Essential oils of Taxandria fragrans and Melaleuca alternifolia have effective antidermatophytic activities in vitro and in vivo that are antagonised by ketoconazole and potentiated in gold nanospheres.

The investigation of the effects of three essential oils (EOs) from Taxandria fragrans (FRA), Melaleuca alternifolia (TTO) and Boswellia serrata (IF), alone and combined with ketoconazole (KTZ), and their functionalised gold nanoparticles (AuNP) against Trichophyton interdigitale both in vitro and in vivo indicated that EOs presented activity against T. interdigitale. The combination of EOs and KTZ was antagonistic. FRA, TTO, gold nanoparticles capped with T. fragrans (AuNPFRA) and gold nanoparticles capped with M. alternifolia (AuNPTTO) presented antidermatophytic activity in vivo, with the capacity to reduce fungal burden and to preserve tissue architecture; however, combination treatment with KTZ increased fungal burden and caused tissue damage. The combination of EO with KTZ exhibited antagonistic activity and was histologically harmful. In contrast, FRA, TTO, AuNPFRA and AuNPTTO are promising treatments for dermatophytosis.

Simultaneous Determination of First-Line 4-FDC Antituberculosis Drugs by UHPLC-UV and HPLC-UV: A Comparative Study.

Tuberculosis is the second most deadly infectious disease, surpassed only by HIV/AIDS, and has resulted in over 1 billion deaths in the last 200 years. The World Health Organization estimates that in 2014, 9.6 million people were infected by this disease and 1.5 million had died. First-choice treatment consists of fixed-dose combination tablets containing rifampicin, isoniazid, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol hydrochloride (4-FDC). There are pharmacopeial protocols available to test 4-FDC, but they are prolonged, two-step methods. One single-step method in the literature performs the simultaneous determination by HPLC, but requires a long acquisition time. In this context, an ultra-HPLC (UHPLC) method was developed based on the HPLC method with the objective of reducing analysis time. A C18 column (1.9 µm particle size) was used with UV-diode-array detection at 238 and 282 nm. The method was found to be selective, linear, exact, precise, and robust. Samples from two batches were analyzed and the results compared with those obtained by the HPLC method, with no statistically significant differences observed (P > 0.05). This UHPLC method reduced the analysis time from 17 to 4 min, with a more than 90% reduction in sample and reagent consumption and a financial economy of almost 50-fold.

Simultaneous Determination of First-Line 4-FDC Antituberculosis Drugs by UHPLC-UV and HPLC-UV: A Comparative Study.

Tuberculosis is the second most deadly infectiousdisease, surpassed only by HIV/AIDS, and hasresulted in over 1 billion deaths in the last200 years. The World Health Organization estimatesthat in 2014, 9.6 million people were infected bythis disease and 1.5 million had died. First-choicetreatment consists of fixed-dose combinationtablets containing rifampicin, isoniazid,pyrazinamide, and ethambutol hydrochloride(4-FDC). There are pharmacopeial protocolsavailable to test 4-FDC, but they are prolonged,two-step methods. One single-step method in theliterature performs the simultaneous determinationby HPLC, but requires a long acquisition time.In this context, an ultra-HPLC (UHPLC) methodwas developed based on the HPLC method withthe objective of reducing analysis time.A C18 column (1.9 µm particle size) was used withUV-diode-array detection at 238 and 282 nm. Themethod was found to be selective, linear, exact,precise, and robust. Samples from two batcheswere analyzed and the results compared with thoseobtained by the HPLC method, with no statisticallysignificant differences observed (<em>P</em> > 0.05). ThisUHPLC method reduced the analysis time from17 to 4 min, with a more than 90% reduction insample and reagent consumption and a financialeconomy of almost 50-fold.

Development and Validation of an HPLC Method for Simultaneous Determination of Rifampicin, Isoniazid, Pyrazinamide, and Ethambutol Hydrochloride in Pharmaceutical Formulations.

Tuberculosis treatment consists of a fixed dose combination of rifampicin (RIF), isoniazid (INH), pyrazinamide (PYZ), and ethambutol hydrochloride (EMB). The combined treatment using various drugs is necessary for patient curing, without recrudescence, and for prevention of drug-resistant mutants, which may occur during treatment. An HPLC-diode array detector (DAD) method for the simultaneous determination of RIF, INH, PYZ, and EMB in fixed dose combination tablets was developed and validated. Chromatographic experiments were performed on an Agilent 1200 HPLC system, and the separation was carried out on a Purospher STAR RP18e (250×4.6 mm id, 5 µm, Merck) analytical column. Gradient elution was carried out with a mobile phase of 20 mM monobasic sodium phosphate buffer with 0.2% triethylamine (pH 7.0) and acetonitrile at a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min. The total run time was 12 min, and the re-equilibration time was 5 min. EMB detection was performed at 210 nm, and RIF, INH, and PYZ were detected at 238 nm, using a DAD. The method proved to be specific, linear (r2>0.99), precise (RSD<2%), accurate, and robust and may be applied to the QC analysis of pharmaceutical formulations.