs for selective recognition of active structural analogues from complex herbal extracts.