[Degradation of Chloroquine Phosphate by UV-activated Persulfate].

The degradation of chloroquine phosphate (CQP), an anti-COVID-19 drug, was investigated in a UV-activated persulfate system (UV/PS). The second-order rate constants of CQP with hydroxyl radicals (HO·) and sulfate radicals (SO4-·) were determined using a competition kinetics experiment, and the effects of persulfate concentration, pH, and inorganic anions on the degradation of CQP were also systematically studied. Furthermore, a kinetic model was established to predict the concentration of CQP and major free radicals to explore its mechanism of influence. The results showed that the degradation efficiency of CQP could reach 91.3% after 10 min under UV/PS, which was significantly higher than that under UV, sunlight, or PS alone. At pH=6.9, the second-order rate reaction constants of CQP with HO· and SO4-· were 8.9×109 L·(mol·s)-1and 1.4×1010 L·(mol·s)-1, respectively, and the main active species was SO4-·. The degradation rate of CQP increased with increasing concentrations of PS and decreased with the addition of HCO3- and Cl-. The removal efficiency of CQP was inhibited under stronger alkaline conditions. N-de-ethylation, cleavage of the C-N bond, and hydrogen abstraction were proposed as the principal pathways of CQP degradation based on LC-MS analysis. The mineralization rate of CQP could be improved by increasing PS concentration and pH values. This study could be helpful for the treatment of anti-COVID-19 pharmaceutical wastewater.

UPLC-Q-TOF/MS-based metabolic profiling comparison of four major bioactive components in normal and CKD rat plasma, urine and feces following oral administration of Cornus officinalis Sieb and Rehmannia glutinosa Libosch herb couple extract.

Cornus officinalis-Rehmannia glutinosa herb couple is widely used herb medicine in clinical practice to treat chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the in vivo integrated metabolism of its main bioactive components in CKD rats remains unknown. In this study, UPLC-Q-TOF/MS technique combined with Metabolynx™ software, was developed and successfully applied for analysis of metabolic profiles of the bioactive components of the herb couple in normal and CKD rat biological samples. Main parent components of the herb couple extract such as loganin, morroniside and catalpol were absorbed into the blood circulation of the normal and CKD rats. Another parent component acteoside was almost completely degraded. Seventeen metabolites involved in the in vivo metabolism processes were tentatively identified. These metabolites indicated that loganin was mainly metabolized to the demethylated product, and morroniside was firstly deglycosylated to the aglycone and the latter was subsequently demethylated and acetylated. Additionally, hydrogenation and deglycosylation were the principal metabolic reactions of catalpol; while O-glucuronide and O-sulphate conjugates were observed as major metabolites for methylated caffeic acid and hydroxytyrosol released from acteoside. Compared with the normal group, the CKD rat showed lower conversion capability. Few kinds and minor amounts of the metabolites appeared in the CKD rat samples. While considerable amounts of the parent compounds were detected in the CKD plasma. This will help maintain a high blood drug concentration which might be beneficial for the treatment of CKD. The proposed method could develop an integrated template approach to analyze screening and identification of the bioactive components in plasma, urine and feces after oral administration of herb medicines. Additionally, this investigation might provide helpful chemical information for further pharmacology and active mechanism research on herb medicines.