ABSTRACT
AIM: This study aimed to compare the elemental composition of traditional and flavored hookah tobacco, with a focus on heavy metals. METHODS: We used inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to analyze the concentrations of 29 elements in the raw tobacco, tobacco ash, hookah water after smoking, and tobacco smoke. RESULTS: The results showed that the traditional tobacco had significantly higher metal concentrations than the flavored tobacco in all samples. Most of the toxic metals (more than 98 %) remained in the smoke of both types of tobacco. The tobacco and hookah smoke contained high levels of harmful metals that can pose health risks to hookah users.â¢ICP-MS provides a comprehensive analysis of multiple elements simultaneously and it allows for precise quantification of metal concentrations in different samples.â¢ICP-MS requires specialized equipment and trained personnel and it may not detect elements present in extremely low concentrations.
ABSTRACT
In this project, we have synthesized and used a molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) for adsorption of oxycodone residue from the biological samples. Indeed, this study aims to develop a suitable method for determination of oxycodone drug residue in the human plasma using the common analysis methods. Therefore, the MIP was used for the solid phase extraction (MIP-SPE) approach in order to collect the oxycodone opioid and to concentrate it in the blood plasma samples. The extraction parameters such as adsorption time, pH, and the amount of sorbent in blood plasma were optimized and the capacity of loading amount (LA) for adsorbing it was determined. Moreover, a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-UV detector method was validated and used for analyzing of the mentioned opioid extracted from plasma. The results showed that the limit of detection (LOD), and the limit of quantization (LOQ) for the developed MIP-SPE method were 1.24 ppb, and 3.76 ppb, respectively. Moreover, both of the MIP-, and non-imprinted polymers (NIP)-drug complexes were designed and were then optimized by the density functional theory (DFT) method. The results showed that the theoretical calculations supported the experimental data, confirming the favorability of adsorption of the drug by MIP compared to NIP.
ABSTRACT
A screen-printed electrode (SPE) is described modified with sulfur-tin oxide nanoparticles (S@SnO2NP) for the determination of entacapone (ENT) in the presence of other medicines against Parkinson's disease (PD). The S@SnO2NP was synthesized through the hydrothermal method and used in the modification of the SPE. The smart utilization of the S@SnO2NP and the SPE provided excellent properties such as high surface area and current density amplification by embedding an efficient sensing interface for highly selective electrochemical measurement. Under optimized experimental conditions, the anodic peak current related to the ENT oxidation onto the sensor surface at 0.46 V presented a linear response towards different ENT concentration sin the range 100 nM to 75 µM. The limit of detection (LOD) and electrochemical sensitivity were estimated to be 0.010 µM and 2.27 µA·µM-1·cm-2, respectively. The applicability of the sensor was evaluated during ENT determination in the presence of other conventional medicines againts, including levodopa (LD), carbidopa (CD), and pramipexole (PPX). The results of the analysis of human urine and pharmaceutical formulation as real samples using the developed sensor were in good agreement withre sults of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as a standard method. These findings demonstrated that the strategy based on the SPE is a cost-effective platform creating a promising candidate for practical determination of ENT in routine clinical testing.Graphical abstract.
