SYNCHRONOUS FLUORESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY COUPLED WITH CONTINUOUS WAVELET TRANSFORMS AND SAVITZKY-GOLAY DERIVATIZATION TECHNIQUE FOR THE SIMULTANEOUS DETERMINATION OF TADALAFIL AND DAPOXETINE HCl.

Objective: A novel combination of Tadalafil (TAD) and Dapoxetine HCl (DAP) has been recently introduced into the market for the treatment of premature ejaculation. The aim of this work is the development and validation of simple, sensitive and accurate analytical methods for the determination of TAD and DAP in their binary mixture without prior separation.Methods: Synchronous fluorescence spectroscopic (SFS) methods coupled with continuous wavelet transforms (CWT) and Savitzky-Golay (SAVGOL) derivatization technique have been developed.Results: Under optimum conditions, TAD and DAP were determined in the concentration ranges of 0.01–3 µg/ml and 0.01–1.2 µg/ml, respectively.Conclusion: The developed methods have the requisite accuracy, selectivity, sensitivity and precision and were satisfactorily applied for the simultaneous determination of TAD and DAP in bulk powder and pharmaceutical preparations. The results obtained for the analysis of both drugs in their pure forms by the proposed methods were statistically compared to those obtained by applying a reported high performance liquid chromatographic method (HPLC) method. The statistical comparison showed that there is no significant difference between the proposed methods and the reported one with respect to accuracy and precision.Keywords: Synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy, Tadalafil, Dapoxetine HCl, Continuous wavelet transforms, Savitzky-Golay techniqu

Family medicine postgraduate clinical training in two universities in Egypt: Physicians’ perspectives

Background: The Family Medicine Specialty was endorsed to fulfill the needs of qualified Primary Health Care providers. Family Medicine Postgraduate Training in Egypt had started in the universities under the umbrella of Medical Colleges in the form of postgraduate trainings and degrees.Objectives: This paper aimed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the different clinical rotations in Family Medicine in relation to the learning outcomes and to assess trainees' satisfaction.Methods: A mixed research exploratory study was conducted among 48 postgraduate family physicians’ candidates in their final year of training from two purposively selected universities (Cairo University and El Menoufia University) during 2019.Results: The attitude of the physicians towards their clinical education experience differs significantly between the Internal Medicine & Pediatrics. About 72% of participants were from Cairo University and 28% from Menoufia. Internal Medicine training was the best perceived among trained physicians. More than (71%) of the physicians believed they understood the common clinical cases.Conclusions: These findings can be useful for the policy makers to emphasize the importance of raising awareness among staff member regarding family practice and to implement the suggested recommendations and deal with obstacles to improve the Family Medicine training in order to provide effective and efficient primary care services

Simultaneous determination of Simvastatin and Sitagliptin in tablets by new univariate spectrophotometric and multivariate factor based methods

Five simple, sensitive and precise spectrophotometric and chemometric methods were used for simultaneous determination of Simvastatin (SM) and Sitagliptin (SIT) in their pure powdered forms and in the tablets. The proposed methods are the extended ratio subtraction method (EXRSM), ratio difference method (RDSM), mean centering of ratio spectra method (MCR) and chemometric methods, namely principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS). In EXRSM; SM was determined at 237.5 nm, while SIT was determined at 267 nm, in RDSM; the difference in amplitudes at 237.5 and 245.5 nm was used for SM and 263.5 and 248.0 nm for SIT, while in MCR; SM and SIT were determined at 239.0 and 273.0 nm, respectively. PCR and PLS are factor based multivariate methods which utilize the whole spectra of SM and SIT. The developed methods were successfully applied for the determination of the studied drugs in their bulk powder, laboratory prepared mixtures and in tablets. All validation parameters of the developed methods were determined. The obtained results were statistically compared with each other along with a reported method

Stability-indicating HPLC and PLS chemometric methods for the determination of acemetacin in presence of its degradation products and impurities

Two stability-indicating methods were developed and validated for the quantitative determination of acemetacin (ACM) in presence of its degradation products and impurities. The first method was based on separation of ACM from its degradation products and impurities by RP-HPLC on Inertsil C8 column (150 × 4.6 mm i.d) using a mobile phase composed of 0.02 M phosphate buffer: methanol (35:65, v:v, pH = 6.5). The flow rate was adjusted at 1 mL/min and quantification was achieved with UV detection at 245 nm using meloxicam as internal standard. The second method was based on multivariate spectrophotometric analysis using partial least square regression model. The drug was subjected to acid, base, oxidative and thermal stress conditions and the degradation products were identified. The developed methods have the requisite accuracy, selectivity, sensitivity and precision to assay ACM in presence of its degradation products and impurities either in bulk powder or in pharmaceutical dosage form. The results obtained for the analysis of ACM in its pure form by the proposed methods were statistically compared to those obtained by applying a reported HPLC method. The statistical comparison showed that there is no significant difference between the proposed methods and the reported one with respect to accuracy and precision

Validated Chromatographic Methods for the Simultaneous Determination of Sodium Cromoglycate and Oxymetazoline Hydrochloride in a Combined Dosage Form

Two chromatographic methods were developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of Sodium Cromoglycate (SCG) and Oxymetazoline Hydrochloride (OXMT). SCG and OXMT are administered in combination for effective treatment of nasal congestion and allergy. The first chromatographic method was based on usingaluminum TLC plates pre-coated with silica gel GF254 as the stationary phase and chloroform: methanol: toluene: triethylamine (5: 2: 4:1, by volume) as the mobile phase followed by densitometric measurement of the separated bands at 235 nm. The second method is a high performance liquid chromatographic method for separation and determination of SCG and OXMT using reversed phase C18 column with isocratic elution. The mobile phase composed of acetonitrile: methanol (2: 1, v/v) at flow rate of 1.0 mL/ min. Quantitation was achieved with UV detection at 220 nm. The validity of the proposed methods was assessed using the standard addition technique. The obtained results were statistically compared with those obtained by the official methods, showing no significant difference with respect to accuracy and precision at p = 0.05

Spectral resolution and simultaneous determination of oxymetazoline hydrochloride and sodium cromoglycate by derivative and ratio-based spectrophotometric methods

Sodium cromoglycate (SCG) and oxymetazoline hydrochloride (OXMT) are administered in combination for effective treatment of nasal congestion and allergy. In this work, SCG was determined using direct spectrophotometry by measuring its zero order absorption spectra at its λmax 320.6 nm where OXMT showed zero absorbance. On the other hand, four simple, sensitive and precise spectrophotometric methods were developed and validated for the determination of OXMT in the presence of SCG in their laboratory prepared mixtures and pharmaceutical formulation, without preliminary separation; Method A: first derivative spectrophotometric method [1D], Method B: first derivative of ratio spectra method [1DD], Method C: ratio difference spectrophotometric method [RDSM] and Method D: ratio subtraction method [RSM]. Ratio manipulating methods (Method B, C and D) were done using divisor of 10.00 µg/mL SCG. Linear correlation was obtained in range 4-22 µg/mL for OXMT by methods A, B and D and 6-22 µg/mL for method C. All methods were validated in compliance with the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines and satisfactory results were obtained. No significant difference was noted between the developed methods and the official one with respect to accuracy and precision

Stability Indicating Spectrophotometric Methods Determination of Nicardipine in the Presence of its Alkaline Induced Degradation Products

Objective: Derivative, ratio spectra derivative and ratio difference spectrophotometric methods were developed and validated for simultaneous determination of Nicardipine (NIC) in the presence of its alkaline induced degradation products. Methods: In these methods the overlapped spectra of NIC and its alkaline induced degradation products were well resolved by measuring the amplitudes of first derivative (D1) spectra and the second derivative (D2) at 382.3 and 239 nm, respectively. NIC was determined by ratio spectra derivative by measuring the amplitude at 244 nm. The ratio difference spectrophotometric method was developed in which the difference between amplitudes at 237.5 nm and 260 nm of the ratio spectra were recorded. The linearity range for the applied methods was 2-18 μg/ml.Results: All the developed methods were validated according to ICH Guidelines, NIC was determined with acceptable accuracy and precision.Conclusion: These methods were suitable as stability indicating methods for the determination of NIC in the presence of its alkaline induced degradation products either in bulk powder or in a pharmaceutical formulation. Statistical analysis of the results with those obtained by applying a reported method has been carried out revealing high accuracy and good precision.Keywords: Nicardipine, Spectrophotometry, Pharmaceutical preparations, Stability indicating, derivative, ratio derivative and ratio differenc

The possible role of cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles in prevention of neurobehavioral and neurochemical changes in 6-hydroxydopamineinduced parkinsonian disease

Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2NPs) is an efficient neuroprotective agent and showed promising effects in some neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. However, the implication of CeO2NPs in Parkinsonism remains to be investigated. The aim of this study was to assess the possible role of CeO2NPs as a neuroprotective agent against the development of behavioral and biochemical changes in rat model of Parkinson’s disease. Thirty rats were included and received left intrastriatal injection of either saline (controls, n = 10) or 6-hydroxy dopamine (6-OHDA) in untreated group (n = 10) and 10 rats were received intraperitoneal injection of low dose CeO2NPs two hours before surgery, and continued once daily for 6 weeks (preventive group). At the end of experimental period, rats were subjected to behavioral assessment and then killed for biochemical analysis of striatal dopamine levels, oxidative stress markers and caspase-3 activity. Results showed that CeO2NPs resulted in partial neuroprotection against disturbances in motor performance. It also partially decreased apoptosis and oxidative stress in preventive group, while it failed to increase striatal dopamine level as compared to untreated rats. The present study verified some neuroprotective effects of CeO2NPs in 6-OHDA-induced Parkinsonian rats through their antioxidant and anti apoptotic effects. Some of these effects persisted till the end of six weeks whereas others declined after three weeks. A larger dose may be needed to produce more valuable effects and to maintain protection for a longer period

Synthesis, Docking and Biological Activities of Novel Hybrids Celecoxib and Anthraquinone Analogs as Potent Cytotoxic Agents

Herein, novel hybrid compounds of celecoxib and 2-aminoanthraquinone derivatives have been synthesized using condensation reactions of celecoxib with 2-aminoanthraquinone derivatives or 2-aminoanthraquinon with celecoxib derivatives. Celecoxib was reacted with different acid chlorides, 2-chloroethylisocyanate and bis (2-chloroethyl) amine hydrochloride. These intermediates were then reacted with 2-aminoanthraquinone. Also the same different acid chlorides and 2-chloroethylisocyanate were reacted with 2-aminoanthraquinone and the resulting intermediates were reacted with celecoxib to give isomers for the previous compounds. The antitumor activities against hepatic carcinoma tumor cell line (HEPG2) have been investigated in vitro, and all these compounds showed promising activities, especially compound 3c, 7, and 12. Flexible docking studies involving AutoDock 4.2 was investigated to identify the potential binding affinities and the mode of interaction of the hybrid compounds into two protein tyrosine kinases namely, SRC (Pp60v-src) and platelet-derived growth factor receptor, PDGFR (c-Kit). The compounds in this study have a preferential affinity for the c-Kit PDGFR PTK over the non-receptor tyrosine kinase SRC (Pp60v-src)

In-vitro evaluation of selected Egyptian traditional herbal medicines for treatment of Alzheimer disease

BACKGROUND: Egyptians recognized the healing power of herbs and used them in their medicinal formulations. Nowadays, “Attarin” drug shops and the public use mainly the Unani medicinal system for treatment of their health problems including improvement of memory and old age related diseases. Numerous medicinal plants have been described in old literature of Arabic traditional medicine for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (or to strengthen memory). METHODS: In this study, some of these plants were evaluated against three different preliminary bioassays related to AD to explore the possible way of their bio-interaction. Twenty three selected plants were extracted with methanol and screened in vitro against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and cycloxygenase-1 (COX-1) enzymes. In addition, anti-oxidant activity using DPPH was determined. RESULTS: Of the tested plant extracts; Adhatoda vasica and Peganum harmala showed inhibitory effect on AChE at IC50 294 μg/ml and 68 μg/ml respectively. Moreover, A. vasica interacted reversibly with the enzyme while P. harmala showed irreversible inhibition. Ferula assafoetida (IC50 3.2 μg/ml), Syzygium aromaticum (34.9 μg/ml) and Zingiber officinalis (33.6 μg/ml) showed activity against COX-1 enzyme. Potent radical scavenging activity was demonstrated by three plant extracts Terminalia chebula (EC50 2.2 μg/ml), T. arjuna (3.1 μg/ml) and Emblica officinalis (6.3 μg/ml). CONCLUSION: Interestingly, differential results have been obtained which indicate the variability of the mode of actions for the selected plants. Additionally, the reversible interaction of A. vasica against AChE and the potent activity of F. assafoetida against COX-1 make them effective, new and promising agents for treatment of AD in the future, either as total extracts or their single bioactive constituents.Science and Technology Development Fund (STDF), Egypt (project number 251)http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/13/121am2014mn201