Limitations and Challenges in the Stability of Cysteamine Eye Drop Compounded Formulations

Accumulation of cystine crystals in the cornea of patients suffering from cystinosis is considered pathognomonic and can lead to severe ocular complications. Cysteamine eye drop compounded formulations, commonly prepared by hospital pharmacy services, are meant to diminish the build-up of corneal cystine crystals. The objective of this work was to analyze whether the shelf life proposed for six formulations prepared following different protocols used in hospital pharmacies is adequate to guarantee the quality and efficacy of cysteamine eye drops. The long-term and in-use stabilities of these preparations were studied using different parameters: content of cysteamine and its main degradation product cystamine; appearance, color and odor; pH and viscosity; and microbiological analysis. The results obtained show that degradation of cysteamine was between 20% and 50% after one month of storage in the long-term stability study and between 35% and 60% in the in-use study. These data confirm that cysteamine is a very unstable molecule in aqueous solution, the presence of oxygen being the main degradation factor. Saturation with nitrogen gas of the solutions offers a means of reducing cysteamine degradation. Overall, all the formulae studied presented high instability at the end of their shelf life, suggesting that their clinical efficacy might be dramatically compromised.

Phytochemical Screening and Antioxidant Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Cawat Hanoman Stem (Bauhinia aculeata L.) using DPPH Method

The free radical is an unstable molecule because contains one or two unpaired electrons. The antioxidant substance is a simple way to decrease the illness caused by free radicals. Cawat hanoman (Bauhinia aculeata L.) was known to contain tannin components one of the benefits as an antioxidant. This research aims to determine the antioxidant activity of the B. aculeata stem tested by qualitatively used thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and quantitatively using the DPPH method. Bauhinia aculeata stem was extracted using a maceration extract method with 96% ethanol. Antioxidant activity test was done qualitatively by eluent of ethyl acetate : methanol : purified water (6 : 2 : 1) using TLC and quantitatively using the DPPH method. The result of antioxidant activity from 96% ethanol extract of B. aculeata stem qualitatively showed the presence of yellow spots on a purple background at TLC after syringed DPPH 0.5 mM and quantitative test that resulted in an IC50 of 21.862 �g/mL. These results indicate that 96% ethanol extract of B. aculeata has very strong antioxidant activity.

Sublingual Delivery of Astaxanthin through a Novel Ascorbyl Palmitate-Based Nanoemulsion: Preliminary Data

Astaxanthin is a carotenoid extracted from several seaweeds with ascertained therapeutic activity. With specific reference, astaxanthin is widely used in clinical practice to improve ocular tissue health and skin protection from UV ray damages. Despite its well-documented pleiotropic actions and demonstrated clinical efficacy, its bioavailability in humans is low and limited because of its hydrophobicity and poor dissolution in enteric fluids. Furthermore, astaxanthin is very unstable molecule and very sensitive to light exposure and thermal stress. Taken together, these pharmacological and chemical–physical features strongly limit pharmaceutical and nutraceutical development of astaxanthin-based products and as a consequence its full clinical usage. This work describes the preliminary in vitro investigation of sublingual absorption of astaxanthin through a novel ascorbyl palmitate (ASP) based nanoemulsion.

Raman Microspectroscopy as a Tool to Elucidate the Efficacy of Topical Formulations Containing Curcumin

The success of the onychomycosis treatment is directly associated with factors such as the choice of the medication, the administration route, and the pharmaceutical formulation. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an emerging and promising technique indicated for onychomycosis treatment. For this application, the main challenge is the efficient delivery of the photosensitizer (PS). Curcumin is widely used as a PS, however it is an unstable molecule and it is a challenge to develop a formulation with good penetration into the nail plate, maintaining the stability of curcumin. In this study, the molecular mechanisms underlying the efficacy of two topical formulations containing curcumin used in a clinical trial for onychomycosis treatment were analyzed by Raman microspectroscopy. It is shown that curcumin is present in both formulations in aggregated and non-aggregated states, and in aggregates it is present in different conformations, depending on the interaction with the solvent. This proves to be critical for efficient and uniform PS delivery to the nail and its complete use during the treatment. These analyses are showing how promising Raman microspectroscopy is in understanding the molecular mechanisms of the efficiency of photosensitizers and are helping to improve the development of pharmaceutical formulations.

Survey for Transition of Normal Reaction

Transition of reaction is a short-lived unstable molecule in a reaction which is formed in between the reaction when reactants change into products. Whereas, transition state is just the state before formation of new molecule (involves breaking of bonds of reactants and formation of new ones) Transition of reaction differs from a transition state in that the intermediate has a discrete lifetime (be it a few nanoseconds or many days), whereas a transition state lasts for just one bond vibration cycle. Intermediates may be unstable molecules (in which case they are called reactive intermediates) or highly stable molecules. The difference between them can be better described through the energy profile diagram.

Novel Immunoassay for Quantification of Brain Natriuretic Peptide and Its Precursor in Human Blood

Background: Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is an unstable molecule that can rapidly lose immunologic activity in blood. Conventional sandwich BNP immunoassays use 2 antibodies specific to 2 different epitopes. Larger distances between epitopes are associated with a greater probability of proteolysis sites being located between the antibody-binding sites, and thus such assays have an increased susceptibility to underdetect BNP because of the increased likelihood of proteolytic degradation. The purpose of our study was to develop a sandwich immunoassay for the precise quantification of BNP and BNP precursor (proBNP) in human blood that is not susceptible to proteolysis. Methods: Mice were immunized with an immune complex consisting of monoclonal antibody (MAb) 24C5 (specific for BNP peptide 11–22) and the entire BNP molecule. The MAb used in our assay (Ab-BNP2) recognizes the immune complex but neither free BNP nor MAb 24C5. Results: We used MAbs 24C5 and Ab-BNP2 to develop a new type of sandwich BNP assay (the “single-epitope sandwich assay”), which requires only a short BNP fragment (fragment 11–22) for immunodetection. This assay recognizes both BNP and proBNP with the same efficiency and sensitivity and demonstrates both considerably less susceptibility to antigen degradation and greater stability of the measured antigen than conventional sandwich BNP immunoassays. Conclusions: We have developed this sensitive single-epitope sandwich assay for detecting BNP, proBNP, and their fragments in human blood. This assay appears promising for use in clinical studies to assist in triage, management, and outcomes assessment in heart failure patients.

A new method to measure nitrate/nitrite with a NO-sensitive electrode

There are different methods to measure the unstable molecule nitric oxide (NO). We will describe a new sensitive method to measure NO by reconversion of nitrate/nitrite to NO, which will be determined with an amperometric Clark-type electrode. Nitrate and nitrite are the degradation products of NO. First, nitrate is enzymatically converted to nitrite with the use of the nitrate reductase. Second, nitrite is reduced to equimolar NO concentrations by an acidic iodide solution. The detection limit of the electrode in an aqueous solution was 2 nmol/l NO (meaning the threshold was depending on the volume added: 500 μl of a 0.2 μmol/l nitrite solution added to a 10-ml bath). This method provides the ability to assess basal and agonist-stimulated NO releases of different biological models. We measured basal and carbachol-stimulated NO release of native endothelial cells from porcine coronary arteries and porcine aortic endothelial cell cultures. Moreover, it was possible to measure the nitrate/nitrite concentration in the coronary effluent of a guinea pig heart. In conclusion, we present a valid, highly sensitive new method of measuring nitrite/NO in biological systems with a commercially available electrode.