Determination of galangin in commercial extracts of Alpinia officinarum by RP-HPLC-DAD

Alpinia officinarum has been used by long time in the traditional medicine and several commercial extracts containing it are available on the market. In this paper a reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (RP-HPLC-DAD) method for Alpinia officinarum preparations was proposed using galangin as a marker. The quantification was undertaken by a combination of RP-HPLC-DAD. The LC system employed a Gemini Phenomenex RP-18 column with phosphoric acid, tetrahydrofuran and acetonitrile as mobile phase and detection at 267 nm. The method validation was throughout satisfactory. The determination coefficient was r2 = 0.998 with LOD 0.48 µg mL-1 and LOQ 1.59 µg mL-1 The results of precision (RSD < 2.82) and accuracy (99.9 %, 100.4 %, 102.2 %) with . RSD less than 2.7 %, were satisfactory. The analytical method was applied to commercial extracts, and was suitable to provide qualitative and quantitative information for the quality control to commercial preparations.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Immunoadjuvant Activity, Toxicity Assays, and Determination by UPLC/Q-TOF-MS of Triterpenic Saponins from <i>Chenopodium quinoa</i> Seeds

The adjuvant activity of <i>Chenopodium quinoa</i> (quinoa) saponins on the humoral and cellular immune responses of mice subcutaneously immunized with ovalbumin (OVA) was evaluated. Two quinoa saponin fractions were obtained, FQ70 and FQ90, and 10 saponins were determined by UPLC/Q-TOF-MS. Mice were immunized subcutaneously with OVA alone or adjuvanted with Quil A (adjuvant control), FQ70, or FQ90. FQ70 and FQ90 significantly enhanced the amount of anti-OVA-specific antibodies in serum (IgG, IgG1, and IgG2b) in immunized mice. The adjuvant effect of FQ70 was significantly greater than that of FQ90. However, delayed type hypersensitivity responses were higher in mice immunized with OVA adjuvanted with FQ90 than mice treated with FQ70. Concanavalin A (Con A)-, lipopolysaccharide-, and OVA-stimulated splenocyte proliferation were measured, and FQ90 significantly enhanced the Con A-induced splenocyte proliferation. The results suggested that the two quinoa saponin fractions enhanced significantly the production of humoral and cellular immune responses to OVA in mice

Changes in surgicaL behaviOrs dUring the CoviD-19 pandemic. The SICE CLOUD19 Study

BACKGROUND: The spread of the SARS-CoV2 virus, which causes COVID-19 disease, profoundly impacted the surgical community. Recommendations have been published to manage patients needing surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. This survey, under the aegis of the Italian Society of Endoscopic Surgery, aims to analyze how Italian surgeons have changed their practice during the pandemic.METHODS: The authors designed an online survey that was circulated for completion to the Italian departments of general surgery registered in the Italian Ministry of Health database in December 2020. Questions were divided into three sections: hospital organization, screening policies, and safety profile of the surgical operation. The investigation periods were divided into the Italian pandemic phases I (March-May 2020), II (June-September 2020), and III (October-December 2020).RESULTS: Of 447 invited departments, 226 answered the survey. Most hospitals were treating both COVID-19-positive and -negative patients. The reduction in effective beds dedicated to surgical activity was significant, affecting 59% of the responding units. 12.4% of the respondents in phase I, 2.6% in phase II, and 7.7% in phase III reported that their surgical unit had been closed. 51.4%, 23.5%, and 47.8% of the respondents had at least one colleague reassigned to non-surgical COVID-19 activities during the three phases. There has been a reduction in elective (>200 procedures: 2.1%, 20.6% and 9.9% in the three phases, respectively) and emergency (<20 procedures: 43.3%, 27.1%, 36.5% in the three phases, respectively) surgical activity. The use of laparoscopy also had a setback in phase I (25.8% performed less than 20% of elective procedures through laparoscopy). 60.6% of the respondents used a smoke evacuation device during laparoscopy in phase I, 61.6% in phase II, and 64.2% in phase III. Almost all responders (82.8% vs. 93.2% vs. 92.7%) in each analyzed period did not modify or reduce the use of high-energy devices.CONCLUSION: This survey offers three faithful snapshots of how the surgical community has reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic during its three phases. The significant reduction in surgical activity indicates that better health policies and more evidence-based guidelines are needed to make up for lost time and surgery not performed during the pandemic